[danbruc]

I totally agree, such a system certainly has a big potential to be misused, either by design or by abuse. But if you think about it as a softer judicial system, you might be able to get something useful out of it. Just be really careful to not go too far and use the same care as in the normal judicial system when building it.

[_bxg1]

If there's one thing we can all agree on about China's flavor of authoritarianism, it's that it's efficient. When they decide to fix something - be it their economy, or their environmental problems, or corruption, or anything else - they just get it done.

Of course, the flip-side of maximal executive power is that it can be abused. In the past that's how authoritarian governments have basically always turned out. But China seems to be getting closer than any other to creating a version that's actually functional. It's scary, but also fascinating to watch from afar.

[seanmcdirmid]

China promised us in 2010 that they would fix their pollution problem in 4 years. That didn’t happen.

Every 8 or so years there is another crackdown on corruption, as part of political housekeeping. Each time they say the problem is fixed, but then it comes back.

China is the worst example of “getting things done” if that is your standard. The central government has been less powerful than you would think historically. Now, is it “different this time”? Maybe, but it definitely wasn’t before.

[_bxg1]

I'm not banking on it turning out to be a good thing, but I am curious.