The Clash of Capitalism and Democracy (Part 1 of 5)
top-down theory of ideology, can work together to form a representative democracy.** There are, naturally, differing models of representative democracy, and these models are usually distinguishable because of their differing approach to the balance of democracy and bureaucracy. On one end of the scale, Switzerland uses referenda to ask its populace about virtually everything. On the other end, South Korea and Taiwan, which only recently could be called democracies at all, still have a very strong bureaucracy, which makes most of the decisions about where the nation is going, and how it is to get there.
Capitalism is a similarly complicated concept, with a multiplicity of models. Many analysts refer to a distinctly Asian model of capitalism, defined in opposition to an "Anglo-American" model. The stereotype is that the Anglo-American model tends to be more open, more economically free, and more individualistic. The Asian model, on the other hand, is based on closed meetings, hidden corporate groupings, secret back-room cabals of business leaders, and a work force unit in the "salaryman," the gray man in a gray suit who subsumes his individual identity for the good of the collective. These models, as you have probably guessed, are at best overly simplistic.
However, there may be a kernel of truth to the idea that there are different models of capitalism. In the United States, a bank president and a government banking regulator go out of their way not to be seen together, for fear that people will think they are colluding in some way. Anti-monopoly law specifically forbids business rivals from discussing prices, because they might be in collusion to set prices. On the other hand, in Japan, a recent spate of scandals involving bank officials bribing regulators by taking them out to frequent dinners is indicative of a different mindset. Furthermore, these scandals were not just isolated examples of corruption. One Mongolian I recently interviewed said that in Mongolia, a nation attempting to build a market economy, government regulators and business officials think nothing of "hanging out" and discussing business.
Some think that this different mindset is a wholly different model of capitalism. Other more cynical folk simply believe that perhaps nations who think nothing of price fixing, collusion, and regulated monopolies simply have not yet learned the intricacies of the market economy. For nations making a transition to market economy, this may be partially true. Remember that East Asia's oldest capitalist-industrialist nation
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