Democracy is a good thing

Democracy is a good thing, not for individuals, nor for some officials; it is for the entire country and nation, and for the broad masses of the people. Frankly speaking, for those officials who prioritize their own interests, democracy is not only not a good thing, but also a troublesome thing, or even a bad thing. Imagine, under the conditions of democratic politics, officials have to be elected by citizens, and have to gain the support of the majority; their power has to be constrained by citizens, they cannot do whatever they want, and they have to sit on an equal footing with the common people and bargain. Just these two points, many people will not like it. Of course, they will not say they don’t like it, but will say that democracy does not conform to national conditions and public opinion, that the conditions for democracy are not mature enough, that the quality of citizens is not good enough; or that the problems of democracy are many, that democracy will bring so many harms, and so on. Therefore, democratic politics will not operate spontaneously, it needs the people themselves and government officials who represent the interests of the people to promote and practice it.

Democracy is a good thing, it doesn’t mean that democracy is all good. Democracy is by no means perfect, it has many inherent shortcomings. Democracy does make citizens take to the streets and hold rallies, which may lead to political instability; democracy emphasizes the process and procedures of politics, which makes some simple affairs under non-democratic conditions become relatively complex and cumbersome, thus increasing the cost of politics and administration; democracy often requires repeated consultations and discussions, which often makes some decisions that should have been made in a timely manner become unresolved, thus reducing administrative efficiency; democracy can also make some boastful political swindlers take advantage of the opportunity to become tools to deceive the people, and so on.

However, among all the political systems invented and implemented by mankind so far, democracy is the one with the fewest drawbacks. In other words, relatively speaking, democracy is the best political system for mankind so far. Or as a famous politician said, democracy is a relatively not bad political system.

Democracy is a good thing, it doesn’t mean that democracy can do whatever it wants and can solve all problems. Democracy is a political system that guarantees sovereignty in the people, it is only one of many systems of mankind, mainly regulating people’s political life, and cannot replace other systems to regulate all of human life. Democracy has its inherent limitations, it is not a panacea, it cannot cure all diseases, it cannot solve all the problems of mankind, and it often cannot even solve the basic problems of food, clothing, housing and transportation. But democracy guarantees people’s basic human rights, provides people with equal opportunities, and it is itself a basic value of mankind. Democracy is not only a means to solve people’s livelihood, but also a goal of human development; it is not only a tool to achieve other goals, but also more in line with the inherent nature of mankind. Even if there is the best food, clothing, housing and transportation, if there is no right to democracy, human personality is incomplete.

Democracy is a good thing, it doesn’t mean that democracy has no painful price. Democracy may undermine the legal system, leading to a temporary loss of control of social and political order, and may even hinder the growth of the social economy for a certain period of time; democracy may also undermine national peace, causing domestic political divisions; the procedures of democracy may also send a few autocratic dictators to the political stage. All these have appeared in the real life of mankind, and may continue to reappear. Therefore, sometimes the price of democracy is too high, even unbearable. However, fundamentally speaking, this is not the fault of democracy itself, but the fault of politicians or politicians. Some politicians do not understand the objective laws of democratic politics, regardless of social and historical conditions, transcend the stage of social and historical development, and unrealistically promote democracy, and the result will only be counterproductive. Some politicians regard democracy as a tool to seize power, in the name of “democracy”, to attract attention and deceive the people. In their case, democracy is the name, autocracy is the reality; democracy is the banner, power is the essence.

Democracy is a good thing, it doesn’t mean that democracy is unconditional. The realization of democracy requires corresponding economic, cultural and political conditions. Promoting democracy regardless of conditions will bring disastrous consequences to the country and the people. Political democracy is a historical trend, and the continuous move towards democracy is an inevitable trend in all countries in the world. However, the timing and speed of promoting democracy, and the choice of democratic methods and systems, are conditional. An ideal democratic politics is not only related to the social economic system and economic development level, geopolitical environment, and international environment, but also closely related to the country’s political and cultural traditions, the quality of political figures and citizens, and the living habits of citizens. How to achieve the greatest democratic benefits with the smallest political and social costs requires the wisdom of politicians and the people. In this sense, democratic politics is also a political art. Promoting democratic politics requires careful system design and superb political skills.

Democracy is a good thing, it doesn’t mean that democracy can force people to do anything. The most essential meaning of democracy is the rule of the people, the choice of the people. Although democracy is a good thing, no one and no political organization has the right to regard themselves as the embodiment of democracy, and to force the people to do or not to do anything in the name of democracy. Democracy needs enlightenment, needs the rule of law, needs authority, and also needs violence to maintain normal order. However, the basic means of promoting democracy should not be the coercion of the state, but the consent of the people. Since democracy is the rule of the people, it should respect the voluntary choices of the people themselves. From the domestic political level, if the government mainly uses coercive means to make the people accept a system that they did not choose themselves, that is domestic political autocracy, that is domestic tyranny; if a country mainly uses coercive means to make the people of other countries also accept its so-called democratic system, that is international political autocracy, that is international tyranny. Both domestic autocracy and international autocracy are contrary to the essence of democracy.

(Excerpt from “Democracy is a Good Thing”, Social Sciences Literature Press, October 2006)