Democracy is a good thing: An Interview with Yu Keping

Author: Yan Jian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Governance and good governance are not only practical political realities but also macro-theories reflecting political realities. They also serve as a means of analyzing political realities. As a new political analytical framework, the methods of governance and good governance have distinct advantages compared to other traditional political analysis methods. First, they provide new analytical perspectives and categories; second, they offer a more comprehensive approach to analyzing political development compared to other methods; third, they reflect the direction of development. When analyzing the political development of a region or a country using governance and good governance methods, the main focus is on its governance environment, such as the political environment, legal environment, economic environment, cultural and social psychological environment, governance structure, such as government institutions and their roles, political parties and their roles in governance, other political organizations and their roles in governance, civil society organizations and their roles in governance, the role of other governance structures, and the relationships between various governance institutions; governance processes or procedures, such as decision-making processes, election processes, administrative processes, supervision processes, litigation processes, participation processes; governance methods, such as administrative orders, political mobilization, legal coercion, persuasion and education, political education, economic incentives, freedom, cooperation, violence, governance content; governance and the governed; the significance of governance, including the main variables influencing governance, the dynamics of democratic governance, the evaluation of governance, governance and local democracy, governance and economic development, and governance and social stability.
Democracy is a good thing, not just for a few individuals or some officials; it is for the entire nation and the broad masses of the people. For officials who prioritize their self-interest, democracy is not only not a good thing but also a nuisance, and even a bad thing. Therefore, democratic politics does not operate on its own; it requires the people and government officials representing their interests to drive and practice it.
Democracy is a good thing, but that does not mean it is perfect in everything. Democracy is far from flawless; it has many inherent shortcomings. However, among all political systems invented and implemented by humankind so far, democracy is one of the least flawed. In other words, relatively speaking, democracy is the best political system humankind has ever devised. As a famous statesman once said, democracy is a relatively good political system.
The interviews collected in this book broadly cover the author's main research areas and reflect the author's representative theories on some important issues. Since these are interview articles, the primary audience is not professional scholars but general readers. Therefore, academic norms are not emphasized too much, with a focus on making the content clear and easy to understand. For some issues, only brief mentions are made without in-depth arguments.