Bell, Daniel A., Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context

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For over a decade, Daniel Bell has been a pioneering figure in the study of democracy and human rights in an East Asian context. This remarkable book takes his study to a new level. Bell offers a critical examination of the “uniquely parochial” Western liberal democracy, which has been promoted to various parts of the world as universally valid regardless of local conditions. Based on years of first-hand experience and knowledge of East Asian societies, Bell proposes a rather ambitious alternative model of democracy that would suit a land under the long-lasting influence of Confucianism. The book opens with a critical reflection on Ronald Dworkin’s 2002 visit to China. During that visit, Dworkin “unilaterally believed that his China tour was a valuable opportunity for China to be privy to his ideas of liberty” (2). He showed no sensitivity to China’s cultural tradition and demonstrated no knowledge of China’s social context and its recent substantial improvement of legal practice. In the meantime, he was taken for a ride by the Chinese government to showcase China’s new freedoms. Dworkin’s case is a good example of showing the superficiality of some Western scholars’ attempt to force their “parochially developed” ideas of Western liberal democracy on East Asia in a “one size fits all” style. It calls urgently for a close examination of democracy and human rights in the Chinese context, an examination that comes not out of ignorance and arrogance. Calling for a culturally sensitive approach, Bell offers this much needed alternative. He argues that there are morally legitimate alternatives to Western-style liberal democracy in the East Asian region. Democracy in East Asia does not lie simply in implementing Western political ideas and practices; it involves drawing upon East Asian cultural resources and political realities. The art on the cover of the book says it all: an American Statue of Liberty holding a copy of Confucius’s Analects! The book is divided into three parts. Part One discusses human rights in an East Asian context. Part Two explores democracy in an East Asian context. Part Three investigates issues of capitalism in an East Asian context. The book ends with the author’s responses to critics, an interesting addition to the main body of the book. Following the Introduction, Part One begins with Chapter 2 on general Confucian principles of good government and Dao (2008) 7:99–102 DOI 10.1007/s11712-008-9044-2