How Good Is the Chinese Government

How Good Is the Chinese Government

How good is the Chinese government? I will answer this question in terms of three components of "political well-being" that the Chinese people can enjoy under the current government. The three components are: (1) freedom, (2) ability to participate in the selection of government officials, and (3) what the government has done and continues to do for the people. Instead of answering the question by simply examining whether the Chinese government is a "democratic government" according to some definition, it is more meaningful to consider these three components of political well-being for the following reasons. First, freedom is one of the most important ideals of democracy, but freedom can exist without a democratic government as it did in Hong Kong under the British colonial rule. Note that the inclusion of freedom as the first component is based on an American perspective because the Chinese have other ideals for their government, as we will discuss below. Second, the next important ideal of democracy is the ability to select government officials. It is better to consider the important democratic ideals than a set of procedures specified in a particular form of democracy subject to the tradition and practice of a particular country. The first two components of political well-being already include the most important institutional aspects of a democratic government from an American perspective. Third, given the same political system and form of democracy one government can be better than another because it does a better...