Confucian and Communitarian Responses to Liberal Democracy

Abstract

As East Asian societies struggle with the implications of modenity, the degree to which their Confucian heritage can support institutions of liberal democracy has been much debated. Recently, several authors have argued that the nations of Confucian Asia are indeed modernizing, but in the direction of “illiberal democracy”, which they see as an approach to democratic practice that takes communitarian concerns like social solidarity and political virtue into greater account than other, more liberal democratic societies do. In line with that argument, this article makes an introductory comparison of classical Confucian and contemporary communitarian thought, criticizes the view of Confucianism as necessarily authoritarian and suggests that Confucian theory and practice provides a strong and in many ways unique communitarian response to liberalism, without fundamentally invalidating those humanistic principles basic to democratic reform.

Civic Disobedience: Does Internet Use Stimulate Political Unrest in East Asia?

“…Of these, perhaps one of the most enduring -reaching its peak of popularity in the mid-1990s -is the Asian Values hypothesis (c.f. Emmerson, 1995;Fox, 1997;Jayasuriya, 1998;Robison, 1996;Kingsbury & Avonius, 2008;Wei-ming, 1996). At the core of the discourse on Asian Values is the contention that they represent a set of distinctive norms that are at best incongruent with political liberalism, and at worse antonymous to it.…”

“…Some scholars have suggested that Asians may be more deferential to authority while others have disagreed (i.e. the Asian Values hypothesis, see Emmerson, 1995;Fox, 1997;Jayasuriya, 1998;Robison, 1996;Kingsbury & Avonius, 2008;Wei-ming, 1996). Our research centers at the intersection of this potential cultural phenomenon and the influence of the digital flow of information.…”

John Dewey and Confucian Democracy: Towards Common Citizenship

“…61 It is certainly true of communitarian Confucian democrats such as Hall and Ames, Tan, and Russell Fox, to the extent that they present Confucian ritual communitarianism as directly equivalent to Confucian democracy. 62 For instance, Hall and Ames try to draw democratic implications from the participatory emphasis in Confucian rituals:…”

The virtue of incivility: Confucian communitarianism beyond docility

“…Russell Fox takes a step further by asserting that one's reflexive practice of the li involves action and such a ritualistic action is a public act. 38 By voluntarily and reflectively participating in the ritualistic order, Fox continues, not only can one, together with others, disclose authority, but more importantly, one can oneself become an authoritative person -the author of one's own life.…”