Synopsis
Contrary to the belief of many contemporaries, democracy is as evil and good as non-democracy. This sounds shocking, since democracy (of whatever version) enjoys its triumphant moment in our age, to the effect that there is a widespread belief of democracy, unlike non-democracy, as most congenial to the celebration (not condemnation) of difference. It's not often that an innovative thinker comes along to question, in the manner of Socrates, the most strongly held beliefs of Western Civilization. Dr.Peter Baofu, however, is such a person. Coming as he does from the East - an ethnic Chinese born in Viet Nam, who has subsequently lived, studied, and worked in Europe and America for more than a quarter of a century (as of 2003) -, he brings with him an unusual perspective of democracy, that prompts him to observe, as did the boy in Hans Christian Anderson's The Emperor's New Clothes, that reality is not what others perceive. Western Universities produce over three million graduates a year, who in the course of their studies have focused on the characteristics of democracy and even compared it to other forms of governance. Stories of the earliest embodiments of democracy, focusing on the struggles of heroic combatants in battle with tyrants, in pursuit of an ideal, have evoked the sympathies of generations of readers. In fact, we continue to witness every day, where newly emerging states attuned to the West are rejecting monarchical forms of government as too closely related to the democratic opposite. And so it is, that Dr. Baofu, a scholar in Political Science, challenges us to conceive a better model of governance to supersede democracy. It's a clarion call to arms to move beyond democracy. Sylvan von Burg Director, CDC School of Foreign Service Georgetown University Washington, DC
Review
"It's not often that an innovative thinker comes along to question, in the manner of Socrates, the most strongly held beliefs of Western Civilization. Dr. Peter Baofu, however, is such a person. Coming as he does from the East - an ethnic Chinese born in Viet Nam, who has subsequently lived, studied, and worked in Europe and America for more than a quarter of a century (as of 2003) -, he brings with him an unusual perspective of democracy, that prompts him to observe, as did the boy in Hans Christian Anderson's The Emperor's New Clothes, that reality is not what others perceive. Western Universities produce over three million graduates a year, who in the course of their studies have focused on the characteristics of democracy and even compared it to other forms of governance. Stories of the earliest embodiments of democracy, focusing on the struggles of heroic combatants in battle with tyrants, in pursuit of an ideal, have evoked the sympathies of generations of readers. In fact, we continue to witness every day, where newly emerging states attuned to the West are rejecting monarchical forms of government as too closely related to the democratic opposite. And so it is, that Dr. Baofu, a scholar in Political Science, challenges us to conceive a better model of governance to supersede democracy. It's a clarion call to arms to move beyond democracy." - (From the Foreword) Sylvan von Burg, Director, CDC, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University"
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