Earlier this week we had our class where we called China and discussed elections in political systems. It surprised me that such a large number of the students didn’t believe that elections were the best way to rule their nation. I’m unsure if that is because I’m not used to living in a system where free elections are held, or if I just don’t truly believe what they are saying. In this blog I will look at both of these possibilities and explain my reservations for and against the electoral system.
First it is easy to discuss what I see as the shortcomings of election. For me the first trend when elections come up is who will the contenders be? I think that narrowing down candidates is great for our democracy because in theory it allows for the most suited leaders to run. In actuality, it is somewhat corrupt where only the rich get to run because of the necessity of campaign funds. In both the US and China this is an issue, where the side willing to pay more, either in ads or corruption/bribes. Another issue is that there is a medium that must be carefully balanced when it comes to term limits. If a limit is too long then the person in power is likely to abuse it, too short and the person won’t have time to bring about change. I believe four years is a good time to determine in the president needs to be replace.
I looked at the examples the other students gave the class where they believe other systems work well. The one I remember is Singapore, and upon googling it’s political system found several articles like the one below. Its states that Singapore has “Cracks in Its Political System”. The one that stuck out to me was how it nationalized healthcare but wont be able to continue it because the economic situation of the young supporting the old isn’t going to be feasible in ten years. This sounds a lot like our retirement system in the US.
I do think that China should democratize, but looking around it is obvious that no state is perfect, even if I think democratic elections are the best way. Past US involvements have determined that we tend to look at the world this way and not be able to distinguish the fact that other nations run their political systems differently, and they aren’t all horrible. Ultimately I acknowledge that China is due some reform, as do its students and citizens, but maybe completely free elections are not what absolutely everyone wants.