East meets West : human rights and democracy in East Asia

East meets West : human rights and democracy in East Asia / Daniel A. Bell.

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 question...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bell, Daniel (Daniel A.)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©2000.
Subjects:
Human rights > East Asia.
Democracy > East Asia.
POLITICAL SCIENCE > Political Process > General.
Democracy
Human rights
East Asia
Online Access:Click for online access
Table of Contents:
  • Cover13;
  • Contents13;
  • Acknowledgments
  • INTRODUCTION
  • PART I THE EAST ASIAN CHALLENGE TO HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY: REFLECTIONS ON EAST-WEST DIALOGUES
  • TOWARD A TRULY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS REGIME
  • 1. Trade-offs
  • 1.1. Rights vs. Development: A Zero-Sum Game?
  • 1.2. The Need for Specificity
  • 2. An Asian Voice on Human Rights?
  • 2.1. Human Rights: A Western Invention?
  • 2.2. Increasing Commitment to Human Rights in East Asia: Strategic Considerations
  • 2.2.1. On the Prospects of Exporting American Ideals to East Asia
  • 2.2.2. Appealing to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Asia
  • 2.2.3. Local Justifications for Human Rights
  • 3. A Different Moral Standpoint?
  • 3.1. Cultural Respect vs. Liberal Neutrality
  • 3.2. Justifiable Constraints on Western-Style Rights
  • 3.3. New 8220;Asian8221; Rights: Expanding the Set of Internationally Recognized Rights
  • Summary
  • DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS: ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
  • 1. Trade-off Issues
  • 1.1. On the Possibility of Decent Nondemocratic Regimes
  • 1.2. The Costs of Democratization
  • 2. Democratic Rights: Different Justifications
  • 2.1. Limiting the Power of the State
  • 2.2. Democracy as a Means for Nation-Building
  • 2.3. Identifying the Agents of Democratization
  • 2.4. Nation-Building and Social Consensus in Confucian Democracies
  • 3. Democratic Rights: Different Constraints
  • 3.1 Democracy vs. Civil Rights
  • 3.2 Democracy vs. Social and Economic Rights
  • 3.3 Democracy vs. Future Generations
  • Summary
  • PART II THE PROS AND CONS OF DEMOCRACY IN SINGAPORE: A FICTITIOUS DIALOGUE WITH LEE KUAN YEW
  • IS LIBERAL DEMOCRACY SUITABLE FOR SINGAPORE?
  • 1. Democracy Defined as Free and Fair Competitive Elections
  • 2. Democracy Justified (Only) by Its Consequences
  • 3. Democracy and Security
  • 4. Democracy and Civil Liberties
  • 5. Democracy and Prosperity
  • Summary
  • A COMMUNITARIAN CRITIQUE OF AUTHORITARIANISM: THE CASE OF SINGAPORE
  • 1. Community and Democracy
  • 2. Democracy and the Family
  • 3. Democracy and the Nation
  • 3.1. Singapore: A Patriotic Nation?
  • 3.2. How Authoritarianism Undermines Patriotism
  • 3.3. On the Need for Patriotism in Singapore
  • Summary
  • PART III DEMOCRACY WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS
  • A POLITICAL PROPOSAL FOR THE POST-COMMUNIST ERA
  • 1. Constraining Democratic Populism
  • 1.1. On the Need for Capable and Far-Sighted Rulers in Modern Societies
  • 1.2. A Confucian Tradition of Respect for a Ruling Intellectual Elite
  • 2. Alternative Proposals
  • 2.1. Plural Voting Schemes
  • 2.2. A Corporatist Assembly
  • 2.3. A Parliament of Scholar-Officials
  • 3. The Proposal
  • 3.1. Selection Procedures
  • 3.2. The Problem of Corruption
  • 3.3. The Question of Universalizability
  • 3.4. The Problem of Gridlock
  • 3.5. Implementation of the Proposal
  • Closing Scene
  • Select Bibliography
  • Index.

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