Confucian Democracy in East Asia
Theory and Practice

Confucian Democracy in East Asia explores the unique Confucian reasoning that still exists in much of East Asian culture.

Sungmoon Kim (Author)

9781107049031, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 February 2014

330 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.2 cm, 0.57 kg

'Kim's book is rich and provocative. He has made his arguments by drawing on and debating with different Western and Eastern Confucian scholars, ancient as well as contemporary. His theory attempts to avoid the problem of the emphasis on individualism in liberal democracy and the oppressive tendency of Confucian communitarianism.' Andrew T. W. Hung, European Political Science

This book explores a mode of democracy that is culturally relevant and socially practicable in the contemporary pluralistic context of historically Confucian East Asian societies, by critically engaging with the two most dominant theories of Confucian democracy - Confucian communitarianism and meritocratic elitism. The book constructs a mode of public reason (and reasoning) that is morally palatable to East Asians who are still saturated in Confucian customs by reappropriating Confucian familialism and using this perspective to theorize on Confucian democratic welfarism and political meritocracy. It then applies the theory of Confucian democracy to South Korea, arguably the most Confucianized society in East Asia, and examines the theory's practicality in Korea's increasingly individualized, pluralized, and multicultural society by looking at cases of freedom of expression, freedom of association, insult law, and immigration policy.

Part I. Beyond Thick Confucian Communitarianism and Meritocratic Elitism: 1. The Confucian social self and its discontent
2. Toward civil Confucianism
3. Against meritocratic elitism
Part II. A Pluralist Reconstruction of Confucian Democracy: 4. Value pluralism and Confucian democratic civil society
5. Confucian familialism and public reasoning
6. In defense of Confucian democratic welfarism
7. Rethinking political meritocracy: selection plus two
Part III. Paving an Exemplary Path: The Korean Case: 8. Motivating and legitimating Confucian democracy: the politics of Ch?ng
9. Public reason and the liberalism of human rights
10. Confucian civility and expressive liberty
11. Confucianizing multiculturalism.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP], Black & Asian studies [JFSL3]