Virtuous Governance and the Chinese Way
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19570565 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zhaohui Fang (Tsinghua University, corresponding author), Stefano Gandolfo (Tsinghua University) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 91-110 |
| Publication date | 2018-08-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Chinese Humanities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2352-1333 • E-ISSN: 2352-1341 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/23521341-12340059 |
| OpenAlex | W2889120066 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 17 |
Lucian W. Pye, the renowned American Sinologist, argues that power/authority in Chinese culture follows a paternalistic structure, that the distinction in Chinese society between public and private has historically been in a state of tension, and therefore that Chinese governance has always emphasized central power over local self-governance, suppressed cultural pluralism, and rebuffed multipolar structures of power. Even though the inherent tension identified by Pye certainly exists, the thesis that Chinese culture has a deeply ingrained authoritarian orientation is simply incorrect. In order to resolve the tension between the public and private realms, Chinese thinkers—from the various strands of legalist thought to the Confucian notion of “kingly governance”—have premised the division of power on the priority of preserving centralized power. In other words, diffusion of power has been premised on the idea of an already collectivized authority. Therefore, the power structure that defines Chinese culture has certainly not been the polycentric one that Pye implicitly values, but neither has it been the centralist, authoritarian structure that he abhors. Rather, it has been the Confucian model premised on the values of governance through ritual and moral virtue. Insights from cultural psychology help explain ethical governance—that is, rule by an ethical meritocracy—in Chinese society and culture
Authoritarianism · China · Chinese culture · Corporate governance · Democracy · Epistemology · Law and economics · Management · Meritocracy · Paternalism · Political science · Politics · Sinology · Sociology · Virtue · Chinese history and philosophy · Cultural Differences and Values · Emotions and Moral Behavior · Law · Philosophy
Culture's consequences
Asian Power and Politics
Where (Who) Are Collectives in Collectivism? Toward Conceptual Clarification of Individualism and Collectivism.
The Deep Structure of Confucianism
The Rise of Local History
The impact of cultural collectivism on reward allocation
Asian Values and Human Rights
Li and Moral Justification
Dimensions of Li (Propriety)
Some Observations on a Chinese Public Sphere
The Problem of "Civil Society" in Late Imperial China
The Civil Society and Public Sphere Debate
Chinese Relationalism
Individualism-Collectivism
How Does Cultural Collectivism Operate
Face and Favor
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |