There is no use denying the fact that modern age can be characterized by blistering development of such issues as tolerance, humanism, and democracy. People understood the value of human life and started to care about it. That is why nowadays, the majority of civilized countries have a political system that is based on the main principles of democracy as it is considered to be one of the most humane regimes which care about people and takes into account their points of view.
However, not everything is so clear nowadays. There are still countries that reject these principles preferring some authoritarian governments. Moreover, one of the most powerful and fast-developing countries of the modern world China, is also ruled by an authoritarian government that does not have any respect for the values of democracy, preferring to take into account the needs of the country ignoring its citizens point of view.
However, in the last decades, the situation changed for better, and there are some facts which can show the tendency for the democratization of society in China. However, its speed is still low, and that is why it is impossible to say for sure that China will ever become a democratic state. Nevertheless, some experts connect these changes with the blistering economic development of the country. The thing is that the Chinese economic model is changing nowadays.
It becomes more and more capitalist. There is no use denying the fact that it is one of the most fast-growing economies in the world and, that is why it is rather efficient and, moreover, it is possible to predict the development of the country in this direction (Fenby, 2015).
However, this economic growth is impossible without the increase of independence of people who have their small business, which brings benefits to them. The government eases grip in order to let people choose what to do and how to develop their own business, which results in the growth of the economy and democracy in the country (G.E., 2014). That is why it is possible to say that the latest changes in Chinese society can be connected with its blistering economic development.
That is why this issue is very important in China nowadays. The documentary Please Vote for Me is devoted to this very question. The main sense of this video is to describe the experiment which is conducted among pupils in the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China. Children are suggested to choose their monitor with the help of elections. There are three main candidates Luo Lei, Xu Xiaofei, and Cheng Cheng, who compete with each other in order to become the monitor (Edkins, 2007).
The movie depicts the life of pupils in China in details, additionally, some interviews with children are also shown. However, it also describes the life of the representatives of the middle class in some urban areas.
Three little candidates are given three days to prepare for elections and convince other children to vote for them. These candidates are shown at home, in school, and in some other environment for people to understand better the peculiarities of Chinese society. Additionally, children are asked a great number of questions, which can help to understand their attitude to the issue.
Having watched this video, it is possible to outline some issues which seem to be interesting to discuss. First of all, the influence of this experiment on children should be investigated. It is obvious that pupils of the school who took part in it are excited and eager to participate. They are smiling and communicating with people who are responsible for the experiment. However, the question of whether they will remember this experience and will try to follow this pattern in their life or not appears.
Unfortunately, it is possible to say that there are not many chances for these children to follow the main principles of democracy. The beginning of the movie shows that much attention is given to the question of the ideological education of children in China. For pupils, every day starts with the anthem and flag-rising ceremony.
Children sing and look quite serious. It means that they are influenced by an ideology that dominates in China. That is why this only experiment is not enough to introduce some significant changes to the life of people in China. It is very easy to influence the minds of children, that is why they will forget this experiment soon under the influence of media and some other institutions.
However, it is also impossible to say that this experiment was useless. There are several reasons for this statement. First of all, it is important because children are shown how democracy works and what its main peculiarities are. Maybe, for the first time in their life, these pupils are given the opportunity to make a choice and do what they want but not what they are said to do.
Under conditions of democratic dictatorship (Chinese democracy, n.d.), this experiment is very important because it also shows that children, who are the future of any country, accept the issues of democracy eagerly, and they want to participate in elections, both candidates and electorate.
Moreover, it should be said that systematical activity of this kind can lead to the appearance of the interest to politics among young people in China and increase the level of their consciousness. They will be able to think about their current political system and compare it with the activity they perform at school while choosing a monitor among their classmates.
With this in mind, it is possible to make some predictions connected with the future of the country and the development of its society. In should be said that the country will continue its evolution transforming into a superstate (Rosett, 2014); however, some significant changes in society and regime are unlikely to happen. There are several factors that should be taken into account.
First of all, it is the mentality of the Chinese people. Traditions are very powerful there, and many generations are raised with the idea that democracy is something strange. Authoritarian form of government is traditional for China, which was Empire hundred years ago. Additionally, the current government of the country is strong enough to continue the development of ideology and society in general in the chosen manner. With this in mind, it is possible to say that China has few chances to become a democratic state.
Having analyzed the information connected with the issue of democracy in China and watched documentary, it is possible to make a certain conclusion. Though children are eager to participate in elections, taking them as something new and interesting, it is still difficult to say that democracy will become important for Chinese society. Being influenced by ideology and traditions, people do not see the reason for changes.
References
Chinese Democracy. Web.
Edkins, D. (Producer), & Weijun, C. (Director). (2007). Please Vote for Me. [Motion Picture]. China, Denmark: First Run Pictures.
Fenby, J. (2015). Is lack of democracy a problem for China?. BBC. Web.
G.E. (2014). What China means by “democracy”. The Economist. Web.
Rosett, C. (2014). Democracy in China? The Weekly Standart. Web.