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Peking University, Oct. 19, 2012: Famous Japanese-American scholar Francis Fukuyama delivered a speech titled “Chinese and Western Political Order in Historical Perspective”, based on his new book The Origins of Political Order, in Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center at Peking University (PKU) on the morning of October 17. The speech focused on the difference in political evolution between China and the West, and included his latest thoughts about current political order of the world.
Francis Fukuyama was invited as an honored guest for the 110th anniversary of Department of Philosophy, PKU and as the first international scholar in humanities to lecture for the PKU Global Fellowship Program.
PKU Council Chairman Zhu Shanlu met with Francis Fukuyama before his speech. Professor Wang Bo, Dean of Department of Philosophy hosted the speech, with a 300-strong audience present.
In his speech, Francis Fukuyama tried to explain the multiple forms of social development from the interaction between three political factors and economic growth, social mobilization and ideology (or legitimacy), based on his teacher Samuel Huntington’s theory illustrated in the book Political Order in Changing Societies. Francis Fukuyama believed that the three political factors, namely state power, the rule of law and a responsible government, were three critical institutional factors.
According to Max Weber’s definition of the state, the modern state appeared in China as early as in Qin Dynasty, much earlier than in most of the western countries. However, there was an absence of a responsible government and the rule of law in Chinese history, although moral constraints advocated by Confucianism could compensate to some extent. In contrast, in European history, it was the rule of law and a responsible government that appeared first, while the modern state did not come into being until the 17th or 18th century. Francis Fukuyama argued that this different path of political evolution could well account for the current different political forms between China and the West.
In the final analysis, Francis Fukuyama pointed out the major challenges in terms of political order that China and the US would face in the future. “China was confronted with the danger of power abuse thus more efforts should be made in constructing a responsible government and enhancing the rule of law. As for the US, the state power needs to be reinforced. When answering questions from the audience, Francis Fukuyama maintained that China’s political development would have great influence on the future of the world.
In the afternoon, Department of Philosophy, PKU invited a dozen famous Chinese scholars of different disciplines, including philosophy, Chinese history, study of politics, international politics, law and economics, to discuss with Francis Fukuyama on the theme “Viewing Chinese Political Development from a Cultural Comparative Perspective”, based on his latest book Origins of Political Order and his speech in the morning.
Chinese scholars spoke highly of Francis Fukuyama’s attempt to be more objective in understanding the difference between China and western countries in the historical development of political orders. They fully exchanged ideas with Francis Fukuyama on the theoretical frame of his book, the understanding of Chinese history, and the interpretation of the difference in political orders between China and the West. Some of them supported his major conclusions with evidence from their studies of Chinese history, while others questioned and explored the western way of thinking and philosophical roots reflected in Francis Fukuyama’s theories.
Chinese scholars showed great interest in the key issue of the book which revealed the crucial functions and the potential dangers of state power in constructing political orders, and had a heated discussion with Francis Fukuyama.
In the discussion, Francis Fukuyama further elaborated his theories and expressed his strong willingness to have a deeper understanding of Chinese ideology and political tradition. Francis Fukuyama admitted that the US democracy had defects and was facing serious challenges, which needed excellent political leadership to be dealt with. He also frankly pointed out that although China’s unique political tradition was helpful in strengthening its state power, it had caused many hidden problems as well. Therefore, Chinese political leaders needed to find out a method to reform China’s political system to better interact with the other political factors.
At the end of the discussion, Francis Fukuyama told Chinese scholars that he had read tons of Chinese history books in order to write his book Origins of Political Order. While reading those books, he increasingly felt the greatness of Chinese history. He highly expected China to restore the connection with its traditional culture in the future.
Extended Reading
Francis Fukuyama is Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), resident in FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University. Twenty years ago, he published a book titled The End of History and the Last Man in which he made bold predictions of the world’s prospects after the Cold War. It was translated into more than 20 languages and had aroused extensive attention and discussion in both academic and political circles all over the world. Today, the international political situation seeing great changes after the Cold War, he recently published a book titled The Origins of Political Order, to express his unique understanding about the present political situation from a historical point of view, especially the fading of many countries in politics.
Written by: Li Yanmei
Edited by: Chen Long
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
