In my master's thesis, I address the issue of democracy in the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is in the process of building its own democratic model. The first part of this research is devoted to deconstructing the controversial linking of democracy with liberalism, which dominates today's democratic discourse. Liberalism and democracy are not necessarily complementary concepts, so I adopt a position of weak compatibilism and incompatibilism, which opens up space for a neutral conception of democracy. After establishing the contingency of the modern understanding of democracy, I turn to an analysis of democracy in the PRC. In the empirical part, I conclude that, unlike in the West, democracy in the PRC is exercised through a system that creates a different, bottom-up dynamic. The centralized political system leaves open channels through which citizens can express their needs, and the Communist Party selectively takes these popular demands into account without being forced to share its monopoly on power. The party thus acts as the bearer and transmitter of the democratic will. Later, through surveys that have already been conducted, I also explore citizens' attitudes toward authority and democracy, which I place in a broader context. I conclude that the Chinese model of democracy opens up space for a broader understanding of democracy and brings new energy to the democratic discourse.
|
