US President Barack Obama and his challenger, Republican nominee Mitt Romney, had their second presidential debate on Tuesday. The debate was directly broadcast on the Internet.

Besides US spectators, many Chinese people who could speak English also tuned in. Most of the comments from Chinese audiences were quite positive and showed their admiration for US style democracy.

According to the US based Pew Research Center, although more than half of the Chinese respondents do not like the US, some 52 percent expressed a positive view of American-style democracy.

Indeed, US style democracy is very attractive to the non-Western public. Many Chinese people have a good impression of US style democracy, but it should be noted that the number of people who believe that China should do the same as the US in terms of the Chinese political field is decreasing.

The US presidential election, being critical while still having boundaries, best represents the Western style of election politics. It can be called a miracle of Western political civilization. The campaign itself has repeatedly fostered the democratic awareness and habits of the American public, a process which also in turn shapes their election culture.

But election politics has its risks in other parts of the world, and can sometimes bring a heavy price to society. Modern Western society is lucky as the countries have finished the initial stages of democracy building.

The pain that many developing countries experience today during their elections has long been shouldered by previous generations in the West.

Democracy is the result of the comprehensive progress of a country. It can't be automatically realized through the formulation of a few laws. Now we understand both the advantages and disadvantages of election politics. It stresses eloquence too much and ignores real talent.

The selection of leaders through Western-style elections has had good and bad results throughout history. On occasion, it could purely be called a result of luck. The true meaning of elections is to avoid autocracy. It had an absolute advantage in the time when autocratic rule prevailed.

Today, political civilization has been absorbed by countries through globalization. The room for autocratic rule is much smaller than before, and consequently, the advantage of Western-style elections is reducing.

The Western democratic spirit has been accepted by Chinese society. In the political sphere, studying the West is an ongoing process. China is gradually becoming more clear and resolute in charting a democratic road for itself.