The state in the shadow of war: reexamining Zhang Junmai’s thoughts on democratic politics and state building

Abstract

In the shadow of the Sino–Japanese War, Zhang Junmai presented his solutions to China’s problems in a time of emergency. Using nation instead of class as his frame of reference, Zhang called for the rise of national self-consciousness and integrated his opinions on science, life, and epistemology in his blueprint for a new China. After examining the limits of democratic politics in wartime, Zhang articulated his version of democracy designed for a time of emergency, namely Revised Democratic Politics, which emphasized prompt governmental decision making, centralization of power, mass mobilization, and the cultivation of citizens as political, moral, and economic subjects. Placing Zhang’s political thought against the backdrop of the democracy versus dictatorship debate, this article will illustrate the inner complexity of Zhang’s “scientific” planning of democratic politics. This article argues that, echoing Carl Schmitt’s theory of the state of emergency and his concept of true politics as solving difficult problems, the formula of Revised Democratic Politics equates the issue of sovereignty with administrative efficiency within the bounds of legislative regulation. In addition, this article explores Zhang Junmai’s construction of the Way of State Building and state philosophy in addition to his theoretical configuration of China as a Gemeinschaft (ethical community) in a time of emergency.