展望民主的第三境界

Envisioning the Third Realm of Democracy

民主是个过程,是分阶段的。民主不是尽善尽美的制度,只是人间尚未找到比民主更好的制度,那么,相对地讲,民主就是当今最好的制度。现在被人称为民主的国家大多处于民主的第二境界,有的处于第一境界。今天刻画出第三境界的轮廓,有助于人们站在未来看今天,从而增强民主自觉,加快民主进程。民主第三境界的主要特征是:政府缩微化,非政府组织普及化;政府的管理规则与民众行为规则相衔接,公权力与私权力能互补;官民合一,实行义务官员制;一国之内的民主将过渡为"天下为公"的全球民主。

Democracy means not a completed state, but a process with different stages. Democracy is not a perfect system; rather, it is a substitute before we can find a better system. Compared with other alternatives,democracy is still the best we have at present. Most of the countries described as democratic ones are in the second realm of democracy, and some are in the first realm. The third realm of democracy outlined in this article is democracy envisioned from the perspective of future, which is to help promote democratic awareness and speed up the democratic process. The third realm of democracy is characterized by： minimized government and popularization of non-governmental organizations; the integration of governmental rules and rules for mass behavior, and the complimentary function of public power and private power; the integration of the officials and the people through the obligatory official system; and the spread of democracy within one nation to the whole world where ＂a public spirit will rule all under the sky＂.