Political Value Reconstruction And Democratic Transition

The democratic system of a country can be really consolidated only whendemocracy, as a political value, is accepted by the majority of the members of society.In this process, the western value system gradually gains a dominant position, whilethe influence of the value system constructed by authoritarian regime wanes. Inaddition, the democratic transition of all countries and regions proceeds in certaintraditional cultural environments, which makes the traditional value system play avery important role. The paper chooses Taiwan as a typical case. The author tries toexplore the conflict and reconstruction of three political value system-"ThreePrinciples of the People", liberalism and neo-Confucian, and their impact on thedemocratic transition.The first chapter elaborates the construction of the "Three Principles of thePeople" and its influence on the democratic transition. This system misinterpreted SunYat-sen’s anti-feudal, anti-authoritarian, and democratic thinking as theory oforthodox Confucianism and philosophy of people’s livelihood. This value systembased on a series of political and institutional arrangements. Through KMT reformmovement, the party established a system leaded by Chiang Kai-shek and the KMTorganizations extended into every corner of Taiwan society. Through "Constitutionalreform," the KMT rule was disguised with the form of “national” politicalinstitutional arrangements. Martial law restricted the public opinion of Taiwan withinthe framework of the "Three Principles of the People". However, we must recognizethat under the rule of KMT the land reform was completed, the economicachievement was great, and the local self-government movement made progress. Allof these paved the way for the transition to democracy.The second chapter deals with the development of liberalism in Taiwan and itseffect on democratic transition of Taiwan. In developing countries, liberalism comeswith the aggression and colonization of the Western countries, who faced the dualtask of fighting for national independence and freedom of the people. This determinesliberalism in these countries must differ from the original doctrine of liberalism.Taiwan is the case. Hu Shi is the most famous representative of liberals in1950s and1960s. The most important feature of his thought, however, is the inheritance from the positivism of Dewey, which emphasized compromise and neutrality. Compared withHu shi, Yin Hai-kuang is a more radical liberal. He fiercely criticized the "livelihoodphilosophy" and thought that it’s actually a feudal philosophy of pastoralists. Ontreatment of traditional Chinese culture, Yin Hai-kuang basically held a negativeattitude, and hope that the traditional spirit of China and Western culture couldcompete with each other with the principle of “survival of the fittest”. In his lateryears, Yin Hai-kuang began to think about the situation and fuction of modern valuein China’s cultural environment. This kind of thinking had a deep influence on hisstudents and later liberals. The most important issue of liberalism is how to achievethe modern transformation of traditional society and traditional values. Lin Yusheng,Zhang Hao et al propose many inspiring ideas. Liberalism has gone through thedevelopment of an academic and gradually accepted by the people of Taiwan. Inthis process, newspapers and magazines played a major role. A large number ofmagazines which uphold the liberal belief, such as "Free China", promoted liberalismactively."Kaohsiung Incident" occurred around Formosa had a profound impact onTaiwan’s democratic process. In the face of the pressure of liberalism, the KMTgovernment had to make some reforms, such as the release of some political officeand the promotion of party reform. In later years, Chiang Ching-kuo removed thegreatest obstacle to democratic transition by personally open the door ofdemocratization. Subsequently, democratic reform is basically in the form ofconsultation between the government and opposition. DPP has been always claimingthat she is a liberal political party. However, we found that the guiding principles ofliberalism is gradually abandoned and Taiwan-independence banner was held higherand higher. Liberal assertions,such as to against the state monopoly, to encourage thedevelopment of private capital,become some dead letters. Official corruption,government incompetence, and excessive political participation are the evidence.The third chapter expounds the relationship between Neo-Confucian anddemocracy. Based on the predecessors, New Confucianism in Taiwan created a newrealm. There have been many representative figures, such as Tang Junyi, ZhangJunmai, Mou Tsung-san and Hsu Fu-kuan. They respected traditional values, andpursued democracy and freedom actively. The new Confucian criticized Kuomintanggovernment sharply, and even directly pointed out that the advocating ofConfucianism was actually authoritarian and dictatorial arrogance. The new Confucian has a profound observation on western society. They think the traditionalConfucianism in China is an important resource to resolve the contradictions ofWestern society. This understanding has a significance to resolve the problem ofpost-democratization, and to ensure the effective operation of the democratic system.Traditional values and traditional culture are the most important resources to build astable and vibrant civil society. In this area, many of the thoughts and ideas ofNeo-Confucianism can be applied.Chapter IV summarizes the conflict and integration among the three politicalvalue systems and."Three People’s Principles" established under the guidance of a setof systems constrained the freedoms and rights of the people, but the achievements ofeconomic development have laid a foundation for democracy. Liberalism hasachieved the dominant position from the edge. However, the operation of democracyneeds support from the social and cultural field. Traditional values and the operationof democracy can actually play an active role. This is what Neo-Confucianismadvocated.The author summarizes some revelation: First, we should adhere to alow-key democratic concept. The democratic transition is a result of the impact ofoutside forces. Late developing countries eagerly want to catch up developedcountries because of their huge gap. However, this desire often easily makes themcopy the arrangement of the Western political system and consider the traditionalvalues as decadent. We have reason to believe that our traditional values can becomethe factors that promote democracy through transformation and innovation. Second,we should establish a system to ensure the authority of democracy. The concept of avalue must be reflected in a series of institutional arrangements and the systemactually strengthen the value. Democracy can be realized in diverse forms. We havefaith to find a way that can both keep up with the tide of democracy and ensure socialstability and cultural heritage. Third, the conflict and integration among differentpolitical value systems are the character of this era. Every country and region shouldstart to build the political value system on the basis of its own history and presenttasks.