The ideological confrontation between liberal democratic societies and the authori- tarian or illiberal societies of East Asia presents some interesting challenges for con- temporary liberal political philosophers. Some East Asian political leaders have attributed the remarkable economic success and stability of these societies to a somewhat nebulously conceived body of Asian values. According to this view, the success of East Asian societies such as Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan is ultimately attributable to their distinct moral traditions, including, for example, Confucianism, which place high value upon family-oriented moral qualities such as filial piety and deference to authority.Now I think that the suspicion that some East Asian governments have distorted Confucian philosophy for ideological purposes is well founded. Nevertheless, I still- want to argue that the idea of "Asian," or, more accurately, "Confucian," values be taken seriously when considering ways of justifying democracy in East Asian con- texts. Taking this idea more seriously may help us to understand why Western leaders' exhortations to East Asian leaders to adopt more liberal democratic institutions often fall on unsympathetic ears. It may also help us to understand the difficulties con- fronted by democracy activists in East Asian societies. Political philosophers such as Daniel Bell have argued that attempts to justify democracy in East Asian societies must indeed acknowledge their moral traditions; appeals to Western concepts of individualism are less likely to be successful. But I shall be suggesting a more radical strategy for justifying democracy in East Asian societies than does Bell, a strategy influenced by the thought of the American pragmatist philosopher John Dewey. Bell puts forward an instrumental justification of democracy, arguing that representative "democratic governments protect and facilitate communitarian forms of life."'The strategy I am thinking of is in some ways more radical, because it does not limit itself to reforms in political institutional arrangements. I want to argue that in the present period of social and economic change, the democratic reform of com- munity and organizational life, coupled with the instituting of civil freedoms, will help preserve the continuity of Confucian moral traditions cherished in a number of East Asian societies. What is envisaged here is not necessarily a liberal democraticideal. Rather, it should be taken as a hypothesis about the beneficial consequences that may follow from fostering a democratic ethos in the community life of East Asian societies that are either engaged in the process of democratization or contemplating the democratic revitalization of their political and social institutions (e.g., South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, or Japan).This essay will be divided into four sections. In the first section I shall discuss briefly the classical liberal conceptions of representative democracy and liberty currently being recommended to East Asia by Western political leaders. I shall give consideration to both natural rights based and consequentialist justifications for representative democracy and individual liberty in these conceptions. The second section will discuss some Confucian values that are appealed to by autocratic East Asian leaders in their objections to Western recommendations for liberal democracy in East Asia. The third section will present a pragmatist understanding of democracy and of its ideas regarding the role of public participation in such a democratic practice. I shall consider what grounds there might be for disagreements between pragmatists and some contemporary Confucians over these conceptions of democracy and the public and over the role of expert and intellectual authority in public policy making. In the final section, I shall give a concrete illustration of how a more communitarian form of democratic practice might have appeal in societies with Confucian moral traditions.
