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The Democratic Potential of Confucian Minben Thoughts
ABSTRACT In this paper 1 argue that although the Confucian idea of `minben' is not synonymous with democracy, some its tenets are conducive to the promotion of a regime in which citizens are politically and economically empowered. In particular, 1 focus on the way that Confucius, Mencius and via Yi stress that government should meet the basic needs of its people. Material well-being is an important precondition of democracy that is often overlooked in contemporary discussions of Chinese government, which usually focus on negative rights or the authoritarian state.
Introduction
Recently there has been much discussion about the extent to which Confucian philosophy is compatible with the concept of democracy.2 Contemporary neo-liberals contend that Confucianism and Chinese traditional values stifle the freedom of the individual and hence are completely incompatible with democracy. On the other hand, defenders of Confucianism claim that Confucius anticipates a version of radical or communitarian democracy, which is superior to its liberal counterpart.3 In this paper I argue for a middle ground between these extreme positions, distinguishing the aspects of Confucianism that could be conducive to democracy from those that might hinder it.
The Chinese term for democracy, minzhu, is a combination of two characters: min meaning people, and zhu, meaning rule or ruler. Although this is a modern term, a related word, minben, `people as root', existed since at least the Han dynasty and the idea was promulgated by Confucius (551-479 BC), developed and refined by Mencius (372-289 B.C.)4 and expressed most systematically by Jia Yi (201-168 BC). Contemporary discussions of Confucian democracy rarely mention Jia Yi, even though he is quite possibly the first person to use the term minben.5 After briefly touching on the elements of minben thought in Confucius, I focus on Mencius and Jia Yi in more detail.
Contrary to neo-liberals who claim that China's entry into modernity requires a wholesale rejection of Confucian philosophy, I argue that an emphasis on minben thought is germane to the contemporary debate about Confucian democracy, because it illuminates the often neglected material dimension of politics. A discussion of minben allows us to gain more clarity concerning the duplicitous role of `the people' (min) in classical Confucian political philosophy. The basic...