Polity Atlas
Thinker

Daniel A. Bell

Canadian political theorist, now at the University of Hong Kong, known for defending Confucian political meritocracy in The China Model (2015) and for his account of serving as a dean at Shandong University.

Source attached · not independently reviewedLast verified 2026-10-01 · revision 10 · 1 reviewersRevision historyЧитать на русском
Influence graph

Key ideas

TheoryPolitical meritocracy (the 'China model' debate)Daniel A. Bell's argument that selecting and promoting leaders by tested ability, rather than by competitive national elections, is a defensible ideal and partly describes China's system: democracy at the bottom, experimentation in the middle, meritocracy at the top. Critics dispute both the ideal and the description.

Revision history

  1. 2026-10-30rev 10 — Translations import
  2. 2026-10-30rev 9 — Translations import
  3. 2026-10-30rev 8 — Translations import
  4. 2026-10-30rev 7 — Translations import
  5. 2026-10-30rev 6 — Translations import
  6. 2026-10-30rev 5 — Translations import
  7. 2026-10-30rev 4 — Translations import
  8. 2026-10-30rev 3 — Translations import
  9. 2026-10-30rev 2 — Translations import
  10. 2026-10-30rev 1 — Seed import