Classic Confucian Thought and Political Meritocracy: A Text-based Critique

Dao ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutang Jin
Keyword(s):  
Confucian Thought ◽  
Political Meritocracy

The Tradition of Non-violence in Korean Confucian Thought

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 223-254
Author(s):  
Woe-Soon Ahn ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Confucian Thought

Diploma Democracy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Bovens ◽  
Anchrit Wille
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Organized Interests ◽  
Political Office ◽  
Political Meritocracy ◽  
Almost All

Lay politics lies at the heart of democracy. Political offices are the only offices for which no formal qualifications are required. Contemporary political practices are diametrically opposed to this constitutional ideal. Most contemporary democracies in Western Europe are diploma democracies—ruled by those with the highest formal qualifications. Citizens with low or medium educational qualification levels currently make up about 70 per cent of the electorates, yet they have become virtually absent from almost all political arenas. University graduates have come to dominate all relevant political institutions and venues, from political parties, parliaments and cabinets, to organized interests, deliberative settings, and internet consultations. This rise of a political meritocracy is part of larger trend. In the information society, educational background, like class, or religion, is an important source of social and political divides. Those who are well educated tend to be cosmopolitans, whereas the lesser educated citizens are more likely to be nationalists. This book documents the context, contours, and consequences of this rise of a political meritocracy. It explores the domination of higher educated citizens in political participation, civil society, and political office in Western Europe. It discusses the consequences of this rise of political meritocracy, such as descriptive deficits, policy incongruences, biased standards, and cynicism and distrust. Also, it looks at ways to remedy, or at least mitigate, some of the negative effects of diploma democracy.

The Concept of Personality in Confucian Thought†

Psychiatry ◽  
1973 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Shing Tseng
Keyword(s):  
Confucian Thought

Neo-Confucian Thought in Action.

1977 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 300
Author(s):  
Daniel L. Overmyer ◽  
Tu Wei-ming
Keyword(s):  
Confucian Thought

scholarly journals The Future of Meritocracy: A Discussion of Daniel Bell’s The China Model

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
Yongle Zhang ◽  
Colleen Howe
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Western World ◽  
Confucian Tradition ◽  
World Today ◽  
The Future ◽  
China Model ◽  
Political Legitimation ◽  
Political Meritocracy

Abstract Compared to Wang Shaoguang’s approach to re-interpret the old concept “democracy” to overcome the Schumpeterian model of political legitimation, Daniel Bell’s Political Meritocracy takes a more challenging path, attempting to build a new discourse of legitimacy centering on the concept “meritocracy” and incorporating elements of ancient China’s traditions, the socialist revolutions in the twentieth century, and the system of competitive elections common in the Western world today. This inspiring work is full of incisive arguments, but could be improved by further considering the tension between the Confucian tradition and the revolutionary tradition in the twentieth century.

Concluding Thoughts

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Active Role ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
China Model ◽  
Political Meritocracy ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
Chinese Adaptation ◽  
Mao Era

This chapter considers three basic principles of the China model and how they have guided political reform in the post-Mao era: democracy at the bottom, experimentation in the middle, and political meritocracy at the top. There remains a large gap between the ideal and the reality, however, and the chapter suggests ways of closing that gap, noting that the legitimacy problem is perhaps the most serious threat to the meritocratic system. It argues that the Chinese government may need to secure the people's consent to the Chinese adaptation of vertical democratic meritocracy by means such as a referendum. It concludes by discussing the exportability of the China model: while the model as a whole cannot readily be adopted by countries with a different history and culture, its different planks can be selectively adopted and the Chinese government can play a more active role in promoting its model abroad.

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