Essay on Democracy Alternatives: Exploring Communism, Capitalism & Government

While there are numerous changes continue to take place in the capitalistic and communism worlds, Eric Li states that there exists various alternatives to the applications of democracy as a form of government and China is a clear indication of this possibility. He discusses numerous aspects of communism, government, capitalism, and democracy. These aspects occupy a critical position in the explanation of various sociological cultures in the world today (Scott, 2014). In this paper, these aspects will be reviewed and their relevance in sociology together with the comparison of China's noncapitalistic system and the capitalistic system of the west and the benefits of understanding this comparison.

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One of the aspects of sociology today is the assumptions that individuals have towards systems created in the society. For government and its roles in sociology, one central hypothesis is that society always evolves into a multiparty democracy that relies on capitalism to drive success in its developments. Eric Li sharply differs from this assumption in his Ted Talk. He takes a keen interest in making his audience understand that there could exist more than one alternative to the success of any modern nation. From a sociological point of view, this assumption that is present by Li might be correct (Li & Ted Global, 2013). This is because different societies in the world have different needs and preferences and often depend on various resources. Therefore, this assumption is an essential addition in the understanding of how societies react to changes in governments and the reasons for the differences in reaction.

One of the main points presented by Eric Li is that the universality claim implemented by democracies in the west will someday be morally challenged by that used in China. The political system in China, as explained by Li, can be considered as one that is going to be the closest technique of managing challenges and governing a vast country. Li explains a model that has democracy at the bottom and meritocracy at the top, which allows for interaction and testing in between the two forms of government. The single-party communism used in China is, however, not the best form of government. AS compared to the west, more democracy is allowed to the people, and political affiliation shape the ways that political leaders drive the West into success or downfall. Li claims that China, through its communist government, has shown useful adaptation of various democracies and more improvement over the years when compared to western governments.

The non-capitalistic government in China is driven by culture; hence, it is not exportable, something that is somewhat what unclear in the capitalistic governments in the west. Li states that the idea of exportability in the social nature of China's government depends on the competency that its governors have and used to drive critical decisions in economics and law. As compared to the capitalistic governments in the West, the weakness that is present in the democracy is driven by incompetence electoral bodies are depicted by their governors.

Political scientists claim that the multiparty capitalistic governments in the west are more capable of self-correction than the single party communists government in China is highly resented by Eric Li. He states that China is the most self-corrected nation in the world today. In the last 64 years, China has created new policies that have improved its cultural revolution, land collectivization, and the great leap forward. Each of these events has been critical to the improvements of China's government, but perhaps one of the most crucial development was the change of Jiang Zemin opening party membership being changed to private businesspeople which are considered as impossible in Mao's rule. In this manner, Li refers to China's government as the leader and expert in political reform.

It is widely assumed that China's communist government puts power in the hands of a few, which propagates corruption and unfair rule. As compared to the capitalistic governments in the West, the leaders are more diversified and distributed in the implementation of regulations in the nations. It is, therefore assumed that western governments are better than China (Li & Ted Global, 2013). Li argues that this is not entirely true since China's one-party is the most meritocratic system in the globe today. As a comparison to the Western governments, Li states that Barack Obama and George Bush had no chance in securing a small county chief post in China since patronage and merit are a vital driver of politics in the nation.

By comparing these systems side by side, a clear depiction of the variations in the two systems of governments can be presented. These variations play a crucial role in ensuring critical ideas in sociology and development in societies are reviewed. For instance, the role of culture in ensuring that China established better economic policies in the last 60 years and the improvement of democracy in the capitalistic governments in the West are definite (Qirjako, 2013). Aspects such as meritocracy, legitimacy, and adaptability between the two governments can also be reviewed to ensure critical comprehension of how social structures in society today drive decisions to improve governments from two different perspectives.

Conclusion

Conclusively, while there are numerous changes continue to take place in the capitalistic and communism worlds, Eric Li states that there exists various alternatives to the applications of democracy as a form of government and China is a clear indication of this possibility. Even though China still faces numerous challenges such as pollution and food security which undermine the political and moral legitimacy of the one-party communist form of government, there exists evidence that proves that having one party is not necessarily an indication of failure (Li & Ted Global, 2013). Eric Li was not out to undermine the importance of democracy but acknowledge the critical role that the type of government plays in creating a modern world today.

References

Li, E., & Ted Global. (2013, July 1). Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0YjL9rZyR0

Qirjako, E. (2013). The new man in our society today: Between communism and capitalism. Sozialpsychologie des Kapitalismus - Heute, 131-140. doi:10.30820/9783837966541-131

Scott, J. (2014). A Dictionary of Sociology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, USA.