The China model

The China Model revolves around three things: political stability, meritocracy and good governance. The China Model has ‘political meritocracy’ as opposed to the West’s ‘electoral democracy’ as a form of governance. Political meritocracy – that has a 2,500 year old history in China – means that the “top of the political hierarchy is always populated by the best..the brightest...and the most able.” China’s ‘political meritocracy’ means four things: education, examinations, evaluations and political experience (meritocracy: “a society governed by people selected according to merit”).

The China Model focuses on ‘substance’ rather than the ‘democratic procedure’ (we in Pakistan are exclusively focused on the ‘procedural conceptions of democracy’ as opposed to ‘substance-based democratic conceptions’). A large majority of the Chinese, in survey after survey, have shown a distinct preference for ‘substantive democracy’ as opposed to ‘procedural democracy’. A procedural democracy “concerns itself with the so-called democratic features whereas a substantive democracy concerns itself whether policy has produced results that meet the needs of the masses.”

China has a ‘state-led economic model’ as opposed to ‘Western-style capitalism’. For the record, the China Model characterised by a ‘socialist market economy’ has delivered economic growth-like never before in human history. Here’s the proof: between 1981 and 2013, the China Model “lifted 850 million people out of poverty with the percentage of people living in extreme poverty falling from 88 percent to 1.85 percent.” This is a first in human history.

Daniel Bell’s 'The China Model' “challenges the dominant view that electoral democracy should be regarded as the only acceptable form of government.” Clearly, “China and Singapore are two successful models that prove the feasibility of meritocracy.”

Political history is witness that an “elected leader without any political experience could appeal to people’s worst emotions and rise to the top (and may make beginner’s mistakes). Such a leader would also be more constrained by short-term electoral considerations at the cost of long-term planning for the good of the...community.” The China Model has “meritocracy at the top, experimentation in the middle and democracy at the bottom.”

There are two standards for measuring democracy: substantive and procedural. Do we in Pakistan have a ‘substantive democracy’ or a ‘procedural democracy’? Is our democracy more concerned about democratic procedures or a democracy where policy has produced results that meet the needs of the masses? There are two types of democracy: representational and representative. China’s representational model focuses on “content and substance”. Pakistan’s representative model, on the other hand, focuses on “form and process”.

China’s political stability has made China the world’s largest economy (on a purchasing power parity basis). China’s political meritocracy made China’s economic expansion the “fastest sustained expansion by a major economy in history (World Bank).” China’s good governance has been doubling China’s GDP every eight years. Lo and behold, China is now the largest creditor to the US.

The three things that made ‘The China Miracle’ possible are: political stability, meritocracy and good governance. Which one of the three do we have in Pakistan? Pakistani leaders can learn from the success of others – if they want to.

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.

Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com Twitter: @saleemfarrukh