Very good analysis.



Chinese leadership has, indeed, proved very effective in recent years, particularly in its handling of the financial crises of 2008. It is enough to make one wonder a bit if democracy is really the best system, especially looking at the chaos democracy is producing now.



But when I begin thinking like that, I always remember an experience at the University of Waterloo back in the 1970's. The student paper was controlled by a group of very hard-line Maoists. China under Mao was a wonderful place. The only other country that was any good was Albania under Enver Hoxha. Then Mao died, and they were left with only Albania as a shining beacon of light. Few students agreed with this position, or wanted their fees to be used to push it, but it continued like that for years until the democratically-elected student council took a hand. The thing about that paper was that you had to write in it to become a member, and the members controlled who got to write in it. It was a system that could be taken over, and it was taken over.



The current Chinese system seems rather like that. Right now, it is working very well. But those on the inside get to control who gets in. As far as I know, it lacks any mechanism that could correct it if it goes off the rails like that student paper. Works great for now, but I wonder about the future.