West doesn't have monopoly over democracy

转自：中国日报网

Editor'snote:ThethirdInternationalForumonDemocracy:TheSharedHumanValueswasorganizedbythePublicityDepartmentoftheCommunistPartyofChinaCentralCommitteeandtheStateCouncilInformationOfficeinBeijingonWednesday.Morethan200expertsfromdifferentcountries,regionsandinternationalorganizationsparticipatedintheconference.Excerptsfromtheopinionsofthreeoftheexpertsfollow:

Democracy not a value of the West alone

ManyintheWestthinkthatdemocracyisavalueoftheWest;it'saflagthatwecanwaveasopposedtootherpartsoftheworld.Somewouldliketoseethenarrative,"democracy"versus"autocracy",becomethenewBerlinWallofanewColdWar,ofanewbipolarityandofanewconfrontationistpositionthatwillmakeallinternationalcooperationdifficult.

WeWesternpeopleareproudofthedemocracywehavewonandestablishedinourcountries,particularlyinEurope.ItisthefruitofalonghistoricalprocessthatbeganwiththeFrenchRevolution,andwhosemainprotagonistwastheworkers'movement,whichwasaimedatwinningeffective,popularsovereigntyagainstthepoliticallynarrowoligarchiesthathadlongdominatedWesternsocieties.

Butthislegitimateprideshouldnotpreventusfromseeingthatourmodelofdemocracy,becauseitistheresultofalong,peculiarhistoricalprocess,cannotbeexportedtoandimposedonotherpartsoftheworld,asthefailedexperiencesinAfghanistanandIraqandotherMiddleEastcountrieshaveagainshowninrecentyears.

Itisalsoevidentthattoday'sworldcannotbereducedtoabinarycontestbetweentwodemocracymodels.Thosewhobelieve,asIdo,inthevaluesofdemocracyshouldalsorealizethatthelogicoftheColdWarandideologicalchallengearenotconducivetothecirculationofideasinwhichdifferentcivilizationsandculturescaninfluenceoneanother.Onthecontrary,actingonthislogic,wecouldgiverisetorigidity,whichagainisnotconducivetotheaffirmationofhumanrightsanddemocraticprinciples.

Thewaystoachievesovereigntymaybedifferent,butthehonorisonthosewhopursueanalternativemodeltotheWesttoshowinpracticethecompatibilitybetweentheabsenceofpoliticalpluralismandtheeffectiveexerciseoffreedomofexpressionanddissent,andthecontrolonpoliticalpower.

It'stimefordifferentcivilizationsandculturestoopenlycometogetheronthesignificantissueofhumanfreedomandfindwaystosafeguardit,ratherthanmerelyengaginginideologicalorpropagandaconfrontations.

Whileeverycountry'spoliticalsystemisautonomouslydetermined,theremustbeatransitiontowardamultipolarorderinaninterconnectedworld.Thisistherealglobaldimensionofdemocracy,nottoreturntobipolarity,nottoacceptaunipolarworld,butaworldtogoverntogether,amultipolarreality.

MassimoD'Alema,formerprimeministerofItaly

A more global transparent governance system needed

ThefalloftheBerlinWallin1989notonlystartedtheendoftheColdWar,butalsothedecadefollowingthehistoriceventperhapsmarkedthehightideofglobaldemocracy.Atthattime,therewerehighexpectationsthatliberaldemocracywouldspreadacrosstheworld.

Threedecadeson,werealizethatthoseexpectationsneverreallymaterialized.Instead,peoplearenowlamentingthefactthatdemocracyappearstobeinregression.Issuesthatarerelevantincludepoorgovernanceunderminingtrustandcredibilityinmanydemocraticinstitutionsaroundtheworld,andeconomicinequalitycreatingfertilegroundforpopulist,ultra-nationalistandextremistleaders.Withtheadvancementoftechnology,thenewchallengesthatdemocracyfacesnowincludethefactthatartificialintelligenceandbigdatacanbeusedastoolsbythoseengagedindivisiveinformationcampaignsandpolarizingsocieties.

Butmyfocusisonadifferentaspect.Overthepastthreedecades,wehavealsobeenunabletoreforminternationalorganizationsthatmakeuptheglobalgovernancesystem.Indeed,ourinabilitytodosocontributedtothefailureoftheglobalgovernancesystemtokeeppacewitheconomicglobalization.Thismeanswedon'thaveaneffectiveordemocraticglobalgovernancesystem.

Someoftheabovedeficienciesrequireurgentfixing.Thefirstistheglobalgovernancestructure.ManyinternationalorganizationsweredesignedattheendofWorldWarII,thatis,almostthreequartersofacenturyago.Theworldhasmovedonconsiderablysincethen,andtherehasbeenashiftintheeconomicandpoliticalpowersamongthecountries.

Therearemanyemergingcountriesandeconomieswhicharenowveryinfluentialandmorerelevanttoglobalaffairs,yettheycontinuetobeunderrepresentedininternationalorganizations,andtheyincludecountriesinAsia,AfricaandLatinAmerica.Itistimetocorrectthisimbalancebecauseitisdemocraticandtherightthingtodo.

Also,timeandagainwehaveseenthedominantpowersenjoytheprivilegeofpickingandchoosingwhichrulesorwhichagreementstheycomplywith,sometimesevenusingvetopowerstoshootthemdownifthereisaconflictofinterest.Onecannothaveaglobalgovernancesystemthatcanbecalleddemocraticifthereisnoequalityunderthesamerulesandsamelaws.This,too,needstobefixed.

Besides,thedecision-makingprocessofmanyinternationalorganizationslacksinopenness,transparencyandinclusivity.It'stimetoimprovetheprocessandensurewidespreadconsultationsoneveryimportantissuewithmorediversestakeholders,maybeevencivilsociety,takingpart,inordertomaketheprocessinclusive.Amoretransparentandopenprocesswillalsoallowscrutinyfromtheglobalmedia.

Moreimportant,thedecisionsthataretakenbyinternationalorganizationsoftenhaveaprofoundimpactonmanypeoplearoundtheworld,andyetthereisnosystemofaccountability.Itistimewebuiltasystemthatwouldholdtheseorganizationsaccountable,beginningperhapswiththecreationofanombudsman'soffice.

Ibelievethisprocessitselfwillhelpbuildthefoundationforacomprehensiveglobalgovernancesystemthatwouldensureinternationalorganizationsplayaconstructiveroleinspreadingtruedemocraticvaluesincountriesaroundtheworld.

AbhisitVejjajiva,formerprimeministerofThailand

Deficit of trust in Western democracies increasing

Morethan2,500yearsago,ConfuciusandtheancientGreekphilosophersdeliberatedonthesameconceptofmoralgovernancealmostsimultaneously,yettheyarrivedatdifferentconclusions.ButtheirideaslaidthefoundationfordifferentcivilizationsintheEastandtheWest,thatallowustonotjustliveinpeacebutalsocarryoutmeaningfulexchangeofideas.

Inthesameway,democracyisauniversalvaluebutitcantakedifferentforms.TheWesterncountriesshouldthereforeacceptpoliticalsystemsthataredifferentfromtheirown.

ThattheChinesegovernmentenjoysahighleveloftrustamongthepeopleiseasytounderstandnotonlybecauseChinahasliftedabout800millionpeopleoutofabjectpoverty—auniqueachievementinhumanhistory—butalsobecauseitistheonlycountrywhichhasdoubleditsdevelopmentindex,whichismeasuredbytheUnitedNationstakingintoaccounttheGDPaswellasqualitativeindicatorssuchasequality,educationandlifeexpectancy.

WhataboutthedeficitoftrustinourWesterndemocracies?Therearenotonlyeconomicorpoliticalreasonsbutalsoacombinationofreasonsforthat.Itisalsobecausewageshavenotincreasedintandemwiththeriseinproductivity.Inotherwords,oursocietieshavewealthbutthatwealthisnotdistributedequally.Theseeconomicinequalitiesareamajorreasonbehindthelackofpoliticaltrust.

AnOECDsurveyshowsthatthemajorityofpeopleinWesterncountriesbelievetheirgovernmentsarenottakingmeasurestopromotethegeneralpeople'sinterests;instead,theyarepromotingtheinterestsofthewealthyandthepowerful.ThisalsoreflectsthefeelingthatgloballyMarxismisversuscapitalism.Arecentsurveyalsoshowsthatmorethan52percentoftherespondentsseecapitalismasanegativeforcewhichdoesmoreharmtotheworldthangood,withthemajorityoftherespondentssayingtheybelievecapitalismisfailingthem.

Wearelivinginamultipolarworld,wherecountriesincludingdevelopingonesshouldadjustandconsiderpoliciesbasedontheirrealsocioeconomicconditions.TheglobalapprovalforChinaishigherthanthatoftheUnitedStates,at62percent,inthedevelopingworld.AndyetWesternpropagandaclaimstheChina-proposedBeltandRoadInitiativehascreateddebttrapsforothercountries,whichisnottheviewheldbyBeltandRoadcountries.

IhopeinthefuturetheEastandtheWest,theNorthandtheSouthwillholdregularconsultationsandavoidconfrontations,whiletryingtopromotethecommoninterestofallhumankind.

编辑：胡一瑾