Democracy After Virtue: Toward Pragmatic Confucian Democracy - Paperback

by Sungmoon Kim (Author)

Is Confucianism compatible with democracy? Ongoing debates among political theorists revolve around the question of whether the overarching goal of Confucianism--serving the people's moral and material well-being--is attainable in modern day politics without broad democratic participation and without relying on a "one person, one vote" system. One side of the debate--voiced by "traditional" Confucian meritocrats--argues that only certain people are equipped with the moral character needed to lead and ensure broad public well-being. They emphasize moral virtue over civic virtue and the family over the state as the quintessential public institution. Moreover, they believe that a system of rule headed by meritorious elites can better handle complex modern public affairs than representative democracy. The other side--voiced by Confucian democrats--argues that unless all citizens participate equally in the public sphere, the kind of moral growth Confucianism emphasizes cannot be fully attained. Despite notable differences in political orientation, scholars of both positions acknowledge that democracy is largely of instrumental value for realizing Confucian moral ends in modern society. It would seem that Confucians of both types have largely dismissed democracy as a political system that can mediate clashing values and political views--or even that Confucian democracy is a system marked by pluralism.

Author Biography

Sungmoon Kim is Professor of Political Theory at City University of Hong Kong. He is the author of Confucian Democracy in East Asia: Theory and Practice and Public Reason Confucianism: Democratic Perfectionism and Constitutionalism in East Asia.