 Liberal democracy, non-Western governance, and the Bloomington SchoolBryan Cheang Chapter 6 in Governing Differences, 2025, pp 135-152 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: This chapter explores the relevance of polycentrism in governance debates within non-democratic societies, using Confucianism in East Asia as a case study. It considers how polycentrism, which claims to be pluralistic, might be perceived in a world where democracy's universal value is increasingly questioned, especially in the global South, where around 88 percent of the world's population resides. It argues that polycentric governance, grounded in normative individualism, may not resonate with political cultures that lack a historical or sociological predisposition toward pluralistic decision-making. In communitarian East Asia, where the state is often seen as an extension of the family, normative individualism may be treated negatively. However, polycentrism remains valuable as a tool of institutional analysis, offering pragmatic reasons for appreciating institutional decentralization, enhancing governmental performance legitimacy, diffusing social tensions, and building social trust. Keywords: Modus vivendi; Pluralism; Normative theory; Confucianism; Institutional analysis; Liberalism (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:24033_7 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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