🦋 Minben 民本 as an alternative to liberal democracy

Rongxin Li

Democracy is unconsciously linked to 'the West', avers Rongxin Li, especially Anglo-Saxon-type governmental arrangements such as liberal democracy. Seeing how our planet speaks about 'democracy' to those who can hear it, all forms of 'democracy', like Minben, should be on an even standing with Western models

April 7, 2022

China’s pandemic management and authoritarian resilience

Rongxin Li

Unlike Western nations, China is reintroducing restrictions to counter the latest wave of Covid-19. Rongxin Li explains China's pandemic policy and its apparent acceptance by the Chinese people in the context of authoritarian resilience

January 12, 2022

China’s approach to the pandemic exposes its democratic deficit to the public glare

Rongxin Li

China has adopted a zero-case approach to the coronacrisis. But, writes Rongxin Li, China’s policies, while claiming to be in the interests of its citizens, show a lack of democratic anchoring, sacrificing civil rights and procedural justice

March 16, 2023

🦋 Let’s tell a more contextual story about Minben

Li-Chia Lo

Li-Chia Lo revisits Rongxin Li’s essay on the Confucian concept of Minben (people-core/root) to offer more context to the concept and to differentiate it from the Chinese concept of Minzhu (people-master). Lo argues that both concepts are different, and we should not elide them

March 13, 2023

🦋 The merits of consultative democracy

Rongxin Li

An orthodoxy in conventional democratic theory says that voting is all that really matters. Rongxin Li challenges the prominence of electoralism and majoritarianism in representative democratic practice. He argues that consultative democracy confers far more legitimacy on a decision than voting ever can or will

June 29, 2023

🦋 Science of Democracy series marks 100th entry

Kate Hawkins

The Loop's thriving series thread on democratic theory has just published its 100th instalment. At this landmark juncture, Managing Editor Kate Hawkins looks back on the series' inception and development — and wonders where it might go in the future

The Loop

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