East Meets West

by Bell, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780691005089
• ISBN10: 0691005087
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-08
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Is liberal democracy a universal ideal? Proponents of "Asian values" argue that it is a distinctive product of the Western experience and that Western powers shouldn't try to push human rights and democracy onto Asian states. Liberal democrats in the West typically counter by questioning the motives of Asian critics, arguing that Asian leaders are merely trying to rationalize human-rights violations and authoritarian rule. In this book--written as a dialogue between an American democrat named Demo and three East Asian critics--Daniel A. Bell attempts to chart a middle ground between the extremes of the international debate on human rights and democracy. Bell criticizes the use of "Asian values" to justify oppression, but also draws on East Asian cultural traditions and contributions by contemporary intellectuals in East Asia to identify some powerful challenges to Western-style liberal democracy. In the first part of the book, Bell makes use of colorful stories and examples to show that there is a need to take into account East Asian perspectives on human rights and democracy. The second part--a fictitious dialogue between Demo and Asian senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew--examines the pros and cons of implementing Western-style democracy in Singapore. The third part of the book is an argument for an as-yet-unrealized Confucian political institution that justifiably differs from Western-style liberal democracy. This is a thought-provoking defense of distinctively East Asian challenges to Western-style liberal democracy that will stimulate interest and debate among students of political theory, Asian studies, and international human rights.

Author Biography

Daniel A. Bell is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	3	(18)
PART I THE EAST ASIAN CHALLENGE TO HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY: REFLECTIONS ON EAST-WEST DIALOGUES	21	(152)
Toward a Truly International Human Rights Regime	23	(83)
Trade-offs	35	(14)
Rights vs. Development: A Zero-Sum Game?	35	(2)
The Need for Specificity	37	(12)
An Asian Voice on Human Rights?	49	(33)
Human Rights: A Western Invention?	49	(6)
Increasing Commitment to Human Rights in East Asia: Strategic Considerations	55	(1)
On the Prospects of Exporting American Ideals to East Asia	56	(7)
Appealing to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Asia	63	(5)
Local Justifications for Human Rights	68	(14)
A Different Moral Standpoint?	82	(24)
Cultural Respect vs. Liberal Neutrality	84	(3)
Justifiable Constraints on Western-Style Rights	87	(8)
New ``Asian'' Rights: Expanding the Set of Internationally Recognized Rights	95	(8)
Summary	103	(3)
Democratic Rights: On the Importance of Local Knowledge	106	(67)
Trade-off Issues	110	(20)
On the Possibility of Decent Nondemocratic Regimes	110	(6)
The Costs of Democratization	116	(14)
Democratic Rights: Different Justifications	130	(28)
Limiting the Power of the State	130	(7)
Democracy as a Means for Nation-Building	137	(5)
Identifying the Agents of Democratization	142	(7)
Nation-Building and Social Consensus in Confucian Democracies	149	(9)
Democratic Rights: Different Constraints	158	(15)
Democracy vs. Civil Rights	158	(4)
Democracy vs. Social and Economic Rights	162	(6)
Democracy vs. Future Generations	168	(2)
Summary	170	(3)
PART II THE PROS AND CONS OF DEMOCRACY IN SINGAPORE: A FICTITIOUS DIALOGUE WITH LEE KUAN YEW	173	(104)
Is Liberal Democracy Suitable for Singapore?	175	(58)
Democracy Defined as Free and Fair Competitive Elections	176	(9)
Democracy Justified (Only) by Its Consequences	185	(16)
Democracy and Security	201	(12)
Democracy and Civil Liberties	213	(6)
Democracy and Prosperity	219	(14)
Summary	232	(1)
A Communitarian Critique of Authoritarianism: The Case of Singapore	233	(44)
Community and Democracy	233	(3)
Democracy and the Family	236	(3)
Democracy and the Nation	239	(38)
Singapore: A Patriotic Nation?	239	(2)
How Authoritarianism Undermines Patriotism	241	(12)
On the Need for Patriotism in Singapore	253	(18)
Summary	271	(6)
PART III DEMOCRACY WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS	277	(60)
A Political Proposal for the Post-Communist Era	279	(58)
Constraining Democratic Populism	281	(8)
On the Need for Capable and Far-Sighted Rulers in Modern Societies	281	(5)
A Confucian Tradition of Respect for a Ruling Intellectual Elite	286	(3)
Alternative Proposals	289	(18)
Plural Voting Schemes	292	(2)
A Corporatist Assembly	294	(5)
A Parliament of Scholar-Officials	299	(8)
The Proposal	307	(30)
Selection Procedures	307	(11)
The Problem of Corruption	318	(5)
The Question of Universalizability	323	(5)
The Problem of Gridlock	328	(4)
Implementation of the Proposal	332	(3)
Closing Scene	335	(2)
Select Bibliography	337	(16)
Index	353