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100 Questions on Political Myths | Democracy, Freedom, Human Rights and the Modern Citizen

Editions: English (this page) · 简体中文 (Simplified Chinese) · 繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese) · Français · Deutsch · Español

The first-edition topic catalogue of the CCE-100 Civic Education Project. The 100 entries below are research questions; they do not represent verified texts of political propaganda or settled conclusions. Each question will go through collection of the original claims, fact-checking, comparative research and independent review, and links will be added entry by entry once the formal articles are approved by the editors.

Chapter 1: Democratic Institutions and Political Legitimacy

  1. CCE-001 | Population and Democracy: Do population size and demographic structure determine whether a democratic system is feasible? (In preparation)
  2. CCE-002 | Culture and Democracy: Are particular cultural traditions incompatible with democracy? (In preparation)
  3. CCE-003 | Democracy and Stability: Does democratic transition necessarily lead to political turmoil? (In preparation)
  4. CCE-004 | Multiparty Competition: Does multiparty competition necessarily cause social division and political deadlock? (In preparation)
  5. CCE-005 | Voters’ Capacity: Are ordinary citizens capable of making rational political choices? (In preparation)
  6. CCE-006 | Performance Legitimacy: Can governance performance replace democratic procedures as the source of political legitimacy? (In preparation)
  7. CCE-007 | The Universality of Democracy: Is democracy suitable for all countries and civilizations? (In preparation)
  8. CCE-008 | Centralized Efficiency: Are centralized decision-making models necessarily more efficient than democratic procedures? (In preparation)
  9. CCE-009 | Political Stability: Must political stability be maintained at the cost of restricting political freedom? (In preparation)
  10. CCE-010 | Citizen Participation: How does the level of citizen participation affect the quality of a democratic system? (In preparation)

Chapter 2: Freedom, Human Rights and the Rule of Law

  1. CCE-011 | The Right to Subsistence: Do the rights to subsistence and development take priority over civil and political rights? (In preparation)
  2. CCE-012 | Economic Rights: What is the relationship between economic and social rights and civil and political rights? (In preparation)
  3. CCE-013 | State Sovereignty: Can the principle of state sovereignty justify human rights violations? (In preparation)
  4. CCE-014 | Freedom of Speech: Where are the boundaries of free speech? When is restricting speech legitimate? (Read the full article →)
  5. CCE-015 | Freedom of the Press: What role does press freedom play in checking power, and what are its costs? (In preparation)
  6. CCE-016 | Judicial Independence: Why does judicial independence matter? What happens without it? (English edition in preparation)
  7. CCE-017 | Freedom of Assembly: How should freedom of assembly and demonstration be balanced against public order? (In preparation)
  8. CCE-018 | The Universality of Human Rights: Are human rights universal values, or the discourse of a particular civilization? (Read the full article →)
  9. CCE-019 | Law and Politics: Is law a tool of rule or a constraint on power? How can the two be distinguished? (In preparation)
  10. CCE-020 | Public Safety: Where are the limits on restricting citizens’ rights in the name of public safety? (In preparation)

Chapter 3: The State, Political Parties and Nationalism

  1. CCE-021 | Patriotism and Party Loyalty: Does patriotism mean loving the ruling party? (English edition in preparation)
  2. CCE-022 | Criticizing the Government: Does criticizing the government mean being unpatriotic or endangering the state? (English edition in preparation)
  3. CCE-023 | Party Representativeness: How can a single ruling party prove that it represents the whole people? (In preparation)
  4. CCE-024 | National Rejuvenation: What political claims does the discourse of ‘national rejuvenation’ carry? (In preparation)
  5. CCE-025 | The National Interest: Who defines the national interest? How can the concept be kept from abuse? (In preparation)
  6. CCE-026 | Allegations of Foreign Forces: How can genuine foreign interference be distinguished from political smearing? (In preparation)
  7. CCE-027 | Citizen Loyalty: Should citizen loyalty be to the state, the government, or the constitution? (English edition in preparation)
  8. CCE-028 | Unification and Rights: What is the relationship between the goal of national unification and citizens’ rights? (English edition in preparation)
  9. CCE-029 | State and Government: Are the state, the government, and the ruling party the same thing? (English edition in preparation)
  10. CCE-030 | Multiple Identities: Do multiple identities necessarily conflict with national identity? (English edition in preparation)

Chapter 4: Economic Development and Social Equity

  1. CCE-031 | Authoritarian Growth: Is authoritarian rule better for economic growth? (English edition in preparation)
  2. CCE-032 | Poverty-Reduction Achievements: How should poverty-reduction achievements and their political meaning be assessed objectively? (In preparation)
  3. CCE-033 | Independent Unions: What role do independent trade unions play in protecting workers’ rights? (In preparation)
  4. CCE-034 | Economic and Political Freedom: Does economic freedom necessarily lead to political freedom? (In preparation)
  5. CCE-035 | Comparing Corruption: How does corruption differ across political systems? How do institutions restrain it? (In preparation)
  6. CCE-036 | Social Inequality: How should inequality under a market economy be mitigated through institutional design? (In preparation)
  7. CCE-037 | Oversight of Public Investment: What are the consequences of public investment without oversight? (In preparation)
  8. CCE-038 | Economic Crises: How are economic crises handled and accounted for under different political systems? (In preparation)
  9. CCE-039 | Labor Rights: Why does workers’ right to collective bargaining matter? (In preparation)
  10. CCE-040 | Growth and Equity: Can economic growth and distributive equity be achieved together? (In preparation)

Chapter 5: Historical Narratives and Political Memory

  1. CCE-041 | Modernization and Strongmen: Must modernization depend on strongman politics? (In preparation)
  2. CCE-042 | Late-Qing Democratic Practice: What historical legacy did late-Qing constitutionalism and local self-government leave? (In preparation)
  3. CCE-043 | The Provincial Constitution Movement: What are the experiences and lessons of the 1920s provincial constitution movement? (In preparation)
  4. CCE-044 | Republic of China Constitutionalism: What does the constitutional history of the Republic of China teach? (In preparation)
  5. CCE-045 | The Great Leap Forward: What is the historical truth of the Great Leap Forward, and who bears responsibility? (In preparation)
  6. CCE-046 | The Cultural Revolution: Why did the Cultural Revolution happen? How can such a tragedy be prevented from recurring? (In preparation)
  7. CCE-047 | The June Fourth Incident: What happened in 1989? Why is preserving memory so important? (In preparation)
  8. CCE-048 | Judging History: How should historical figures and events be judged? Who has the right to judge them? (In preparation)
  9. CCE-049 | War and Revolution: How do narratives of war and revolution shape political identity? (In preparation)
  10. CCE-050 | Opening the Archives: What does opening historical archives mean for truth and reconciliation? (In preparation)

Chapter 6: Democratic Countries and International Comparison

  1. CCE-051 | Problems of American Politics: Do the failings of American politics prove that democracy has failed? (In preparation)
  2. CCE-052 | Money and Elections: How much influence does money have on elections? How should it be regulated? (In preparation)
  3. CCE-053 | Political Polarization: Is political polarization an inevitable product of democracy? (In preparation)
  4. CCE-054 | Corruption in Democracies: Does corruption exist in democratic countries? How do institutions respond? (In preparation)
  5. CCE-055 | Media Objectivity: Does media bias exist? How should citizens evaluate information? (In preparation)
  6. CCE-056 | Protest and Institutions: What role does protest politics play in a democratic system? (In preparation)
  7. CCE-057 | Democracies and War: Do democracies start wars? Where are the institutional constraints? (In preparation)
  8. CCE-058 | Elections as Performance: Are elections merely political theater? (In preparation)
  9. CCE-059 | Democratic Self-Correction: How do democracy’s self-correction mechanisms work? (In preparation)
  10. CCE-060 | Comparing Governance Performance: How can the governance performance of different political systems be compared scientifically? (In preparation)

Chapter 7: Taiwan, Hong Kong and Constitutional Government

  1. CCE-061 | Taiwan’s Democratization: What were the key factors in Taiwan’s democratic transition? (Read the full article →)
  2. CCE-062 | The ROC Constitution: What does the practice of the Republic of China Constitution in Taiwan show? (Read the full article →)
  3. CCE-063 | Party Turnover: What does party turnover mean for political accountability? (Read the full article →)
  4. CCE-064 | Hong Kong Protests: What were the demands of the Hong Kong protest movement, and what were their institutional roots? (Read the full article →)
  5. CCE-065 | Local Self-Government: What is the value of local self-government for building democracy? (Read the full article →)
  6. CCE-066 | Federalism for China: Does federalism offer an institutional option for China’s future? (Read the full article →)
  7. CCE-067 | Constitutions Constraining Power: How do constitutions actually constrain power? How far is the text on paper from reality? (English edition in preparation)
  8. CCE-068 | Judicial Protection: How does judicial review protect citizens’ rights? (English edition in preparation)
  9. CCE-069 | Paths of Transition: What are the paths of transition from authoritarianism to democracy? (English edition in preparation)
  10. CCE-070 | Lessons and Limits of the Taiwan Experience: What can the mainland learn from Taiwan’s experience, and what are its limits? (English edition in preparation)

Chapter 8: International Human Rights and Double Standards

  1. CCE-071 | US Human Rights Problems: What do the human rights problems that exist in the United States mean? (English edition in preparation)
  2. CCE-072 | Colonialism: How does colonial history shape today’s human rights discourse? (English edition in preparation)
  3. CCE-073 | UN Human Rights Mechanisms: How do UN human rights mechanisms work, and how effective are they? (English edition in preparation)
  4. CCE-074 | Counterterrorism and Freedom: Are derogations of rights in the war on terrorism justified? (English edition in preparation)
  5. CCE-075 | Sovereignty and Monitoring: Does international human rights monitoring violate state sovereignty? (English edition in preparation)
  6. CCE-076 | Selective Criticism: Is international human rights criticism selective? How should that be viewed? (English edition in preparation)
  7. CCE-077 | Verifying War Crimes: How should war-crimes allegations be verified and prosecuted? (English edition in preparation)
  8. CCE-078 | International Human Rights Standards: How were international human rights standards formed? (English edition in preparation)
  9. CCE-079 | Whataboutism: What is whataboutism, and how can it be recognized? (English edition in preparation)
  10. CCE-080 | Double Standards: How can one judge whether a criticism amounts to a double standard? (English edition in preparation)

Chapter 9: Propaganda, Information and Logic

  1. CCE-081 | Verifying Official Media: How can information published by official media be verified? (English edition in preparation)
  2. CCE-082 | Verifying Foreign Media: Are foreign media reports credible? How can they be cross-checked? (English edition in preparation)
  3. CCE-083 | Majority Opinion: Is majority opinion always correct? (English edition in preparation)
  4. CCE-084 | Ad Hominem: What is the ad hominem fallacy? Why is it invalid in argument? (English edition in preparation)
  5. CCE-085 | Censorship and Rumors: What is the relationship between information censorship and the spread of rumors? (English edition in preparation)
  6. CCE-086 | Information Cocoons: How do algorithm recommendations shape people’s political cognition? (English edition in preparation)
  7. CCE-087 | Causal Reasoning: How can correlation be distinguished from causation? What are the common causal fallacies? (English edition in preparation)
  8. CCE-088 | Political Slogans: How do political slogans affect thinking? How can a slogan be dissected? (English edition in preparation)
  9. CCE-089 | Quoting Out of Context: What is quoting out of context? How can the full context be restored? (English edition in preparation)
  10. CCE-090 | Verifying Figures and Citations: How should statistics and citations be verified? (English edition in preparation)

Chapter 10: Civic Participation and Democratic Transition

  1. CCE-091 | Rights and Civic Education: What rights knowledge should civic education include? (English edition in preparation)
  2. CCE-092 | Political Apathy: What are the root causes of political apathy, and what are its consequences? (English edition in preparation)
  3. CCE-093 | Nonviolent Action: What role has nonviolent resistance played in history? (English edition in preparation)
  4. CCE-094 | Opposition Parties: What does the existence of opposition parties mean for political health? (English edition in preparation)
  5. CCE-095 | Grassroots Self-Governance: What civic capacities can grassroots self-governance practice cultivate? (English edition in preparation)
  6. CCE-096 | Institutions and Leaders: Which matters more for political development — institutions or individual leaders? (English edition in preparation)
  7. CCE-097 | Social Disagreement: Through what mechanisms should social disagreement be resolved? (English edition in preparation)
  8. CCE-098 | Civil Society: What role do civil society organizations play in democratic politics? (English edition in preparation)
  9. CCE-099 | Minority Groups: How can minority rights be protected under majority rule? (English edition in preparation)
  10. CCE-100 | Citizen Responsibility: What political responsibilities should modern citizens bear? (English edition in preparation)

This directory is a continuously updated research index. Entries not yet published are uniformly marked “in preparation”,