Daniel A. Bell ( 贝淡宁) is Chair Professor of the Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University in Beijing and director of the Berggruen Institute of Philosophy and Culture.

Westerners tend to divide the political world into “good” democracies and “bad” authoritarian regimes. But Tsinghua University Professor Daniel Bell believes the Chinese political model does not fit neatly in either category. Over the past three decades, he says, China has evolved a political system that can best be described as “political meritocracy.” Drawing on his new book “The China Model”, Professor Bell will discuss the ideals and the reality of this unique political system. How do the ideals of political meritocracy set the standard for evaluating political progress (and regress) in China? How can China avoid the disadvantages of political meritocracy? And how can political meritocracy best be combined with democracy?