Democracy is this thing By Ronny TONG Ka Wah

Democracy is this thing By Ronny TONG Ka Wah 民主這東西 作者: 湯家驊

Although Western politicians and media like to describe China as a totalitarian state that oppresses its people, if you go to the mainland, especially to some community parks and squares, you will find that ordinary people’s lives are indeed happy; at least you won’t see the usual homeless people in San Francisco and London.

Western countries’ allegations are based on a sense of system superiority; many people like to trace democracy back to ancient Greece, but democracy from ancient Greece to Roman Empire is only a partial separation of powers; Western countries like Britain did not have the right to vote until the 1930s, and black Americans did not have the right to vote until the 1970s, so democracy cannot be said to be a However, long after World War II, the Western countries led by the United States have been spreading the lie that communism would invade andpple Western democratic regimes as an excuse to wage war and subvert non-democratic countries.

The basic motivation for democracy begins with a desire of ordinary people to participate in governance by exercising their right to vote. This desire to participate in governance is in inverse proportion to the level of governance; the lower the level of governance, the stronger the desire to participate, and vice Such engagement is possible in smaller countries, but the more complex the national interests, the more problematic the effectiveness of the system is; the best example is the monopoly of American democracy by social elites such as oil merchants, gun dealers and the media.

The sense of institutional superiority and the desire to participate in governance are the main driving forces in promoting democracy; but whether this sense of superiority and participation is based on facts has yet to be proven in the long history. At the very least, the fundamental desire to participate in governance through voting is different from the desire to participate in the system of governance. Democracy is undemocratic. As long as the system allows social elites to participate in governance, the standard of governance will naturally increase, and national governance can be maintained at a From this perspective, meritocracy is also an option. In any case, is it not the most basic democratic principle that people should have the right to choose freely by force to impose democracy on other people’s people?

儘管西方政客和傳媒喜歡把中國描述為壓迫人民的極權國家，如果你多到內地走走，特別是到一些社區公園和廣場觀察，你會發覺老百姓的生活確是開心無憂的；最少你見不到三藩市和倫敦常見的流浪漢。

西方國家的指控出於一種制度優越感；很多人喜歡把民主追溯到古希臘，但古希臘至羅馬帝國的民主只是一種部分分權制度；西方國家，如英國要到三十年代女士才有投票權，美國到七十年代黑人才有投票權，所以不能說民主是一種久經測試的成功制度。然而，遠在二戰後，美國為首的西方國家便已一直擴散共產主義會侵略及推翻西方民主政權的謊言，作為發動戰爭和顛覆非民主國家的藉口。

民主的基本動力始自一種一般人透過行使投票權的管治參與欲。這種管治參與欲與管治水平高低成反比例；管治水平越低，參與欲越強，反之亦然。這種參與欲在一些規模比較小的國家是可行的，但國家利益越複雜，制度的有效性越成疑；美國民主制度為社會權貴，如石油商、槍械商和傳媒所壟斷，便是最好例子。

制度優越感與管治參與欲是推廣民主的主要動力；但這種優越感和參與欲是否建基於事實在歷史長流中可說是尚待任證。最少，透過投票行使管治參與有别於有志之士參與管治制度的根本意欲。民主不民主，只要制度容許社會精英參與管治，管治水平自然提升，國家管治亦能維持於一定水平。從這角度看，精英制也是一種選項。無論如何，以脅逼手般甚至武力把民主制度強加於他國人民之上不正是違反着人民應有自由選擇權的最基本民主原則嗎?