Confucian Democracy in East Asia

Sungmoon Kim is an Associate Professor of Political Theory at City University of Hong Kong. He received his PhD in political science from the University of Maryland, College Park and previously taught at the University of Richmond. His research interests include comparative political theory, democratic theory, and history of East Asian political thought.

• Part I. Beyond Thick Confucian Communitarianism and Meritocratic Elitism: 1. The Confucian social self and its discontent; 2. Toward civil Confucianism; 3. Against meritocratic elitism; Part II. A Pluralist Reconstruction of Confucian Democracy: 4. Value pluralism and Confucian democratic civil society; 5. Confucian familialism and public reasoning; 6. In defense of Confucian democratic welfarism; 7. Rethinking political meritocracy: selection plus two; Part III. Paving an Exemplary Path: The Korean Case: 8. Motivating and legitimating Confucian democracy: the politics of Chŏng; 9. Public reason and the liberalism of human rights; 10. Confucian civility and expressive liberty; 11. Confucianizing multiculturalism.

'A remarkable study that raises the question: are Asian societies essentially autocratic or are they compatible with modern democracy? If the latter, how can their symbiosis be best understood? Rejecting the incompatibility thesis, the author calls into question presumed Asian preferences for thick communitarianism (neglectful of individual liberty and social pluralism) and public meritocracy (neglectful of popular accountability). Proceeding in a clear, analytical fashion, Kim defends the idea of a Confucian civil democracy whose institutions, supported by Confucian habits and mores, can provide a bulwark for public freedom, democratic citizenship, and good governance. This is an admirable vision designed to call forth the better angels of democracy.' Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre Dame and author of Dialogue among Civilizations