Why Chinese Democracy is Superior to Western Democracy According to Zhang Shuhua

"Chinese-style democracy is a novel form of democracy, different from previous forms of democracy"

Today’s edition is a guest post by Daniel Crain, one of Sinification’s earliest supporters and contributors.

2024 is proving to be a whirlwind year for democracies around the world: from the liberal opposition's landslide victory in South Korea’s legislative election and Labour's historic sweep in the United Kingdom to the unexpected setbacks of Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in India and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France. Meanwhile, in the United States, November’s presidential election has taken a dramatic turn since President Joe Biden endorsed Kamala Harris's candidacy, sparking an unforeseen wave of enthusiasm for the Democratic anti-Trump ticket.

However, it is worth remembering that for some Chinese thinkers, one-size-fits-all institutional arrangements like elections should not necessarily be considered synonymous with democracy. This perspective is articulated in today’s piece by Zhang Shuhua (张树华), director of the Institute of Political Science at the Chinese A…