Abstract:
Western Liberal Democracies appear affected by a multiple crisis almost everywhere. From 2006 we are seeing a slowdown of some important processes of democratization and the rise of ‘non-democratic’ regimes. In the same context, China, with its effectiveness, faces the Western World with a big dilemma regarding the supremacy of ‘democratic model’ and the performance of decision-making process. What are the main traits of the current Chinese political regime? Is it possible to combine democratic elements with Confucian thought and meritocracy, or Liberalism remains the only way towards democracy? And the current Chinese regime represents a peculiar case able to efficiently use different elements in order to pursue order, balance and meritocracy?