Kishore Mahbubani

If exposure to Japanese democracy could persuade thoughtful Chinese to consider the virtues of democracy, exposure to Indian democracy would have exactly the opposite effect. Whereas Japanese democracy is reassuringly calm and stable (reflecting the Japanese emphasis on harmony in interpersonal relations and its Confucian heritage), Indian democracy is loud and rambunctious, reflecting the spirit of the argumentative Indian. I know this spirit well as I was born an argumentative Indian.

And these people—most of them have no access to education,” he said. “So how can you imagine that these people are in a position to talk about democracy when they are simply illiterate?”

One reason the CCP, despite being communist, is “flexible and protean” is because of the C-word in CCP: Chinese.

The greatest source of misunderstanding of the CCP comes when the West focuses on the word communist instead of the word Chinese

And who is more rigid: the Chinese, who have clearly adapted their systems of government and economy, or an American constitutionalist who believes that the Supreme Court should regard the Constitution of 1776 as an immutable doctrine?

when America had to choose between promoting its ideals or its interests, it chose to set democracy aside.

Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened

The decisions of the US Congress are not determined by the voters; they are determined by the funders.

If one asks thoughtful and well-informed Americans which country, America or China, provides a better opportunity for a child from the bottom 10 percent to reach the top 10 percent, 99 percent would reply, without a shadow of a doubt, that, of course, America provides a better opportunity

Because Americans enjoy exceptional political and economic freedoms, they believe they can achieve a comfortable middle-class standard of living without legislating income equality