民主化范式的四大命题及其批判——从政治衰败研究的视角切入

Four Central Propositions of Democratization Paradigm and Their Critics: from the Perspective of Political Decay

作为政治变迁的基本形态,"政治发展"与"政治衰败"本为硬币之两面,但在理论研究中却呈现出重前者而轻后者的现象。政治发展研究笃信先发国家的成功经验,内在地认为可以凭此避免政治衰败,一枝独大的民主化范式即倾向于认为西方民主化道路是后发国家通向"善治"的唯一途径。民主化范式内含着经济发展、精英政治、民族国家建构、民主巩固及其与民主化关系等四大命题。然而,理论与现实的张力反映出该范式存在"线性发展观"和"政体二元论"两大内在局限,导致其愈来愈难以解释现实政治变迁的多样性与复杂性。

Political development and political decay are basic forms of political change, but scholars pay more attention to the study of political development which believes in the successful experience of early-developing countries and hold it can devoid political decay effectively. For instance, Democratization paradigm trends to believe that democratization is the only way for later-developing countries to achieve good governance. Democratization paradigm contains four central propositions such as relations economic development, elite poli- ties, national-state building, democratic consolidation and their relations with democratization. However, two intrinsic restrictions, concept of linear development and dualism of regime which make it harder to explain the diversity and complexity of political change, are re- vealed by the tension between theory and reality.