“In China, Democracy is a tool, not a religion.”

The title is a quote borrowed from the linked article below.

‘How Democratic is China?’ – Godfree Roberts – via The Titanic Lifeboat Academy, and as originally published here.

In a recent post I made the observation – “If the United States can refer to its own system of government as a ‘democracy’ – though to many observers that would be a somewhat overstretched point – then there is no reason why China should not see a form of democracy in its own governmental system. That seems to be a fair statement to me.”

That was an outline of an assessment to which I have arrived based on many readings over recent years. I had no empirical understanding of the situation in China but a reasonable degree of knowledge as to the poor state of western democracy everywhere, particularly in the US.

I still believe it to be a ‘fair statement’ but I now have empirical evidence, in the form of the excellent article linked above, as to the substance behind my conclusions on the matter. And it is, on the whole, a pretty picture – at least in comparison with so-called western democracy – and, in all fairness, it stands alone as a valid pattern of what democracy is all about as many people, I believe, would conceive the term to mean. 

Take a look, and decide for yourself.

Not a ‘rubber stamp’ in sight.