Is liberal democracy a universal ideal? Proponents of "Asian
values" argue that it is a distinctive product of the Western
experience and that Western powers shouldn't try to push human
rights and democracy onto Asian states. Liberal democrats in the
West typically counter by questioning the motives of Asian critics,
arguing that Asian leaders are merely trying to rationalize
human-rights violations and authoritarian rule. In this
book--written as a dialogue between an American democrat named Demo
and three East Asian critics--Daniel A. Bell attempts to chart a
middle ground between the extremes of the international debate on
human rights and democracy.
Bell criticizes the use of "Asian values" to justify oppression,
but also draws on East Asian cultural traditions and contributions
by contemporary intellectuals in East Asia to identify some
powerful challenges to Western-style liberal democracy. In the
first part of the book, Bell makes use of colorful stories and
examples to show that there is a need to take into account East
Asian perspectives on human rights and democracy. The second
part--a fictitious dialogue between Demo and Asian senior statesman
Lee Kuan Yew--examines the pros and cons of implementing
Western-style democracy in Singapore. The third part of the book is
an argument for an as-yet-unrealized Confucian political
institution that justifiably differs from Western-style liberal
democracy.
This is a thought-provoking defense of distinctively East Asian
challenges to Western-style liberal democracy that will stimulate
interest and debate among students of political theory, Asian
studies, and international human rights.
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