Chapter 28 4. Transcendence: ideas and experiences
In the past 60 years, China has accumulated a lot of "catch-up" experience, and there are also many lessons, especially the "Great Leap Forward" and "hot-headed" lessons. Because of this unforgettable lesson, China has "catch-up" in the past 30 years The pace of "Super" is relatively stable and solid, showing a strong concentration. In the words of Western political commentators, it means "this time it is true".Behind this concentration is mainly the organic combination of three elements: the heritage of Chinese civilization, the red tradition of China, and the beneficial experience of the West.The organic combination of these three elements has deepened our understanding of the law of "transcendence", and based on this understanding, we have formed some ideas and experiences.Here I have summed up four ideas and experiences, and there are many such ideas and experiences, but I think that by grasping these four, we can achieve the goal of "surpassing" the West to a large extent.These four ideas and experience are: people-oriented, organization, comprehensive innovation, and combination of top and bottom strategies.
The first is people-oriented.This is the core value of the Chinese people's governance of the country for thousands of years, and it is also an operational idea and experience.How is the concept of people-centeredism better than many Western concepts?It is strongly connected with the tradition of Chinese civilization.One of the key reasons why China has been ahead of the West for a long time in history is that the "destiny view" of the ancient Chinese governing is essentially people-oriented, that is, the ancient adage that "the people are the foundation of the state, and the foundation is solid and the state is stable", and the people are regarded as the cornerstone of the country. , as the key to "people's support" and the most essential content of "destiny", how well the people's livelihood is solved is a major event that determines the fate of the country.
The concept is also strong because it fits with the Chinese red tradition.In the past, the Communist Party of China led the people to "strike the local tyrants and divide the land" in order to let the people live a better life; Two centenary goals" and so on, are also the embodiment of people-oriented doctrine in essence.An important experience of China's successful reform and opening up over the past 30 years is that the government's top priority is to vigorously improve people's livelihood.This guiding ideology of state governance has enabled us to create the greatest miracle of eradicating poverty in human history, created the largest middle class in the world, and raised our average life expectancy to the level of developed countries. The outside world brought a strong shock.
The concept is also strong in inclusiveness and modernity.It not only means that the country should be committed to improving people's livelihood, but also means that the political system arrangement of a country should also focus on improving the quality of people's life at a higher and broader level, so that the government can provide people with better quality The service is implemented to enable people to live a safer, freer, happier and more dignified life.
It also has unique significance in comparison with Western ideas and models.Most countries in the world are still developing countries, and nearly half of the world's population still suffers from war, extreme poverty, hunger, and lack of basic necessities.One of the main reasons why the Western model frequently fails in non-Western countries is that it has led to endless political disputes, causing the political machine to idle, and making the possibility of improving people's lives impossible. The "Arab Spring" has turned into the "Arab Winter" and the "color revolutions" have failed one after another, which is essentially the reason.Now even the western countries themselves have a similar situation.The biggest dilemma of the Western political and economic models today is the inability to improve people's livelihood.The financial crisis, debt crisis, and economic crisis have led to stagnation or even a significant decline in the living standards of the people.In Western political circles, a famous quote from Clinton when he ran for president is popular today: It's the economy, stupid! (It's the economy, the problem is the economy!) The vast majority of Western people are also concerned about the economy, employment, welfare and other livelihood issues.
I have said many times that the West has always liked to use the paradigm of "democracy and autocracy" to judge the world, but today it encounters a big dilemma because its presupposition is that "democracy is good and autocracy is bad". And "what is democracy" can only be defined by Western countries.The problem is that there are many countries in the world that have adopted the Western democratic system and made a mess, so if we must divide the countries in the world into two categories, then there are only two categories of good governance and bad governance.Good governance can be based on the Western model. There are a few countries in the West that can still be governed, but quite a few Western countries are not governed well, otherwise they would not have fallen into such a serious financial crisis, debt crisis, and economic crisis.Good governance can also be a non-Western system, China is a good example.Likewise, bad governance can also be Western models, which is very important.From the worst Iraq, Haiti, and Afghanistan, to the bankrupt Greece and Iceland, etc., they have not been managed well.Of course, bad governance can also be a non-Western system.
So what is "good governance"?In essence, this should be defined by the people of a country themselves, and there is no need for Western countries to do it for them.Judging from the practice of the international community, people in most countries seem to regard the improvement of people's livelihood as the first priority of good governance. This is where the international significance of China's people-oriented concept lies. earth atmosphere.People-oriented doctrine originated in China, absorbs the strengths of China and other cultures, and is also in line with our ideal of socialism with Chinese characteristics, so this concept is full of vitality, no matter where it is in the world, it will be widely supported by the people.
In a sense, we can also say that people-oriented doctrine reveals a profound rule of governance, that is, no matter what political system is adopted, it must ultimately be implemented to improve people’s livelihood. This improvement includes both material and spiritual aspects. , which is the core meaning of good governance.Over the past 30 years, China's people-oriented development model, especially the "people's livelihood is the most important" feature of the Chinese model, and China's institutional arrangements based on people-oriented principles (political power, social power, and capital power have formed a favorable The balance of the interests of the vast majority) has shown that it is a main idea and experience for China to surpass the West and the Western model.
If there is a competition between the "Western democratic model" and the "Chinese people's livelihood model", then my preliminary conclusion is that the Chinese model has won.Today, Western democratic discourse seems to have certain discourse and moral advantages, but for the vast majority of people in the world, people-oriented thinking is the real embodiment of democracy, and it is far more firm than empty democratic preaching Powerful, time and history must be on the side of people-oriented doctrine, the whole world will eventually move in this direction, and Western democratic systems must also evolve in this direction.No wonder even an article in The Economist lamented that people's living standards in China doubled every ten years, while it took thirty years for the United States to double when it was rising the fastest.China “has tackled some of the big problems of nation-building in ways that (Western) democracies may have taken decades to learn. For example, it took China just two years to increase pension coverage by an additional 240 million rural people , that number alone is far greater than the total number of people covered by the U.S. public pension system.”It seems that people-oriented doctrine not only conforms to the Chinese political tradition, but also represents the trend of the future development of the world, showing a core concept and successful practice of China surpassing the West and surpassing the Western model.
Second, get organized.China is a very large-scale "civilized country".Deng Xiaoping has said many times: China is nothing more than "big", referring to China's "large land and many people".A large area means that it is difficult to govern; a large number of people means that there are few resources per capita. A "civilized country" is also a "summation of a hundred countries", with great internal differences, and a little careless handling can easily lead to various contradictions and conflicts.The combination of large population, vast land, few resources, and difficult governance constitutes China's basic national conditions.Without understanding this point, it is impossible to understand the tradition of governing the country formed by the Chinese civilization itself.
We can compare the United States and China.When the United States was founded in the second half of the 18th century, the population was about 3 million. By 1848, when the United States defeated Mexico and annexed California, the population of the United States was only about 20 million. At that time, the population of China had reached 400 million, about 20 times that of the United States. .At that time, both sides were in the pre-industrial society, and the biggest resource in the pre-industrial society was land. If the Chinese standards were applied, then in the United States at that time, every family was a big landowner, and the big landowner even hired black people to farm the land. This kind of resource The luxury of possession makes Americans more inclined to talk about freedom and rights.In contrast, China's resource per capita operation is tight, and the competition for resources is extremely fierce, so the Chinese talk more about "Kong Rong gives pears" and talk about the balance between rights and obligations.One side nourishes one side with water and soil, and the formation of many cultural traditions in the world is, in the final analysis, related to the amount of resources.These big white landowners in the United States were persecuted by theocratic regimes in Europe. After arriving in the United States, they still fortified the government everywhere.The American concept of "government is a necessary evil" was roughly formed under such a background.In contrast, China has few resources per capita and fierce competition for resources. People in a village may even fight over the distribution of river water and well water resources.Under such conditions, the Chinese tradition is to form a relatively neutral government to coordinate and guarantee the interests of all parties by selecting talents and appointing talents, so as to ensure the "national peace and safety of the people". Understanding this, one can understand the Chinese people's fear of chaos Collective psychology, understand what the Chinese say "you can't be without a king for three days".Of course, the tight operation of China's per capita resources has also led the Chinese to form their own tasteful living methods. For example, the Chinese talk about "popularity", and without "popularity", no matter how good a house is, it will not be sold.The richness of China's catering is unmatched by other countries in the world. Behind it is a large number of catering innovations and revolutions brought about by the tight operation of per capita resources.
In the past, the Chinese people were often considered to be "a mess of sand", disunity, and "fighting in the nest", etc. This is also related to the fierce competition caused by limited resources per capita, the large amount of war reparations after the Opium War, the long-term war after the Revolution of 1911, and the Japanese invasion of China. The brutal destruction of the war, etc., have led to economic depression, people's livelihood is difficult, and the per capita possession of resources is less.In addition, China's vast rural areas have always been dominated by self-sufficient small-scale peasant economies, scattered, isolated, and closed. Most farmers only care about their own "one-third of an acre of land". The social form is weak and the ability to self-organize is lacking.Although Confucianism advocated "family and country feelings", the old China still lacked the economic foundation and political system to link "family" and "country".This situation of "loose sand" made it difficult for China's large-scale industrialization, and it could not withstand the wars launched by Western powers one after another. In the end, China's entire country fell into a tragic situation of being slaughtered.
The situation of "a plate of loose sand" in China did not really change until the founding of the People's Republic of China. The Chinese Communist Party organized the Chinese grassroots people through its strong mobilization ability.Since then, the face of China has undergone earth-shaking changes. In just one year, China's comprehensive national strength has leapt across the board, and people's living standards have greatly improved.China will soon become the largest economy in the world.However, this does not mean that we have solved the problem of "a plate of loose sand" once and for all.Experience has proved that once the government fails to take responsibility and the form of "organization" is lacking, China will still fall into a situation of "a state of disunity". Western forces have also been looking forward to this situation. They encourage confrontation between different groups in Chinese society and encourage different groups in China Confrontation between ethnic groups, instigation of confrontation between Chinese society and government, they are trying to mess up China.Of course, today's China is no longer the China of the past. China is one of the most cohesive modern countries in the world, and attempts to disrupt China will end in failure. In 2010, Shanghai held a grand World Expo. I visited it three times and found two details that can explain the problem: one detail is that the cleanliness of the toilets at the World Expo is impressive, and the other is that the chaotic taxi situation at night is disappointing. .Although there are hundreds of thousands of spectators visiting the Expo every day, the toilets at the Expo have always been kept clean. I think they are cleaner than the toilets in the three major airports in New York. Considering such a huge flow of people, this cleanliness level is world-class.But when I came out of the World Expo at 9:00 p.m. to take a taxi, it was probably because the taxi management staff had left work, and the order suddenly fell apart. Although there were only 20 or 30 people waiting for the taxi, there was no one queuing. Another car came, and everyone rushed over again, rushing to get on the car.There were not too many cars, but the chaos continued.The previous example shows that as long as it is organized in a certain way, China can compete with any country in the world and may win. The cleaning work of the World Expo has achieved a high level of digital management and grid management.The latter example shows that once some form of organization and norms are lacking, our society tends to return to the situation of "disunity" and "infighting everywhere".
Of course, when I say "organize" here, I don't just refer to the government organizing the people, but any kind of action that can form order and norms.It can be governmental or non-governmental; formal or informal; long-term or temporary; political, economic and social; It can be organized by people spontaneously, or it can be done jointly by all citizens.As long as the basic order and norms are established (this is what I call "organization"), everyone can use their energy to one place, and they can also perform their responsibilities, perform their duties, and show their talents. The Chinese can create miracles on earth.
The more countries I travel to, the more I feel that every nation in the world seems to have its own relative strengths and weaknesses. In economic terms, they all have their own "comparative advantages" and "comparative disadvantages."These two concepts were put forward by David Ricardo, a British economist in the 19th century, when he expounded the theory of international trade, that is, each country has relatively good products, and it should concentrate on producing and exporting products with such characteristics. A product with a "comparative advantage" and imports a product that it does not have a "comparative advantage". This kind of trade activity can make both parties gain greater benefits.I have no intention of judging this assumption in international trade theory, but just use the concepts of "comparative advantage" and "comparative disadvantage" to explain: in political life, a nation seems to have some "" comparative advantage” and “comparative disadvantage”.If we want to surpass our opponents, we should find our own "comparative advantage".
Generally speaking, according to my own observations, the Anglo-Saxons (the main ethnic group in Britain and the United States) have a strong ability to "self-organize". Associations are organized, elections are held, and some form of "self-government" is achieved.In contrast, self-organization ability does not seem to be the strong point of Chinese people. Chinese people generally like to establish and maintain a certain order by a more objective and fair third party, and in this order, they can live, work and study in an orderly manner. and entertainment.The widespread use of property management companies in urban residential communities in China is a good example of the problem. In foreign countries, the management of ordinary residential communities is often based on residents' self-organization and self-management, rather than relying on professional property management companies.
From the perspective of "comparative advantage", in the political field, the British and Americans seem to believe in elections more and are better at conducting elections;How to conduct elections when competing with countries like the United Kingdom and the United States? I estimate that we may not be able to compete with them in 100 years. We have tried direct elections at the township level for more than 20 years, but the overall effect is not optimistic. Election bribery is extremely common. The family influence is everywhere.Elections are held in Taiwan year after year, but black money politics remains a thorny issue.However, compared with Britain and the United States, what we are doing now is better than theirs, and much better.
Of course, we can and should learn from the strengths of others, but we must not give up our "comparative advantage".In fact, our meritocracy model today is already a "selection + (some form of) election" model, in which election is borrowed from the West.When we combine selection and election, and focus on selection and election as an important reference, this produces a system that is higher than our past system that relies solely on selection, and is also higher than the Western system that relies solely on selection. electoral system.The Chinese organically combined the two methods and realized a kind of institutional innovation and transcendence.
In a super-large country like China, the establishment of order and norms is always the first priority. Without order and norms, the world will be in chaos and nothing can be done.In fact, the West has also done the same in history.The West claims that its democratic system is relatively stable, but throughout history, the West has almost always experienced revolutions, and the rich have established a social order and legal framework dominated by the wealthy class, ensuring that they first control the main resources of society (politics, economy, media, law, etc.), and then spread this rule of law to more people.
What China has to do today is to maintain, reform and improve its established order, especially the political and social order, but we are not an order dominated by the rich, but ordinary people participate in and establish an order that benefits most people political and social order. "Get organized" doesn't mean that you don't need personal enthusiasm. On the contrary, through "organized", first of all, you need to establish order. With such conditions, your personal life can be brilliant.Under orderly conditions, almost all Chinese people are dragons. They can unite to overcome difficulties and accomplish great things that others cannot do, or they can use their individual enthusiasm to make their own lives according to their own ideas. Wonderful.Over the past 30 years, at least a Chinese population that exceeds the total population of the United States has changed their destiny in this way.China's social vitality is in stark contrast to the solidification of class interests in Western society, and China's entire country has undergone earth-shaking changes as a result.
In a world where international competition is increasingly intensified, "organization" also includes a country's ability to organize, integrate, and plan.On the whole, these capabilities of China surpass those of the West.Taking the ability to integrate as an example, modern society has brought about the differentiation of the interests of different groups within a country, and it has also brought about the differentiation of interests between different countries. Judging from the situation of the past 30 years, the Chinese model has achieved great success in integrating different interests at home and abroad. , significantly superior to the Western model.For example, after China's accession to the World Trade Organization, the government has better realized industrial adjustment and integration through its strong integration capabilities. Many European countries, such as Italy, Spain, Portugal and other southern European countries, obviously lack such integration capabilities. Therefore, They are still unable to adapt to the industrial competition brought about by China's accession to the WTO.
Western business circles are deeply aware of China's unique organizational capabilities, integration capabilities, and planning capabilities. In 2012, the British "Financial Times" asked in a survey of CEOs of world-renowned companies: What do you think is the most competent and reliable organization?These corporate bosses put their abilities first, the central bank second, and the "Communist Party of China" third, with 64% of the votes, much higher than the US President (33%) and the US Congress (5%).Their reasoning is that the Chinese government always takes a long-term view when formulating policies, while the United States, "Although we don't like some of China's policies, at least we know what these policies are... The problem with the United States is that policies are short-term Yes, no one knows what's going to happen next."
Looking back over the past 60 years, how many ups and downs has China encountered?Many people think that China cannot survive: the disaster of the "Great Leap Forward", the tragedy of the "Cultural Revolution", the difficulties of the educated youth returning to the city, the general poverty in the society, the reform of prices, the reform of state-owned enterprises, the reform of the tax system, etc. We cannot overcome the bank reform, the hurdle of joining the World Trade Organization, the impact of the financial crisis, SARS, etc.But looking back now, it's all here.How did you get here?The key is that we can "organize". Our organization, integration and planning capabilities are relatively strong, and the cohesion of our entire society is also relatively strong. Especially when the country is in crisis, our system is responsible and determined. The earthquake relief work after the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake demonstrated the characteristics of the Chinese people: no distinction is made between classes, rich or poor, east, west, north, south, or middle.Considering that China's population is larger than the entire Western world combined, China's ability to "organize" today should be one of the greatest assets of the Chinese system since 1949.This ability is hard-won, and it will continue to help China overcome the difficulties and obstacles on its way forward, and surpass the West and Western models in more fields.
Third, comprehensive innovation.Comparing the history of China and Europe, we will find an important difference is the difference of religious wars.In European history, wars between different religions and sects have lasted for thousands of years, and today they have left many shadows. Crimea declared its independence from Ukraine in 2014, and behind it was the contradiction between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. .In China, after the introduction of Indian Buddhism, it gradually interpenetrated and synthesized with Chinese Confucianism and Taoism, and finally formed the "three-in-one" Chinese tradition of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.In contrast, the continuous religious wars in Europe almost destroyed Western civilization, and China's comprehensive culture enabled China to avoid the tragedy of the European religious wars.From a larger perspective, being good at synthesis and learning from other people's beneficial experience should be the biggest "comparative advantage" in Chinese culture.Mr. Nan Huaijin once described China's comprehensive cultural traditions in this way:
When it comes to Chinese culture, the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are regarded as the backbone representatives... If we say that China has philosophical thought, it is not an independent specialty. Chinese philosophy has always been divided into literature (literature), philosophy, and literature and history. , regardless of learning and application, whether you study Chinese philosophy or Buddhism, it is always inseparable from the four disciplines of history, literature, philosophy, and politics. It is equal to Western philosophy, which cannot be separated from religion, science, and practical political thought. There are similarities in the same effect.
Of course, the situation in ancient China was similar to that in the ancient West. Because of low productivity and less social division of labor, comprehensive culture was common in both China and the West.China's "Tripitaka" and other classics are "comprehensive" classics.Similarly, the Western "Bible" and Roman epics can also be regarded as "synthetic" classics. In a sense, this also reflects that the European society at that time was also a "synthetic" society.
After entering modern times, the trend of "separation" first appeared in the West. The biggest feature is the refinement of production division, the division of academic disciplines, and the separation of politics, economy and society. The economy is also relatively isolated, and politics generally does not affect the economy too much.But after entering the post-modern society, we seem to see the general trend of "re-synthesis". The tide of internationalization and globalization we are facing today itself means the "synthesis" and "integration" of resources on a global scale. The revolutionary change of "integration" and "integration" has greatly reduced the cost. The world is increasingly becoming a global village and has rapidly entered the era of big data.From a scientific point of view, synthesis corresponds to analysis.Natural science has moved from "synthetic science" to "analytical science", and now it is moving to "re-synthetic science" on a brand new basis.
An important content in the Chinese comprehensive view is the Chinese learning tradition.From "An inch is long, but a ruler is short" to "Threesomes must have my teacher", from "Be modest and benefit, full of losses" to "Stones from other mountains can be used to attack jade", from "Chen Yan Wu Go" to "Learning is like a cicada sloughing off", from "introducing the old and bringing forth the new" to "opening up a new path" and other ancestral mottos all reflect this tradition.Historically, we have absorbed nutrients from different civilizations in the world and learned from the experience of other countries in the world. Just like the erhu invented by the Central Asian nation, it has become the main instrument of Chinese folk music today; the table tennis invented by the British has become China’s national instrument today. On the other hand, the idea of socialism put forward by Westerners has also been sinicized.Since the founding of New China, we have learned a lot of foreign experience, including the experience of the Soviet Union and the experience of Western countries.Since the reform and opening up, we have selectively learned from the experience of the United States in the financial field, the experience of Japan and Germany in corporate management, the experience of Israel in agriculture, the experience of Singapore in the construction of development zones and the fight against corruption, and the experience of Hong Kong. and experience in real estate development and management in Taiwan.But on the whole, we did not simply copy external experience, but synthesized the experience of others, and made reference and even innovated according to China's national conditions.
Not losing oneself in the process of learning is an important "catch-up" experience for China.In the process of learning from the strengths of others, we insist on self-centered and comprehensive innovation. A good example is our high-speed rail construction.I once described it in "China Shock": "Our guiding principle for building high-speed rail is: 'Introduce advanced technology, jointly design and produce, and build Chinese brands.' We first took advantage of China's huge domestic market advantages, and through negotiations let the world four Large companies transfer part of the high-speed rail technology; then organize more than 100,000 scientific researchers to digest, integrate and innovate the imported technology, and finally form new technologies and new standards that surpass Western standards, create Chinese brands, and enable China to lead the world today The "high-speed rail era". Looking at China's development in the past 30 years, this is also the strategic thinking of the Chinese model: learn from others' strengths and make use of your own advantages; in the process of learning, digesting and integrating others' strengths, boldly Innovate, and then form your own unique things, realize the transcendence of Western standards, and ultimately affect the world."
On a larger scale, almost all of our greatest successes over the past 30-plus years have been synthetic innovations.In the political field, we combine "selection" with some form of "election", which is obviously better than the Western system that only relies on "election".In the social field, we rejected the system of confrontation between society and the state advocated by the West, but promoted comprehensive social governance, promoted social consultation and dialogue, and established a system of highly benign interactions between society and the state. The West is more cohesive.In the economic field, we implement the "socialist market economy" system, which is a "mixed economy" that includes the organic combination of the "invisible hand" and the "visible hand", the organic combination of the market and planning, The organic combination of state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, etc. Although this system still needs to be perfected, it has already demonstrated its unique competitiveness, which has brought about the rapid growth of China's economy and the substantial improvement of people's living standards.In the field of law, we continue to promote the rule of law, combine the "rule of law" and "rule of virtue", and strive to avoid the ills of Western legalism and build a new type of country ruled by law that is more just, efficient, and cheaper than the West .We must continue to learn and learn from the good experiences of other countries and regions in the world, but we must focus on ourselves, learn from others, use foreign things for China, and form a family of our own.
In the modern history of China, what Zhang Zhidong said was "Chinese learning is the essence, and Western learning is for application", and what Japan advocated in modern history is "harmony and foreign talents", both of which have their reasons. , Use foreign things for China", the vision seems to be farther away, and the style is also greater.What Chairman Mao Zedong meant was: the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the "base" and everything else is "useful". Everything we learn from ancient and modern China and foreign countries is to better develop today's China.We should draw wisdom from the ancients and from the outside world, let all of these be used for our own use, and "use" for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. This should also be the true essence of our comprehensive innovation.
Fourth, combine up and down strategies.Our ancients were very wise. When it comes to decision-making, we generally divide it into high policy and low policy, and even divide it into high policy, middle policy and low policy.This is also instructive for us to explore beyond the West and the Western model.We already have a lot of ideas and experience in combining up and down strategies, and it is necessary for us to summarize them.When discussing the institutional arrangement of meritocracy in China, I mentioned that Churchill said that democracy is "the least bad system", which is probably equivalent to what the Chinese call "the next best policy", while the Chinese Confucian political culture Influence means that we still have to pursue the "best policy", that is, to select first-class talents for governing the country through various methods.Churchill's words are not entirely unreasonable, because the Western democratic system has a "bottom" arrangement, which can at least ensure that through regular elections, leaders who should step down from the political stage will step down from this stage, so that there will be less chances of the Egyptian Muslim Barack has been in power for nearly 30 years in this systemic rigidity.
From the perspective of China surpassing the West and the Western model, China's political system arrangements today already have "lower policy", including the term system of leaders, retirement age limit (many Western countries do not have it), collective leadership system ( Western countries generally do not).In other words, our system has established a more comprehensive "backing" arrangement than the Western system.However, in addition to the "bottom policy" of "supporting the bottom line", the Chinese Confucian political and cultural tradition also includes the pursuit of the "top policy", that is, to select excellent leaders with both moral integrity and ability through various channels. come out.Deng Xiaoping learned the lessons of the "Cultural Revolution" and gradually established a set of systems in China to train and train outstanding leaders, and made arrangements for the succession echelon to ensure that the "best policy" was implemented.China's top decision-making team mentioned above requires at least two provincial and ministerial work experience, which is an example.In short, China's political institutional arrangement is already a "combination of top and bottom policy" institutional arrangement, which is an important institutional guarantee for China to surpass the West and the Western model.Although this kind of institutional innovation can continue to be improved, it has surpassed the institutional arrangements in the West that only have "the next best thing to do".
By extension, the "combination of top and bottom policy" may be a common way of thinking and experience for us to surpass the West and the Western model.For example, we can also look at the relationship between "rule of law" and "rule of virtue" from this perspective.The cohesion of a society depends not only on the heteronomy of "law", but also on the self-discipline of "morality".We talk about "rule of law" now, which is also a common practice in the West, referring to keeping the bottom line of society.Judging from the experience of a society ruled by law in the West, the biggest advantage of a society ruled by law is that there are rules to follow, and the cost of illegal activities is very high. If the "rule of law" is done well, it can reduce social transaction costs and governance costs.China has come a long way in moving towards the rule of law.Some people say that there is no rule of law in China, only the rule of man, which is unfair.China is one of the countries with the best law and order in the world. China has the largest real estate market in the world. China is also one of the countries that attract the most foreign investment in the world. It is impossible for a country without the rule of law to do all this.But at the same time, we must also see that we still have a lot of work to do in the field of the rule of law. Law enforcement is lax and non-observance of the law still exists widely. We do have a lot of work to do in implementing the "rule of law".
But at the same time, we must also see that the "rule of law" also has its own defects. For example, the formulation of laws has the characteristics of lag, which will cause some areas to be temporarily unavailable. It is necessary to respond and adjust in a timely manner to new situations and problems that arise, especially for a super-large country like China that is undergoing major changes.In this sense, while emphasizing the "rule of law", we must also advocate the "rule of virtue" to make up for the deficiency of the rule of law. "Rule of virtue" calls on people to start from the heart and regulate their external behavior, which is the highest state of social governance.
From this perspective, we can also say that the rule of virtue is the "highest policy" of social governance, and the "rule of law" is the "lowest policy" of social governance. They are the bottom line, but the two must be organically combined to truly govern a society well.A society that advocates the "rule of virtue" and internalizes "morality" as part of its spiritual character will have low governance costs and a high happiness index.有人说，“德治”属于“人治”，这是不确切的，“德治”不是“人治”，而是“人本政治”，是人作为人所应该具有的品格、道德和行为。西方社会其实也有“德治”，这主要指宗教传统所产生的道德规范。但在越来越多的西方国家，“法治”早已压倒“德治”，这主要表现在两个方面，一是法治社会变成了“律师治理”的社会，而律师自己又形成了庞大的利益集团，诉讼甚至已经成为生活方式的一部分，这种情况带来的困境就是社会治理成本极高以及真正意义上的司法不公，因为富人总是可以花更多的钱聘请更好的律师团队，他们胜诉的可能性也明显大于普通人。另一个问题是法条主义，也就是我与福山辩论时提到的中国文化中“天”的概念，有些事情涉及一个国家和民族的整体利益，我们保留在法治的精神下进行政治处理的权利。像美国华尔街金融大鳄那样给美国人民的财产带来巨大损失后，还要根据原来的合同拿高达上亿美元的奖金，这种“法治”文化在中国文化中是难以接受的。
有人认为法律属于万能的东西，社会要正常有序地运作，它就必须完全在法律控制之下。也有人认为道德才是最重要的，只有法律而没有道德规范的世界一定是一个道德败坏、危机四伏的世界。世界的现实告诉我们，光靠“法治”，或者光靠“德治”，一个社会都无法良好地运转。光靠“法治”，很多人就会钻法律的空子，甚至做伤天害理的事情，那些一时还没有法律规范的领域就会乱象频出；同样，光靠“德治”，没有足够的法律约束和威慑，一个社会的犯罪成本就会非常之低，最终导致社会治理状况恶化。一个社会唯有把“法治”和“德治”有机地结合起来才能真正良好地运作。这种“上下策结合”的社会应该是一种治理成本更低、社会更公道、社会生活更自然也更人性化的社会，这也是一种超越西方和西方模式的社会。
在政治领域，中西方在观念上也有一个巨大差别，这就是学者王绍光提出的“政体”与“政道”的差异。西方历史上一直关注“政体”，而中国历史上一直关注“政道”。“政体”指的是政治体制、形式和程序，西方人士觉得政治生活中，政体是最重要的，所以才有了所谓“民主还是专制”的分析框架。西方总是把这个框架套到我们这个复杂多样的世界上，但显然解释不了这个复杂多样的世界。与此相对照，在中国历史上，很少有人讨论“政体”，中国人讨论的是“政道”，如“国有道”、“君有道”、“政不得其道”等表述。“正道”的重点是治国的理念和目标。西方人相信“政体”决定一切，中国人则认为“政道”才是治国的关键，无论儒家、法家、道家、墨家，讨论的都是“政道”，讨论的都是如何实现治理国家的最终目标。中国人从“政道”出发，形成了自己的一整套治国方法。至于“治国方法，该用什么的时候就用什么，有时候强调无为而治，有时候强调有为而治，有时候强调礼，有时候强调贤”。
这种中西方政治文化的巨大差异可能源于历史上双方治理版图的差异：从人口规模来看，古希腊多数的城邦大概只相当于中国村镇的规模，某种固定的政体也许就可以解决他们的问题；但中国国家的规模一直比较大，政治家很少会拘泥于某种特定的政体，而是把重点放在执政的目的，并围绕这个目的形成自己的制度安排。中国今天的制度安排也是这样形成的。中国今天的社会主义政体，包括人民代表大会制度、政治协商制度、统一战线制度等，都是围绕中国的“政道”而形成的。
如果用“上策”与“下策”的框架来分析，那么确立什么政体，一党制还是多党制还是无党制，这相比于“政道”，应该属于“下策”问题，而你这个政体要通过什么方式，实现什么目的，这属于“上策”的问题。中国超越西方和西方模式，一个关键就是如何使两者都得到兼顾，但首先要把“政道”搞清楚，从“政道”出发来理顺“政体”，而不是相反，更不能像西方那样只关心“政体”，而不关心“政道”。从中国人的观念出发，后者是本末倒置。这种“上下策结合”看来也是中国政治治理超越西方和西方模式关键所在。从“政体”出发，西方民主模式把重点放在“形式”和“程序”上，好像只要有了正确的“形式”和“程序”，一个国家就可以万事大吉，一劳永逸了，结果西方民主模式日显“教条”和“僵化”。与此相对照，中国民主建设把重点放在“目标”和“结果”上，大胆探索适合自己的民主“形式”和“程序”，结果是道路越走越宽广。
邓小平关于如何评估政治制度质量的三条标准也是“政道”：“第一是看国家的政局是否稳定；第二是看能否增进人民的团结，改善人民的生活；第三是看生产力能否得到持续发展。”如前所述，用这三个标准来评价采用西方模式的“颜色革命”国家和“阿拉伯之春”国家，那么这些国家的表现都属于“非常糟糕”。用这三条标准来评判西方国家，那么他们多数还算稳定，虽然不如以前，而这很大程度上是因为这些国家还有老本可吃，有过去数百年财富积累（包括大量的不义之财）和制度建设的本钱，而后两条，大部分国家也没有达到。他们的人民不是更团结了，百姓生活改善的也不多，他们社会分裂的情况比过去严重了，他们的经济也先后陷入了金融危机、债务危机或经济危机。
我们讲的“民意”和“民心”本质上也是一种“上下策”关系。中国人有自己的政治哲学理念，尤其是“民意”和“民心”这两个概念。“民意”一般指公众舆论中所表现出来的民众意愿；“民心”则是指宏观意义上的“人心向背”。孟子早在两千多年前就提出了“得其心，斯得民矣”这个概念。中国人讲“民意如流水”，讲“民心大如天”，也就是说“民意”很重要，但“民心”更重要。“民意”有时候可以反映“民心”，有时候不能反映“民心”。在今天这个自媒体和微博的时代，“民意”甚至可能在一个小时内就发生变化，但“民心”一定是一个相对稳定的东西，用现代政治学的话语，“民心”反映的应该是一个民族和国家的整体和长远的利益。从这个角度看，“民意”与“民心”的关系也是一个“下策”与“上策”的关系，两者要结合起来考虑才行。一流的治国应该力求从“民心”出发来把握甚至引导“民意”，而不是简单地被“民意”牵着走。治国成功的关键是把握整个社会的“民心所向”。这些年中国政治虽然有时也有民粹化的倾向，但与西方相比，我们总体上的政治定力还是比他们大，所以我们取得的成绩也比他们大得多。
西方“选举政治”使然，政客倾向于拣选民愿意听的话说，结果导致民粹主义泛滥。民粹主义的最大特点就是不在乎事情本身的是非曲直，不在乎自己民族和国家的长远和整体利益，只求自己选票的增加，只图众人一时的喝彩。西方国家今天几乎都是债务深重的经济，这与政客无原则地向选民承诺各种福利有关，结果造成了严重的债务危机。在过去30多年里，即使受到了民粹主义的压力，中国执政者在多数情况下还是坚持了“民心治国”。这使中国得以进行中、长期的规划，甚至为下一代的发展进行规划，从而避免像许多西方国家那样，最多只能规划一百天或者只能规划到下一次选战。这种“民心”与“民意”结合起来治国的中国模式，明显高于光是依赖所谓“民意”的西方政治制度，这也是中国可以超越西方和西方模式的一条重要的思路和经验。
Notes: ，上海：复旦大学出版社，1996年，第3页。
Notes: ，上海：复旦大学出版社，1996年，第3页。