Niu Kesi：Democracy is a Politics of Conscience

Authoritarian politics are inescapably responsible for the fall of humanity. In order to survive, one has to adapt to the environment and living conditions.But this adaptation does not imply that people do not aspire to a dignified life. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory on human motivation also applies to the people living in authoritarian counties. Totalitarian regimes exist in many countries: whether East or West. It is groundless to blame the “ugly” human nature of the Chinese people for China’s authoritarian rule. The transition from autocracy to democracy is not an evolution but a revolution; therefore, there are no set rules to follow. Democratization largely depends on the level of Ethics knowledge among the national leaders; however, the current politically stringent screening mechanism strongly works against the spread of such knowledge.