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Making the case for China 'model' of efficiency
By Jacob von Bisterfeld |
October 22, 2010, Friday
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EDITOR'S note:
The author correctly points out the many problems in Western-style democracies, but he may have overstated the "effectiveness" of the China model.
TELEVISION screens around the globe are awash with the sorry sights of France on strike, a revolt against the very necessary raising of the retirement age from a premature 60 to a still premature 62 years.
In France, the government is democratically elected on the basis of one man one vote. The idea being that the democratically elected government gets on with the job of governing during its tenure. It is therefore inconceivable that the job of governing is taken away from the government when the doctor has to prescribe a somewhat bitter medicine to heal the patient, ie, the sick French economy.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, now governor of California, was gushing on CCTV9 about China executing government decisions in record time with, apparently, nary a whisper of complaint. Hi-speed rail systems, rivaling the French TGV and Japanese Shinkansen trains, spanning half of China and more, are completed within a few years; and they are running smoothly.
Schwarzenegger explained that in the US "the rights of the individual" and party politics often delay essential projects by five years or more as the result of demands for bothersome referendums and/or endless litigation by aggrieved individuals, often followed by equally lengthy appeals.
Kissing babies
In many Western-style democracies, a year or more is wasted by parliamentarians and fresh entrants by campaigning (ie, kissing babies and smiling to, and shaking hands with, as many individuals as possible). If a four-year term of office is the norm, then half the time may be wasted on getting worked-in and campaigning for the next term in office.
Then there is the scourge of party politics inherent in the Western system of democracies. Usually, elected members of parliament feel compelled NOT to enact what is good for the country and its citizens but vote for what is good for the party. The opposition will find all sorts of petty ways to delay, belittle and torpedo the proposals on the table and forge a coalition with minority splinter or loony parties in order to derail an essentially beneficial proposal.
Successive Chinese governments have fared better in many aspects: building superior infrastructure (electric power generation, high-speed railways, highways, communications, business friendly industrial parks) and a host of other things benefiting the community at large.
That, not infrequently, the rights of some individuals were inevitably challenged, has hardly delayed mega-projects that hugely benefited the country as a whole.
Meanwhile, more than half a billion people were elevated to well above the poverty line in less than 25 years.
The time has come for the world at large to seriously consider a system of nation governing devoid of bothersome party politics, by way of a combination of fairness and effectiveness, as can be experienced in Singapore or China.
(The author is a freelancer. Shanghai Daily condensed his article.)
The author correctly points out the many problems in Western-style democracies, but he may have overstated the "effectiveness" of the China model.
TELEVISION screens around the globe are awash with the sorry sights of France on strike, a revolt against the very necessary raising of the retirement age from a premature 60 to a still premature 62 years.
In France, the government is democratically elected on the basis of one man one vote. The idea being that the democratically elected government gets on with the job of governing during its tenure. It is therefore inconceivable that the job of governing is taken away from the government when the doctor has to prescribe a somewhat bitter medicine to heal the patient, ie, the sick French economy.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, now governor of California, was gushing on CCTV9 about China executing government decisions in record time with, apparently, nary a whisper of complaint. Hi-speed rail systems, rivaling the French TGV and Japanese Shinkansen trains, spanning half of China and more, are completed within a few years; and they are running smoothly.
Schwarzenegger explained that in the US "the rights of the individual" and party politics often delay essential projects by five years or more as the result of demands for bothersome referendums and/or endless litigation by aggrieved individuals, often followed by equally lengthy appeals.
Kissing babies
In many Western-style democracies, a year or more is wasted by parliamentarians and fresh entrants by campaigning (ie, kissing babies and smiling to, and shaking hands with, as many individuals as possible). If a four-year term of office is the norm, then half the time may be wasted on getting worked-in and campaigning for the next term in office.
Then there is the scourge of party politics inherent in the Western system of democracies. Usually, elected members of parliament feel compelled NOT to enact what is good for the country and its citizens but vote for what is good for the party. The opposition will find all sorts of petty ways to delay, belittle and torpedo the proposals on the table and forge a coalition with minority splinter or loony parties in order to derail an essentially beneficial proposal.
Successive Chinese governments have fared better in many aspects: building superior infrastructure (electric power generation, high-speed railways, highways, communications, business friendly industrial parks) and a host of other things benefiting the community at large.
That, not infrequently, the rights of some individuals were inevitably challenged, has hardly delayed mega-projects that hugely benefited the country as a whole.
Meanwhile, more than half a billion people were elevated to well above the poverty line in less than 25 years.
The time has come for the world at large to seriously consider a system of nation governing devoid of bothersome party politics, by way of a combination of fairness and effectiveness, as can be experienced in Singapore or China.
(The author is a freelancer. Shanghai Daily condensed his article.)
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