Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way between West and East

by Nicolas Berggruen, Nathan Gardels

For decades, liberal democracy has been extolled as the best system of governance to have emerged out of the long experience of history. Today, such a confident assertion is far from self-evident. Democracy, in crisis across the West, must prove itself. In the West today, the authors argue, we no longer live in "industrial democracies," but "consumer democracies" in which the governing ethos has ended up drowning households and governments in debt and resulted in paralyzing partisanship. In contrast, the long-term focus of the decisive and unified leadership of China is boldly moving its nation into the future. But China also faces challenges arising from its meteoric rise. Its burgeoning middle class will increasingly demand more participation, accountability of government, curbing corruption and the rule of law. As the 21st Century unfolds, both of these core systems of the global order must contend with the same reality: a genuinely multi-polar world where no single power dominates and in which societies themselves are becoming increasingly diverse. The authors argue that a new system of "intelligent governance" is required to meet these new challenges. To cope, the authors argue that both East and West can benefit by adapting each other’s best practices. Examining this in relation to widely varying political and cultural contexts, the authors quip that while China must lighten up, the US must tighten up. This highly timely volume is both a conceptual and practical guide of impressive scope to the challenges of good governance as the world continues to undergo profound transformation in the coming decades.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Political Science

200 pages, Hardcover

First published March 11, 2011

About the author

Nicolas Berggruen is a philanthropist and investor that centers himself around culture, politics, and philosophy. He is the founder and president of Berggruen Holdings, a private investment company, and the co-founder and chairman of the Berggruen Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank that works to address global governance issues. In 2014, through the Institute, Berggruen launched Noema Magazine, formerly the WorldPost, a digital and print publication dedicated to exploring global issues.

In 2012, Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels published the book Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way Between West and East. The Financial Times named it as one of their "Best Books of 2012". In 2019, Berggruen and Gardels published their second book, Renovating Democracy: Governing in the Age of Globalization and Digital Capitalism. The focus of this book advocates for restructuring the democratic framework to ensure adequate living conditions for all.

Reviews

[Thomas Preusser · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does one define good government? Most would probably say good government provides the greatest good for the greatest number of citizens, with evidence, hope, and shared expectations that things will get better over a broad socio-economic spectrum for all over the long run. A main premise of this book is that China, on track to being a super power, has good government, which seems to run counter to most people's thinking that democracy is a prerequisite for good government.

The author's case for China starts with an age old Confucian ethic of public service for the common good. Added to that is an effective "board of directors" function which evolved out of communist central planning supporting such long term initiatives as a unique brand of capitalism, a space program, the development of science and technology talent, renewable energy, and so on. Managing all this is a big government civil service meritocracy which uses extensive polling as opposed to democratic voting.

The author's don't gloss over China's problems, but indicate there is ample evidence of progress, and in fact some democratic elements may emerge eventually. On the flip side the author's discuss California as an example of direct democracy (propositions / referendums) gone somewhat astray. In the end the authors do not offer a specific recipe for good government in any given culture, but have perhaps identified some important ingredients to be looked at in a nuanced new light.

[J.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Americans take a great deal of pride in our form of government, many of us going so far as to proclaim our method the best there is. That doesn't mean we don't complain about our leaders and the mess they've made of things. But as we look at our current problems and see nascent democracies around the world struggle and frequently fail, are we too proud to consider improvements? Even if it means adopting some ideas from other nations? Nations such as China?

The American Founding Fathers were adamant in their displeasure with Democracy, equating it with mob rule, and yet we've become *more* democratic and less of a Republic in the subsequent 200 years. Whereas earlier Americans didn't vote for the President or the Senate, now we have a say in choosing those leaders even if our vote is watered down by millions of others - and that's just the ones who actually vote! Most feel disenfranchised and don't believe their vote makes a difference. And just how informed are those who *are* voting? Are they knowledgeable about the issues and candidates, or are they just voting for the most charismatic candidate or basing their decision on personal decisions (like race or party) or are they simply swayed by multi-million dollar advertising campaigns and catchy slogans?

But it's not just the voters who don't understand the issues; we frequently elect leaders who are have little experience in government. The authors also point out the undue influence of special interests such as unions, corporations, industries, or even just influential minority groups. We comfort ourselves by thinking our voice matters when it's actually those special interests who are funding the expensive campaigns that have become necessary today and have the ears of our leaders. As a result, we've become a "consumer democracy" and we end up with decisions being made with short-term results in mind instead of looking to the future and addressing the most important issues (like infrastructure, education, energy, environment, etc.) that would allow us to retain our place of influence in the world.

China is also discussed but not as much as I had anticipated. The authors are careful to make a distinction between Communist China (which they basically say was a failure) and Confucian China (of which even most of the shorter dynasties lasted longer than our nation has so far). Confucian ideals promote a leadership class based on merit, where leaders must prove themselves at lower levels before they can aspire to more responsibility, and the authors say we could limit the power of special interests if we utilized more committees of "experts" in making policy recommendations. They also point out the current challenges in China's government - corruption, repression, lack of human rights, lax environmental standards, etc. - but the focus is more on possible improvements in Western governments. Globalization and the social media revolution are also discussed as a huge challenge faced by both Eastern and Western governments.

I found this book a very well-thought out and rational examination of the problems in America right now. They offer specific recommendations for the U.S., California, G-20 group of nations, and the European Union. I don't necessarily agree with all their proposals (and many will be a very tough-sell) and the direction toward global government they seem to advocate, but I think there are a number of ideas that would make a positive difference. I also wish they had explained more thoroughly what they meant by "consumer democracy" - I think I understood it but I didn't think it was clear enough. Nonetheless, this is an excellent book that deserves careful consideration by ALL those concerned with the direction we are going.

[Francisco Luis Benítez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesante visión de cómo se ha de gobernar la globalización mediante una hibridación de la cultura democrática occidental y la meritocracia oriental. Buenas ideas, algunas muy neoliberales, y proyectos para pilotar de forma mundial las organizaciones globales; eso sí, desde la perspectiva de quienes ejercen o han ejercido el poder. Un libro para reflexionar y sobre el que habrá que caminar para desarrollar nuevas teorías, y aplicaciones prácticas de gobernanza.

[Nils · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using Chinese mandarin meritocracy as a foil for critiquing the political limitations and failings of the Western (especially America's) form and style of governance. Written after the Arab Spring but before the right-populist wave reached the North Atlantic shores in 2016, it is certainly prescient about the limitations of America's creaking political institutions....

[Juan Esteban · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esté librazo ofrece un enfoque hacia la evolución de la toma de decisiones. Con una perspicaz combinación de tecnología y sabiduría, nos invita a reflexionar sobre un futuro donde la inteligencia y la ética se entrelazan para moldear un mundo donde cada vez es más complejo gobernar, Una lectura inspiradora que despierta la esperanza en un mañana guiado por la prudencia y la innovación.

[Arjun Mehta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening and thought provoking

[Ozlem Ezer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very convincing and boldly made arguments on building an intelligent governance:)
I wish it were available in Turkish!
I will begin their (Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels) next book ASAP.

[Jorge Mateu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solo le he podido dar tres estrellas aunque admito que podrían ser cuatro sin problemas. El análisis de una nueva forma de mezclar la democracia liberal de occidente con la meritocracia autoritaria de oriente (China) es muy interesante y fundamental con lo que nos viene.
El problema del libro rádica en que tienes que tener una base relativamente solida en teoría pólitica y en como funcionan los gobiernos con democracia para poder entender los conceptos que proponen.
Volveré a el seguro!

[Danny Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for today's leaders

So glad I found this book. It talks about the issues that we should all be focused on for the next 10 years - how we achieve global peace through better understanding of the ways of the East and West, mostly China and the US. Understanding is the necessary for communication and cooperation. And how we can improve our current system of governance through modification of the existing system that might have fallen out of touch with reality.

[Roy Klein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite having interesting ideas, this book suffers from several major flaws that prevent me from completing it:

1) Convoluted writing style
2) Very little actual content, puffed with a lot of discussion around it
3) Hardly edited to arrange what little content it does have in a reasonable manner

This is a killer trio, making this book both punishing and unrewarding to wade through.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely influential book, networking at the different types of goverments such as a democracy or a mandarinate are being explored, also the authors are in communication with great minds such as Eric Schmidt from Silicon Valley.

[Jaz Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting to have good, solid facts, but this book is just comprised of meaningless words, drag-ons, and the author's biases. The author uses complicated words to make him sound professional, but he's not. Do not waste your time reading this book.

[Dyanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly innovative ideas about governance and a brutally honest account of how democracy is threatening general Western welfare.