Democracy: a system that gives power to the people

Editorial remarks

Democracy Without Borders is republishing the article below by Dr. Xu Zhiyong (许志永) with kind permission of China Change.

Xu is a legal scholar, pioneer of China’s rights defense movement, and a founder of the New Citizens Movement. On April 10, 2023, Xu was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of “subverting state power.” Before this, he had served a separate prison term from 2013 to 2017 for his New Citizens Movement activities during Xi Jinping’s first wave of crackdowns on civil society after coming to power in late 2012. Between the two prison terms, from 2017 to the end of 2019, Xu wrote a collection of 24 essays, A Beautiful China (美好中国), which have now been translated and published on his request by China Change. The article below is the first section of the twenty-first essay titled Beautiful Politics. 

Democracy

Who holds the highest authority in a nation? Of course, it is the people. The people are the masters of the country. “The people” is not an abstract concept, but rather it is the collective of all citizens. Being “masters of the country” is not an empty slogan; it requires constitutional safeguards, including free elections, checks and balances, judicial independence, and multi-party competition.

Democracy is not “winning power and keeping it,” treating the country as personal property — that is the logic of bandits. It is not some inevitable outcome of history where ordinary people suffer silently amidst chaos. Democracy does not entail presiding over the people from up on high, demanding their praise and loyalty. It cannot coexist with one-party rule: “the Party’s leadership” and “people as masters of their own affairs” are mutually irreconcilable concepts.

Democracy requires free elections, checks and balances, judicial independence, and multi-party competition

A nation is the sum of its people, territory, government, and history and culture — both materially and spiritually. The government should act as a public servant, entrusted by the people to manage and serve. Political parties should promote ideals and serve peoples’ needs, with competition among parties and regular elections allowing the people to choose their government, just as homeowners choose a property manager — the best candidate assumes power. Loving one’s country is not the same as loving the government, and certainly not the same as loving any particular party. When autocrats usurp the people’s sovereignty, the people resist authoritarianism precisely because they love their country.

Direct democracy, where everyone participates directly in decision-making on public matters, represents the ideal model of democracy. However, participation comes at a cost, just as each area requires specialized expertise. Electing professional politicians to represent oneself in governing the country — representative democracy — is a rationally designed institutional arrangement. Regular elections are an essential process for upholding popular sovereignty and the legitimacy of power in modern states.

Democratic models vary: the American presidential system, the German parliamentary cabinet system, and the British constitutional monarchy each reflect their country’s cultural traditions and paths of political transformation. However, the fundamental rules of democracy—free elections, checks and balances, judicial independence, multi-party competition, and local autonomy—are universal. They transcend the East-West or capitalist-socialist divide; they instead distinguish between genuine and false democracy. With these institutions, democracy is real. Without them, it is fake.

The rights of minorities must be respected and safeguarded

Democracy is not merely rule by the majority. While the majority opinion guides governance, the rights of minorities must also be respected and safeguarded. Constitutions enshrine certain fundamental rights and freedoms that cannot be arbitrarily infringed upon, even in the name of the majority. Modern democratic systems encompass a comprehensive framework of constitutional mechanisms, including elections, the separation of powers, and the rule of law, designed to prevent the “tyranny of the majority” which Socrates once suffered.

What is often referred to as “elite democracy” is, in truth, merely a facade for the rule of a minority. When factors such as status, wealth, or gender are used as thresholds for participation in democracy — for instance, restricting voting rights to men of certain property holdings — this belongs to the cradle stage of democracy. In modern society, equality of status, gender equality, and the equality of human dignity are foundational principles. The most crucial hallmark of a nation truly belonging to its people is universal suffrage.

There is no such thing as “consultative democracy.” Emperors consult with their ministers, and fathers consult with their sons—this is not democracy. At its core, democracy is about decision-making power: whether decisions are made by the majority or by a minority. Merely consulting without voting, or consulting only to have a minority make the final decision, is not true democracy. Consultation is an essential element of democracy. Even in the United States, where partisan competition is fierce, consultation remains a norm. However, democracy and consultation are like eating a meal and drinking water: one might drink water before, during, or after a meal, but that does not make the meal a “water meal.”

The so-called “eight democratic parties” in China cannot even be said to engage in consultation; at best, they amount to ministers offering advice to the throne. True consultation requires equality of status, yet these parties hold a position even lower than concubines. A concubine might occasionally lose her temper with the master of the house, but these eight parties wouldn’t dare. They wouldn’t even venture to make suggestions on significant national affairs, limiting themselves instead to trivial matters. They are nothing more than eight decorative vases, arranged and manipulated at will.

There is no such thing as “whole-process democracy.” Democracy, by its very nature, is a whole process—from elections to checks and balances, to citizens’ daily participation. Democracy is a way of life in modern civilization. Without the right to vote, without freedom of speech, and without space for genuine civic engagement, so-called “public hearings” on price hikes—where officials handpick a few “citizen representatives”—are no different from arranging eight decorative vases. This is merely a facade of post-totalitarian rule.

Democracy is not bread itself, but a system for the fair distribution of bread

Democracy cannot be eaten as food. Yet without democracy, some would really starve: hungry people were not allowed to go elsewhere begging for food, as happened when tens of millions starved to death during the so-called “three years of famine.” Democracy is not bread itself, but a system for the fair distribution of bread. It is the spiritual sustenance that ensures freedom and dignity for all. Distribution is as important as production. In an age of agricultural surpluses, spiritual nourishment becomes even more precious.

Democracy is not perfect. Elections require funding, they may bring to power silver-tongued deceivers, and legislators may argue endlessly or even resort to physical altercations. Yet none of these imperfections is reason to reject democracy. Election funding is primarily driven by donations; it turns campaigns into a nationwide celebration, and it’s not a waste. In an open society, fraudsters are quickly exposed. Democracy determines a nation’s direction. While it may be less efficient, this trade-off ensures greater safety and long-term stability. Over a hundred countries have chosen democracy, representing a sweeping tide of historical progress.

The most direct way to realize democracy is through elections. The only true proof of the legitimacy of power lies in elections. The electoral system, based on its own inherent logic, adheres to the following principles:

Equality. Citizens, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, education level, or place of residence, enjoy equal voting rights and the right to stand for election. One person, one vote, with each vote carrying equal weight. Measures are in place to limit the corrosive influence of money, ensuring campaign funding is open and transparent, capping donation limits, and eliminating vote-buying.

Directness. From mayors to presidents, from city councils to national parliaments, government leaders and legislators should be elected directly. The more layers of indirect elections, the greater the risk of vote-buying and corruption, and the more representation is eroded. Modern nations possess both the means and the technology to implement direct elections.

Competition. Genuine elections feature passionate competition between candidates and the free choice of the people. In contrast, sham elections feature lifeless candidates resembling zombie portraits, where citizens are mobilized to vote and outcomes are manipulated. Without competition, there can be no real election. Free competition allows individuals and parties, regardless of affiliation, to participate openly, providing voters with real choices. Peaceful competition prohibits the use of violence and requires strict adherence to the rule of law.

Continue reading the entire essay here at China Change. The next sections cover Rule of Law, Separation of Powers, Freedom, Justice, Love, Political Parties, Judges, Servicemen, and Politicians. The excerpt above is republished with kind permission. The copyright remains with the original publisher and/or the author.