摘要
China＇s environmental challenges are daunting and there are many suggested root causes and possible solutions. The diagnosis of and prescriptions for dealing with China＇s environmental problems are not dissimilar to what have been suggested for industrialized democracies, except one factor： the regime type. This article seeks to address the question of whether or not democracy can save China＇s environment. It places China＇s environmental challenges in the context of democracy-environment debate and breaks the independent variable of regime type into four subcategories： 1. environmental law and enforcement; 2. corruption; 3. transparent information; and 4. environmental activism by non-governmental organizations. After having compared China＇s environmental performance with that of other economies in terms of carbon dioxide （ CO2 ） emission, air pollution by power plants, consumer behavior and ecological footprint, this research has concluded that democracy is neither a necessary condition for nor a significant factor in saving China＇s environment.
