Lessons for India 1 //// CRONYISM - MERITOCRATIC SYSTEM - SELF PERPETUATING AUTOCRACY - The rule of law and judicial independence are not insidious Trojan horses of the West that seek to undermine the Communist Party. They are pillars of good governance everywhere because they protect the average person from abuse by the powerful and privileged -- particularly from the kind of arbitrary exercise of authority seen during the Cultural Revolution as well as the pervasive corruption of the past decade when rapid growth hurled China into the top ranks of the global economy. //// Singapore is a good example of how the rule of law strengthens the authority of the state, above all by cleaning up corruption. //// The rise of civil society and the separation of powers in the West was the consequence of an historical conflict between religious and political authority that never occurred in China. //// When cronyism is under control, leaders are promoted based on experience and capability. //// It is this system that accounts for the Chinese miracle. While China today is connecting 80 percent of its cities with 8,000 miles of high speed rail, democratic India, by contrast, still cant provide toilets for half of its population. //// The present system is heir -- in its ideal form -- to Chinas 2,000 year-old institutional civilization, where selection of leaders based on meritocratic competition has played the same central role historically as competitive elections in the West. The downside of such a system, of course, is that it can too easily become hidebound and corrupt, turning the meritocratic ideal into rule by a self-interested, insular and self-perpetuating autocracy. For it to work properly, there must be robust feedback loops -- relatively open expression -- and a legal system that can reliably prosecute corruption and arbitrary use of power. ////huffingtonpost/nathan-gardels/china-free-expression_b_6324132.html
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 09:19:29 +0000
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