Challenging the “myth of the autocratic revival,” the American political scientists Daniel Deudney and John Ikenberry have examined China and Russia, finding “little evidence for the emergence of a stable equilibrium between capitalism and autocracy such that this combination could be dignified as a new model of modernity.” While neither country qualifies as a liberal democracy, both “are much more liberal and democratic than they have ever been, and many of the crucial foundations for sustainable liberal democracy are emerging” – one main hurdle being the centrifugal forces that democracy might unleash.
美国政治学家丹尼尔·杜德尼和约翰·伊肯伯里深入研究中俄实例后勇敢向“专制复兴神话”发出挑战，他们找不到任何证据证明资本主义及独裁政体实现了稳定的平衡，更无法证明上述组合是新现代化模式的组成元素。” 尽管中俄两国还不能算作自由民主政体，但“两者都处于有史以来自由民主的高峰，可持续自由民主政体的许多关键基础也都开始萌芽”——民主所释放的离心力是它们面临的主要障碍。