Responding to the “Asian values†debate over the compatibility of Confucianism and liberal democracy; Confucianism; Democratization; and Human Rights in Taiwan; by Joel S. Fetzer and J. Christopher Soper; offers a rigorous; systematic investigation of the contributions of Confucian thought to democratization and the protection of women; indigenous peoples; and press freedom in Taiwan. Relying upon a unique combination of empirical analysis of public opinion surveys; legislative debates; public school textbooks; and interviews with leading Taiwanese political actors; this essential study documents the changing role of Confucianism in Taiwan’s recent political history. While the ideology largely bolstered authoritarian rule in the past and played little role in Taiwan’s democratization; the belief system is now in the process of transforming itself in a pro-democratic direction. In contrast to those who argue that Confucianism is inherently authoritarian; the authors contend that Confucianism is capable of multiple interpretations; including ones that legitimate democratic forms of government. At both the mass and the elite levels; Confucianism remains a powerful ideology in Taiwan despite or even because of the island’s democratization. Borrowing from Max Weber’s sociology of religion; the writers provide a distinctive theoretical argument for how an ideology like Confucianism can simultaneously accommodate itself to modernity and remain faithful to its core teachings as it decouples itself from the state. In doing so; Fetzer and Soper argue; Confucianism is behaving much like Catholicism; which moved from a position of ambivalence or even opposition to democracy to one of full support. The results of this study have profound implications for other Asian countries such as China and Singapore; which are also Confucian but have not yet made a full transition to democracy.
#324384 in Books 2013-11-15Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 10.00 x 1.46 x 7.00l; 2.45 #File Name: 149377591X648 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Disappointing; like Gemini VIII -- but without the heroics of Neil Armstrong and Dave ScottBy John A.As others have mentioned: First; the positives; there is an abundance of detail; inside information; and solid narrative. It brings back many wonderful memories growing up as a preteen space geek (if only there was an audio track with the voice of Walter Cronkite...) That being said -- the positives suffer greatly from the poorly formatted notations; including the need to scroll many pages of resource notes to get to the next section. I found the early sections on the planning and development moves informative but tedious to overkill (is it really necessary to have the names of every member of every committee?). I greatly missed the "promised" photos. This work could really need a do-over (sort of like Gemini VI).0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Project Gemini - America's Overlooked Space AdventureBy Dirk DrudglerIf you've read Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff or Jim Lovell's Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 or any one of many; many books (or movies) about America's space race to the Moon; you are probably intimately aware of the lives and missions of both the Mercury and Apollo astronauts. The accomplishments of these extraordinary explorers; the mission control teams; the scientists; and the engineers are worthy of epic poetry type preservation.Unfortunately for space enthusiasts Project Gemini's in-between missions are largely overlooked by writers and filmmakers who craft awesome heroic stories and write history (I know; I know; "Let them write the history and let the pilots fly the planes."). The missions themselves were considered mundane and largely ignored by the general public. Because little about the program captured people's imagination we are left with this massive compilation of project data and reports from NASA which have been digested into clinical but readable prose. There is no real storytelling structure or sense of dramatic tension. Even Armstrong and Scott's near death experience on Gemini 8 and Armstrong's subsequent "Right Stuff" moment which may have saved the space program or at least kept it on track to win the race to the Moon; are reported as if they were mission debriefings (be sure to check out Armstrong's EKGs as his spacecraft was spinning out of control and heading for disaster; the guy is a rock).Not that this is necessarily bad; it just the drama is buried in an absolutely complete and comprehensive overview of every Gemini flight; including every detail; no matter how mundane.Considering the incredible; almost unbelievable; leaps in science which were accomplished by Gemini teams in an equally unbelievable short span of time; there is no doubt that professional storytelling is warranted. Until that day comes I have found no better book on the program than this one. Everything you need to know is here. It is a great book for space program junkies; but not so much for non-fiction space adventure readers.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. or worse; gives me a grayed out image with no ...By WilliamOverall; this is a very detailed account of Project Gemini. There are almost as many footnotes as there are pages of text. I am enjoying the narrative; but I am dismayed by the lack of any clarity when there are photos or illustrations. The text refers to them; but my Kindle does not display them; or worse; gives me a grayed out image with no detail whatsoever. That is why I only give it three stars. There are also some typos now and then. Most of them I can figure out; but some are real mysteries.
