The challenge of Confucian political meritocracy: A critical introduction

Abstract

This article aims to critically evaluate the recent proposals of Confucian political meritocracy by focusing on two sets of questions: the first set on the connection between traditional Confucianism and Confucian political meritocracy and the second set on the nature of Confucian political meritocracy (often presented in terms of ‘democratic meritocracy’) as an alternative version of democratic theory combining the instrumental conception of (minimal) democracy with Confucian perfectionism. After laying out some specific questions belonging to each set as the theoretical challenges for Confucian political theory to becoming a robust political theory, the article further asks how distinguished Confucian political meritocracy is from Confucian democracy that is often equally premised on the combination of the instrumental conception of democracy with Confucian perfectionism without dismissing the critical importance of good political leadership.