强势民主理论及其对当代中国民主实践的启示

作为当代参与式民主理论的重要代表,本杰明巴伯认为自由主义对代议制的强调和对公民参与的排斥已经使自由主义的民主沦为＂弱势民主＂。为了修正自由主义民主的缺陷,巴伯主张通过基层民主的公民实践来培养＂强势民主＂的行动。巴伯的强势民主理论推动了参与式民主的发展,深化了人们对民主的认识,并为民主实践的扩展提供了新的途径,同时,也为我国建设有中国特色的社会主义民主政治提供了参考。

The Strong Democracy and Its Revelation to Chinese Practice of Democracy

As an important representive of modern participatory democracy, Benjamin Barber claimed that the emphasis on the representative and the rejection of civic participation made liberal democracy reduced to a kind of＂weak democracy＂ In order to fix the liberal democratic deficit, Barber advocated the adoption of the civil practice ofgrassroots democracy to foster a kind of＂strong democracy＂ action. Barber＇s strong democracy the- ory promoted the development of participatory democracy and deepen people＇s understanding of democracy, and also created a new avenue of democratic practice, which provided a reference to the China＇s building of socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics.