Does a perfect political system exist?

(Global Times)

09:45, August 12, 2011

Trouble in the world today is born from a kind of political bewilderment, no matter whether in Arab countries striving for democracy, the US and Europe paying a price for their weak decision-making ability or China's lack of rationality on the Internet. 

What is a perfect political system? Should it be democratic, authoritarian or something else? 

In truth, we do not have enough knowledge about political systems. Although there are many kinds in the world, few political thoughts with true historic meaning have been formed since the Enlightenment. 

The world has witnessed fewer thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Marx than famous scientists. Furthermore, large-scale exploration of political systems is also very rare.

Modern society's political systems must ensure democracy, efficiency and stability at the same time. The democratic systems held by Western countries since the era of industrialization were once considered as the ultimate political systems. 

But problems sprung up like mushrooms after its strong opponent, the former Soviet Union collapsed. Soviet Union-style socialism created amazing efficiency, but finally ended due to neglected democracy and a lack of improved livelihoods. 

The Western system provides democracy, but loses efficiency. The current riots in Britain further expose the dangers of social disorder. These systems' adaptability to a changing world is facing real challenges. 

We expect a perfect political system, which can give people hope while correcting mistakes and healing suffering. But such a system does not exist. Ideals cannot solve political problems. Whether revolutions around the world bear fruit sometimes depends on luck, since the best system is unknown. Copying others may lead to success, but there are more failures than triumphs. 

Democracy once brought prosperity to the US and European countries. However, these powers are declining now, can politics explain why? 

International debates over politics are more intense than ever. Once, socialist politics was aggressive but it is capitalist politics that dominated after the Cold War. 

This is not a theoretical dispute, but is intermingled with too many national interests and ideological conflicts. In fact, there is no political system that can solve all the ills of the world. Our understanding of political systems is still too slight.

Western democratic politics is quite successful in many aspects, but it is not the only way that countries can go. For China, as it stands at the crossroads of reform, we can learn from Western democracy, but more important than that is for us to move forward from our basic national condition. 

We must clearly remember that we do not know the true meaning of democratic politics, and that even Western countries only know their past and face an uncertain future. 

Political reform should be based on facts and adjusted according to economic situations. Only such reform can ensure that we keep moving in the right direction. 

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