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| Western Liberal Democracy： Theoretic Tension and Practical Deviation |
| Lin Gang |
| (School of International and Public Affair， Shanghai Jiao Tong University， Shanghai 200030) |
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Abstract The theoretic tension within Western liberal democracy is derived from different understandings of ancient Greek ideas of direct democracy and modern liberalism，as well as value trade-offs among the three principal principles of the rule of law， the majority rule，and liberty and equality. This has stimulated a theoretic debate about different models of democracy. Models of juridical democracy， elitist democracy and pluralistic democracy fall on the conceptual category of liberal democratic theory， which are content with formal political equality without thinking of the fundamental changes in the unequal distribution of economic and social resources. The Western nonmainstream views of participatory democracy， deliberate democracy and communitarian democracy believe that true political equality can be obtained only by realizing economic equality or cultivating a sense of community identity. The adoption of different governmental and party systems in Western democratic countries reflects their value preferences for the above-mentioned various democratic principles and liberal democratic models. However， many neoliberal democracies have failed to reduce the worsening polarization of the rich and the poor. This reflects the internal conflict between economic liberalism and political egalitarianism within the theory of liberal democracy.
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Received: 31 May 2023
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2023, Vol. 62 
