Democratization of Eastern Europe and China and Tocqueville's and Schumpeter's Theories of Democracy

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24530151
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Politics
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Matsumoto Reiji 早稲田大学, 教育・総合科学学術院, 教授 (30013022)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Watanabe Hiroshi 法政大学, 法学部, 教授 (10009821) ; Waragai Tomoki 早稲田大学, 教育・総合科学学術院, 教授 (20267462) ; Aoyama Rumi 早稲田大学, 教育・総合科学学術院, 教授 (20329022) ; Hayashi Tadayuki 京都女子大学, 学長 (90156448) ; Ishii Tomoaki 明治大学, 商学部, 教授 (90350264)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: デモクラシー / トクヴィル / ポスト社会主義 / 東ヨーロッパ / 中国 / シュンペーター

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this reserach is to examine the relevance of Tocqueville's theory of democracy and Schumpeter's for considering the problems of post-Communist democratization in Eastern Europe and China. As a result of the research, we confirmed that these theories of democracy, which had been developed through the historical experiences of Western Europe and North America, are applicable to non-Western cultures. Especially, Tocqueville's theory of democracy and revolution invites a new interpretation in the light of the progress of democracy in the contemporary world of globalization.
These research results were made public at the two international conferences we held, "Tocqueville and Post-Communist Democratization: Eastern Europe and China," March 2013, and "Tocqueville and East Asia: Reception and Relevance," September 2015. Several papers submitted to the latter will be published in a coming issue of the Tocqueville Review.

Free Research Field

政治学