https://theloop.ecpr.eu/lets-tell-a-more-contextual-story-about-minben/
Mencius/Confucius wrote the following some estimated 2,400 years ago:
"‘The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the least 民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕" (see book 7, part 2)"
As Li-Chia Lo explains, Mencius is here giving an explanation for the term "min ben" 民本 which, due to its adherence to sovereignty, is controversial among liberal democrats.
I find this controversy confusing, though, as liberal representative democracy has always been strongly adherent to the (at least) Westphalian nation-state. In fact, in practice it seems that the state is considered the most important in liberal democracies, the land (resources) secondmost, and peoples last. One could argue that the liberal democratic state is simply a synonym for an Emperor. Like an Emperor, the state must find ways to stay atop the "slippery egg" of legitimacy (as John Keane puts it from time to time), it must continue to prove its worth to the people in its capture lest they revolt, and it must also keep its power away from the people lest the elites lose it (and therefore lose their privilege or, as some paternalists see it, allow anarchy caused by state failure).
In short, I see more similarities between minben theory and liberal democratic theory than differences. Perhaps this is why there is discomfort among our liberal democratic peers about minben for it exposes the "Emperor/dictatorship" of electoral democracies (David Beetham recognized this dictatorship across more than 40 years of publishing democratic theory - so this is not a new position either).
Have a read of Li-Chia Lo's essay and let us know what you think. We'll be seeing more of these discussions between languages and their respective contested concepts.
https://theloop.ecpr.eu/lets-tell-a-more-contextual-story-about-minben/
Thanks for highlighting these refreshing reflections on people as a root of democracy, rather than a predominant emphasis on institutions and some limited views of leaders (especially common among media pundits in the United States, for example). Seems we might also have to go back around 2,400 years to Lao-Tzu for the wisdom that "a leader is best when people barely know [she or] he exists." More recent commentators on leadership, like Warren Bennis and Lee Thayer, do add that a true leader: * helps focus a desired state of affairs; * asks the right questions that help people come to grip with problems; and * helps translate solutions into practice. If a leader's duty is to help, perhaps people should more often expect leaders to take actions that help people.
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