On the Selection of Good Leaders in a Political Meritocracy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
High Quality ◽  
System P ◽  
Political Meritocracy ◽  
Ruling Party ◽  
Selection Of

This chapter examines which abilities and virtues should set the standard for the selection and promotion of public officials/servants so that China's political system can be improved. The discussion draws on the following assumptions: it is good for a political community to be governed by high-quality rulers; China's one (ruling) party political system is not about to collapse; the meritocratic aspect of the system is partly good; and it can be improved. The chapter then offers suggestions about which qualities matter most for political leaders in the context of large, peaceful, and modernizing (nondemocratic) meritocratic states, followed by suggestions about mechanisms that increase the likelihood of selecting leaders with such qualities. The findings reveal which abilities, social skills, and virtues matter most for political leaders in the context of a large, peaceful, and modernizing political meritocracy. These findings are used as a standard for evaluating the Chinese meritocratic system.

Just Hierarchy between Citizens

2020 ◽  
pp. 66-105
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Bell ◽  
Wang Pei
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Political System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Willingness To Serve ◽  
Political Communities ◽  
Political Meritocracy ◽  
China Today

This chapter turns to just hierarchies between citizens—mainly strangers to one another—in modern large-scale political communities. It argues that hierarchies between rulers and ruled in such communities are justified if the political system selects and promotes public officials with above-average ability and a willingness to serve the political community over and above their own private and family interests. The chapter demonstrates that this kind of ideal—the “political meritocracy”—helped to inspire the imperial political system in China's past and Chinese political reformers in the early twentieth century, and may help to justify the political system in China today. However, the meritocratic system needs to be accompanied by democratic mechanisms short of competitive elections at the top that allow citizens to show that they trust their rulers and provide a measure of accountability at different levels of government. In the Chinese context, however, there is a large gap between the ideal and the reality. Thus, this chapter recommends that a judicious mixture of Confucian-style “soft power” combined with democratic openness, Maoist-style mass line, and Daoist-style skepticism about the whole political system can help to reinvigorate political meritocracy in China.

Politicians' Expressions of Anger and Leadership Evaluations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Masch
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party Leader ◽  
Heinrich Heine ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
System P ◽  
The Social ◽  
Angela Merkel ◽  
Emotional Behaviour ◽  
The Impact

This book explores the impact of politicians’ expressions of anger on viewers. Electoral candidates may alter their emotional behaviour strategically during election campaigns as a means of gaining voters’ support. Hence, this study investigates empirically how expressions of anger affect leadership evaluations. An experiment was conducted to establish the impact of politicians’ expressions of emotions on viewers. This study focuses on politicians as a social group, as well as three politicians in particular: Chancellor Angela Merkel; Gregor Gysi, the former parliamentary leader of the Left; and Sigmar Gabriel, the former party leader of the Social Democrats. These three case studies are well-suited to testing the effects of expressions of emotion by political leaders with varying positions in the political system. Lena Masch is a lecturer at the Institute of Social Sciences at the Heinrich-Heine-Universität in Düsseldorf.

The Electoral System

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-75
Author(s):  
Jørgen Elklit
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Representation System ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
System P ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Selection Of

The system used for electing the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) is a two-tier proportional representation system. It has worked well since its inception in 1920, and there are no plans of changing to another system. The system is seen as complicated by some, but Danish voters turn out in high numbers and do not seem to have problems understanding the basic elements of how the system works. The system is unique in that the individual political parties can each decide on what kind of list system they want to use and how the preferential votes cast for individual candidates will influence the eventual selection of elected candidates. The index of disproportionality shows remarkably low values, partly because the most important formal electoral threshold is only 2 per cent. Election administration is of high quality and scores generated by the Perception of Electoral Integrity project are, therefore, remarkably high.

Is Democracy the Least Bad Political System?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Bell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political System ◽  
The United States ◽  
System P ◽  
Electoral Democracy ◽  
Political Meritocracy ◽  
Democratic Elections ◽  
Tyranny Of The Majority

This chapter examines whether democratic elections lead to good consequences, and more specifically whether democracy is the least bad political system. It considers four key flaws of electoral democracy: the tyranny of the majority, the tyranny of the minority, the tyranny of the voting community, and the tyranny of competitive individualists. Using examples primarily from the United States, the chapter challenges the idea that one person, one vote is the least bad way of choosing leaders to enact good policies, rather than provide a comprehensive defense of political meritocracy as an alternative to electoral democracy. It suggests that there may be morally desirable and political feasible alternatives to electoral democracy that help to remedy its major disadvantages. It also discusses examples of actually existing political meritocratic arrangements in China and/or Singapore that may minimize the flaws of electoral democracies.

Conclusion: What is Speculative Empiricism?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier Debaise
Keyword(s):  
Social Groups ◽  
Speculative Philosophy ◽  
System P ◽  
History Of ◽  
Selection Of

Process and Reality ends with a warning: ‘[t]he chief danger to philosophy is narrowness in the selection of evidence’ (PR, 337). Although this danger of narrowness might emerge from the ‘idiosyncrasies and timidities of particular authors, of particular social groups, of particular schools of thought, of particular epochs in the history of civilization’ (PR, 337), we should not be mistaken: it occurs within philosophy, in its activity, its method. And the fact that this issue arises at the end of Process and Reality reveals the ambition that has accompanied its composition: Whitehead has resisted this danger through the form and ambition of his speculative construction. The temptation of a narrowness in selection attempts to expel speculative philosophy at the same time as it haunts each part of its system.

Identity concerns drive belief: The impact of partisan identity on the belief and dissemination of true and false news

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pereira ◽  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽  
Elizabeth Ann Harris
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Social Goals ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
System P ◽  
False News ◽  
Democrats And Republicans ◽  
The Impact

Political misinformation, often called “fake news”, represents a threat to our democracies because it impedes citizens from being appropriately informed. Evidence suggests that fake news spreads more rapidly than real news—especially when it contains political content. The present article tests three competing theoretical accounts that have been proposed to explain the rise and spread of political (fake) news: (1) the ideology hypothesis— people prefer news that bolsters their values and worldviews; (2) the confirmation bias hypothesis—people prefer news that fits their pre-existing stereotypical knowledge; and (3) the political identity hypothesis—people prefer news that allows their political in-group to fulfill certain social goals. We conducted three experiments in which American participants read news that concerned behaviors perpetrated by their political in-group or out-group and measured the extent to which they believed the news (Exp. 1, Exp. 2, Exp. 3), and were willing to share the news on social media (Exp. 2 and 3). Results revealed that Democrats and Republicans were both more likely to believe news about the value-upholding behavior of their in-group or the value-undermining behavior of their out-group, supporting a political identity hypothesis. However, although belief was positively correlated with willingness to share on social media in all conditions, we also found that Republicans were more likely to believe and want to share apolitical fake new. We discuss the implications for theoretical explanations of political beliefs and application of these concepts in in polarized political system.

The Dual Executive

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Belco ◽  
Brandon Rottinghaus
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Political System ◽  
Government Support ◽  
The Political ◽  
Government Function ◽  
Dual Roles ◽  
System P ◽  
Policy Making Process

The president serves dual roles in the political system: one who “commands” by pursuing his or her agenda using unilateral orders and one who “administers” and who works to continue proper government function, often with the support of Congress. In a reassessment of the literature on unilateral power, this book considers the president’s dual roles during the stages of the policy-making process. Although presidents may appear to act “first and alone,” the reality is often much different. Presidents act in response to their own concerns, as well as assisting Congress on priorities and the need to maintain harmonic government function. The authors find support for both the model of an aggressive president who uses unilateral orders to push his or her agenda, head off unfavorable congressional legislation, and selectively implement legislation, and they find support for a unifying president who is willing to share management of government, support Congressional legislative efforts, and faithfully implement legislation. At the same time, presidents self-check their actions based on the ability of Congress to act to overturn their orders, through a shared sense of responsibility to keep government moving and out of respect for the constitutional balance. The shared nature of unilateral orders does not preclude an active president, as presidents remain strong, central actors in the political system.

scholarly journals Allies among Enemies: Political authority and party (dis)loyalty in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
DAVID JACKMAN ◽  
MATHILDE MAÎTROT
Keyword(s):  
Political Competition ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Party Discipline ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Local Character ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Member Of Parliament ◽  
Ruling Party

Abstract The authority of political leaders in Bangladesh rests on diverse qualities, not least of which are the muscle and finance they can mobilize, and the relationships they can craft with senior party members. These are utilized to confront rivals both within and outside their own party. In some instances, the intensity of intra-party competition can be so severe that a further quality emerges: the capacity to find allies among enemies. Building local inter-party alliances can bolster the authority of politicians, yet be to the detriment of party coherence. This argument is developed through an analysis of mayoral and parliamentary elections held in the past decade in a small Bangladeshi city, where a ruling party member of parliament (MP) and opposition mayor appear to have developed such a relationship. This has thwarted the electoral ambitions of their fellow party members and has posed a serious challenge to party discipline. While political competition is often seen as being either inter- or intra-party, here it is focused around inter-party alliances. This portrayal suggests we need to give greater emphasis to the decentralized and local character that political authority can take in Bangladesh.

Selection of high-quality sperm with thousands of parallel channels

Lab on a Chip ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Simchi ◽  
Jason Riordon ◽  
Jae Bem You ◽  
Yihe Wang ◽  
Sa Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
High Selectivity ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Sperm Selection ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Parallel Channels ◽  
Selection Of

A 3D-structured sperm selection device is presented that achieves both high selectivity and high yield via thousands of parallel channels. The device significantly outperforms the best clinical practice by selecting ∼100 000 of higher-quality sperm.

scholarly journals Council Press Offices as Sources of Political Information: Between Journalism for Accountability and Propaganda

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Vanessa Rodríguez-Breijo ◽  
Núria Simelio ◽  
Pedro Molina-Rodríguez-Navas
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The Public ◽  
Selection Of

This study uses a qualitative approach to examine what political and technical leaders of municipalities understand transparency and public information to mean, and what role they believe the different subjects involved (government, opposition, and the public) should have. The websites of 605 Spanish councils with more than 100,000 inhabitants were analysed and three focus groups were held with political and technical leaders from a selection of sample councils. The results show that the technical and political leaders of the councils do not have a clear awareness of their function of management accountability or of the need to apply journalistic criteria to the information they publish, defending with nuances the use of propaganda criteria to focus on the actions of the local government, its information, the lack of space dedicated to public debate and the opposition’s actions. In relation to accountability and citizen participation, they have a negative view of citizens, who they describe as being disengaged. However, they emphasize that internally it is essential to continue improving in terms of the culture of transparency and the public information they provide citizens.

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