Yusra Khan

May 4th 2011

Comparative Politics

Prof Ayyangar

Final Exam

Democracy in China

Democracy will always lead to modernization but modernization does not always lead to

democracy. Over the period of the Chines history, China has always worked towards modernizing the

nation. They have never given much value to the process it takes to become modernized. People

question if China will ever become a democracy but is it really necessary for China to become a

democracy? Democracy is not designed to be the best system of government because it does not suit

many countries. China's own form of government has led China into becoming a successful state that it

has become. Since the Chinese reforms in 1970's the growth of gross domestic product nearly ten

percent, lifting half billion people out of poverty. Alan Winter and Shahid Yusuf in Dancing with

Giants provided an analysis on how the simple system of government have helped China's economy.

Kunag Lui Shun in Confucian Ethics presented arguments about the democratic ideal in United States.

China does not have to become a democracy because their system of government seems to fit the

Chines ideals of modernization successfully.

“China has in recent years capitalized on its huge, diverse population and geographical expanse

to transform itself into the world’s most efficient assembler and exporter of a wide range of

manufactured goods(Huang 1).” The goal of the Chines has been to modernize. China has taken

advantage of its size to become one of the most successful economy in the world today. It is also the

second richest nation in the world, with the highest population of the world. So when studying China in

depth it becomes obvious that democracy has no meaning to China. China has simplified their simple

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of governing by keeping a single political party so it can avoid political instability within the system.

Political instability can distract the Chines from their goal of modernization and development. In book

Dancing with Giants by Winters and Yusuf, the authors discussed the economies of India and China and

compared them to the rest of the world. The government role behind China successful economy is

based on the simple measure of government effectiveness and control over corruption.“China has

ranked consistently higher than India with regard to the government effectiveness and, in 2004, with

respect to corruption control, but consistently lower than India with respect of the law(Winters, Yusuf

212). India and China exhibit similar governance outcomes but entirely distinct political institutions.

India is one of the world largest democracies and China is Republic government based on single party

system.

“The basic moral ideal that underlies our espousal of democracy is, I suggest, that all rational

human beings should have significant and equal voice in arriving at a decision that directly effect their

own lives(Loi Shun 54).” To most people democracy means different groups of people having a in the

system of government. The United States of America has been a system of government that seems to

have been example for newly developing democracies. The United States consists of two major

political parties. The republicans, and the democrats. There are republicans that very conservative and

that are not so conservative. The democrat party also has liberal politicians and democrats that have

some conservative ideals. People that share views both from democratic party, and republican party end

up being in the middle ground. These people get the most votes because they are not extremists. Any

politician that is really conservative or too liberal will only end up satisfying less than half the people.

Therefore, the government of China is not much different from other democratic nations. The

difference is that China consists of only one political party. However, that political party is equal to the

middle ground the US politicians are trying to achieve when it comes to playing with the politics. The

government of China has eliminated the process of listening to the extremists on the very left side and

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on the ride side by creating one political party that keeps the government centered in the middle.

A democratic ideal allows people to self-govern but in current democracies people do not have

the power to makes changes. “By many standards, the citizens of the United States enjoy a large

amount of freedom. But an increasing majority of those citizens have virtually no control over the

impersonal forces -economic and otherwise- that directly affect their lives and they are becoming

increasingly apolitical(Loi Shun 55).” Less than half the people in the United States of America

participate in elections. Some politicians have held their seat in government for almost eight years.

Governors often get re-elected so therefore, people do not have much of say in the system. This system

of government causes people to become apolitical. Democracy maybe a great system to govern a nation

but it is not the only system. Therefore, China does not need democracy its goal is to modernize and

not to democratize. Democracy does not make difference because eventually, China and United States

end up at the same destination using different methods to get there. “If voting could really change

things, than the government would make it illegal(Loi Shun 55).”

The Republic of China has been successfully ruling China since 1928. People may consider

China to be a communist state but the people of China feel that the nation is ruled by the majority say

and it's essential goal is to modernize. Throughout the history China has tried many options to find the

fastest way to modernize and move along. Democracy is not part of the Chinese ideals and it is not

essential to them. Democracy is necessary to modernize but China has already modernized and they

will continue to go even further in modernization.

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 Works Cited

Huang, Yukon. "Reinterpreting China's Success Through It's New Economic Geography.

"Carnegie Papers” 115.Asia (2010): 1-9. Print.

Shun, Kwong-loi, and David B. Wong. Confucian Ethics: a Comparative Study of Self, Autonomy, and

Community. New York: Cambridge, 2004. Print.

Winters, L. Alan., and Shahid Yusuf. Dancing with Giants China, India, and the Global Economy.

Washington, DC: World Bank, 2007. Print.