liberalism

Industrial Civilisation, Rational Order and Liberalism: On the Barbarity of Democracy from Collingwood’s German Herd Discourse

The brutal wars of the 20th century have had a profound impact on European civil societies. As a historian and a political thought scholar, Collingwood explored the developmental process of European civilisation and the conditions for modern European barbarianism. In Collingwood’s view, the vital foundation of European civilisation’s civility had gradually died away when Enlightenment thought and the industrial technological culture emerged.

美國「擴展民主」戰略理論與實踐

進入後冷戰時期,「擴展民主」已取代「圍堵共產」,成為美國外交政策的指導原則。本文目的即在分析與評估擴展戰略的理論架構與政策實踐。向外推廣民主制度的作法,不僅反映出美國本身理想主義的文化背景,且同時展露出美國追求國家安全的企圖。由自由主義學者所倡「民主國家之間沒有戰爭」的「民主和平」理論,為擴展戰略提供了實現國家安全的必要論證。在政策實踐上,文章探討了擴展戰略的四大組成部分:鞏固民主核心國家丶擴大民主陣營丶降低對民主國家安全的內外在威脅丶以及人道援助。此外,作者並檢視美國如何利用經濟、外交丶政治丶軍事等手段以達成以上目標。雖然有其長遠的理想,擴展戰略在理論建構與政策推動上,均面臨了相當的挑戰。不論是民主與和平之間因果關係的推演丶變數的定義與操作以及實證分析的可信度,「民主和平」理論都存在相當多值得爭議之處。而過度相信民主必將帶來和平,誇大美國可以左右其他國家發展方向的能力,低估其他國家對外在干預的可能反應與容忍程度,甚至過於強調非民主國家的不相容性等等,這些都是推動擴展戰略時可能遭遇挫敗的來源。

Experiments in Living and Liberal Imperialism: A Reinterpretation of J. S. Mill’s International Political Thought

By way of re-examining J. S. Mill’s thoughts on liberal imperialismthat consist of a theory of non-intervention and a theory of state-building,this article is meant to offer a re-interpretation of his political theory, so as,on the one hand, to challenge Michael Walzer’s communitarian readingand, on the other, to meet some recent criticisms made from those whointerpret Mill either as a an originator of democratic peace or as a liberalimperialist.

The Perception of Legitimacy and its Changesduring Taiwan’s Democratic Transition:Imagining “China” and “Taiwan” in Lung Ying-Tai’s Narrative, 1983-2006

The imagination regarding China, Taiwan and their relationship has changed during the democratization in Taiwan. Through the concept of ‘moral horizon’, this paper aims at illustrating how the imagination has been transformed by means of Lung Ying-tai’s works. As Taiwan’s democratization represents a shift from a Sino-centered Weltanschauung to Taiwanese subjective consciousness, Lung’s sense of national identity has changed from Chinese to Taiwanese. However, her Chinese cultural identity remains, or is even strengthened.

Liberalism, Ethnic Identity and Taiwanese Nationalism

As the authoritarian regime in Taiwan was transformed into a more democratic system, conflict over national identities has emerged as the most important social cleavage in party competition. Students of nationalism have pointed out that ethnicity lies at the core of modern nationalist movements and nationalist ideology. Nationalism is largely based on collective identity. It commands, in many cases, strong commitment from the members to the welfare of the group.

The U.S. Stratery of Democratic Enlargement in Theory and Pratice

To modify foreign policy to suit the post-Cold War era, the United States has proposed the strategy of democratic enlargement, replacing the outdated communist containment. This paper analyzes and assesses the theoretical underpinnings and policy practices of the enlargement strategy. To export democratic systems abroad not only coincides with fundamental American values but also reflects the security concerns of the Clinton administration.

訂閱 RSS - liberalism