The Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, issued a research
report during a press conference on Monday, raising ten questions on American democracy
from ten angles, including the American system in practice, national governance, social
circumstances, human rights, and freedom situation, and international influence, while telling
the truths about American democracy by citing vast amounts of facts, data, and opinions of
various institutions, personages, and experts in the world.
The report titled “Ten Questions for American Democracy” has been published in five
languages, i.e., Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish, with its Chinese edition
consisting of 23,000 characters.
Representatives from the embassies of more than 30 countries in China, nearly 20 foreign
media outlets in Beijing, and journalists from more than 40 domestic media organizations
participated in the press conference, also serving as a seminar on the report.
Chinese and foreign attendees at the conference all believe that the U.S. should face its
democracy issues, listen to the real voices of other countries, correct its wrongdoings both at
home and abroad, and actually start to seek benefits for people in the U.S. and the entire
world.
As the COVID-19 epidemic is running riot across the world and the global economic
recovery remains sluggish, countries are faced with considerable challenges in development.
When humanity needs solidarity the most, the U.S. government, however, still demarcates
ideological boundaries and causes divisions around the world, arousing the indignation of
many countries.
“Democracy is a right of all people, not a monopoly of several countries. It is absurd for any
government to declare its monopoly on the definition or model of ‘democracy’,” says the
report.
In recent years, American democracy has gradually metamorphosed. Domestically, it has
become a tool for a few politicians to seek personal gains, violating human rights and tearing
society apart; internationally, it has become a front and excuse for the U.S. to maintain
hegemony, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and undermine the international
order, according to the report.
Democracy means that people are masters of the country, says the report, pointing out that in
today’s America, “minority over the majority,” “power serves the capital,” and “people’s will
is difficult to truly realize” are the unfortunate realities.
The report cited the conclusion of a report from Princeton University and Northwest
University based on an analysis of nearly 1,800 American policies: ordinary people and
groups representing the interests of the masses in the U.S. have little independent political
influence; however, economic elites and organized groups representing business interests
have a strong ability to control policies.
Western capitalist countries judge democracy simply by whether it has a parliamentary system
and the so-called “separation of powers” system; such an approach that focuses on form
rather than results can easily be proven wrong, said John Ross, former director of Economic
and Business Policy for the Mayor of London.
Ross believes that in the discussion of democracy, the focus should be placed on the practical
results, that is, the improvement of the quality of life of the people because democracy is
about people living a happier and more dignified life.
By the end of 2020, more than 50 million Americans were food insecure, which was nearly
50 percent higher than that of 2019; according to the data of the Federal Reserve, as of the
second quarter of 2021, the top 1 percent of Americans had about $43.27 trillion in wealth,
14.3 times that of the bottom 50 percent of Americans ($3.03 trillion); the U.S. accounts for
only 4 percent of the world’s population, and yet 35 percent of firearm suicides worldwide.
Based on comprehensive data analysis, the report concluded that the U.S., despite its
democratic shortcomings, is engaged in “democratic diplomacy,” dumping its claimed
democratic model, irrespective of the needs of various countries, disregarding the society of
each country, disdaining the principles of each country, and not supporting the goals of each
country, which fully reflects the fallacy of the premise, framework, principle, and purpose of
its “democratic diplomacy.”
Wang Wen, executive dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, noted that more
and more people in the world no longer approve of American democracy.
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that 57 percent of respondents from
outside the U.S. said that the American democracy “used to be a good example but has not
been in recent years”; and that another 23 percent said the U.S. had never been a good model
of democracy in other countries.
American democracy has caused social disorder, deepened people’s suffering at home, created
disasters and turmoil, and undermined international order abroad, over which the international
community has expressed great concern.
The U.S. is a veritable “refugee maker” in the world today, making at least 37 million people
destitute and homeless by the wars it has launched since the September 11 attacks, according
to the report of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies.
“Democracy is a common value of all humanity. There is no universal democratic model in
the world. Democracy is a rich and diversified path independently chosen by all countries,
rather than a single routine forced to be imposed upon others,” stresses the report.
