Daniel A. Bell (; born 1964) is a Canadian political theorist. He is currently Chair of Political Theory at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law. He was previously Dean of the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Shandong University and professor at Tsinghua University (Schwarzman College and Department of Philosophy).
Education and career Bell was born in Montreal, educated at McGill University and the University of Oxford, has taught in Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai, and has held research fellowships at Princeton's University Center for Human Values, Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and Hebrew University's Department of Political Science. In his book The Dean of Shandong he writes about his experiences as a dean at Shandong University between 2017 and 2022 and what they say about China.
He has put forward his views in favour of China's political meritocracy and against one person one vote as a mode of selection for political leaders in the Chinese contextThe China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of DemocracyThe East Asian Challenge for Democracy: Political Meritocracy in Comparative Perspective and in comments published in The New York Times,Daniel A. Bell, "Teaching ‘Western Values’ in China", 2015-4-16；Jiang Qing and Daniel A. Bell, "A Confucian Constitution for China", 2012-7-10；Daniel A. Bell, "Moving Eastward", 2011-2-16;Daniel A. Bell, "Developing China's Soft Power, 2010-9-23;Daniel A. Bell, "The Confucian Party, 2009-5-11 the Financial Times,Daniel A. Bell, "In defence of how China picks its leader"Daniel A. Bell, "Real meaning of the rot at the top of China" and in regular columns published in The Huffington Post,Daniel A. Bell's articles in Huffington Post in Project Syndicate,Daniel A. Bell's articles in Project Syndicate in The Guardian,Daniel A. Bell's articles in The Guardian as well as the Chinese-language periodical South Reviews ()贝淡宁：“另一种精英治国” . South Reviews，2013-10-28;贝淡宁：“中国应该追求更好的制度” ，南风窗，2011-12-07. and a Chinese-language blog site on Caijing ().贝淡宁的博客 ，Caijing Net (财经网) He was the recipient of the Huilin Prize in 2018. In his book China's New Confucianism (Chinese: 中国新儒家), he argues that Confucian social hierarchies actually contribute to economic equality in China. He also pointed out that Confucianism influenced how he acts a political theorist and a teacher.
Works Bell is the author of books including: Why Ancient Chinese Political Thought Matters: Four Dialogues on China's Past, Present, and Future, Princeton University Press, 2026. . The Dean of Shandong: Confessions of a Minor Bureaucrat at a Chinese University, Princeton University Press, 2023. . Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies Matter in China and the Rest of the World [co-authored with Wang Pei], Princeton University Press, 2020. The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy, Princeton University Press, 2015. . The Spirit of Cities: Why the Identity of a City Matters in a Global Age [co-authored with Avner de-Shalit], Princeton University Press, 2011. . China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society, Princeton University Press, 2010. . Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, Princeton University Press, 2006. . East Meets West: Human Rights and Democracy in East Asia, Princeton University Press, 2000. . Towards Liberal Democracy in Pacific Asia [co-authored with David Brown, Kanishka Jayasuriya, and David Martin Jones], Palgrave Macmillan, 1995. . Communitarianism and Its Critics, Oxford University Press, 1993. .
He is the founding editor of the Princeton-China series by Princeton University Press that aims to translate the original works of Chinese scholars: Joseph Chan's Confucian Perfectionism: A Political Philosophy for Modern Times, Princeton University Press, 2013. . Jiang Qing's A Confucian Constitutional Order: How China's Ancient Past Can Shape Its Political Future [co-edited with Ruiping Fan, Translated by Edmund Ryden], Princeton University Press, 2012. . Yan Xuetong's Ancient Chinese Thought, Modern Chinese Power [co-edited with Sun Zhe, Translated by Edmund Ryden], Princeton University Press, 2011. .
He is also the editor/co-editor of several books: Being Chinese, Becoming Chinese: Interdisciplinary Reflections on Chinese Identity, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2025. ISBN 9789882373600. The East Asian Challenge for Democracy: Political Meritocracy in Comparative Perspective [co-edited with Chenyang Li], Cambridge University Press, 2013. . Confucian Political Ethics, Princeton University Press, 2007. . Ethics in Action: The Ethical Challenges of International Human Rights Nongovernmental Organizations [co-edited with Jean-Marc Coicaud], Cambridge University Press, 2006. . The Politics of Affective Relations: East Asia and Beyond (Global Encounters: Studies in Comparative Political Theory series) [co-edited with Hahm Chaihark], Lexington Books, 2004. . Confucianism for the Modern World [co-edited with Hahm Chaibong], Cambridge University Press, 2003.. Forms of Justice: Critical Perspectives on David Miller's Political Philosophy [co-edited with Avner de-Shalit], Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002. . The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights [co-edited with Joanne R. Bauer], Cambridge University Press, 1999. .
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