In 1905 Sun had proclaimed th principles of democracy to replace a constitutional monarchy which he identified with "absolutism". In 1924 he proposed a plan of government believed to ensure popular control through electoral processes, yet give a strong executive wide power to deal with the business of government based on strong leadership, not liberty. Sun argued that Chinese people acting as a "heap of loose sand", they have had an excess of individual liberty and instead of having "liberty of the nation". Consequently, by having sovereignty, the people should retain, and the ability to rule, which should be vested in an elite group of experts.
He proposed a constitutional order of five branches of powers of government. Thee would include the three used by the American government --executive, legislative, and judicial -- along with two intended to serve as a check on elected officials and their powers of appointment, for which the Chinese political tradition provided a proven precedent: a supervisory organ, and an independent civil service system.
The election of real talent and ability through examination has been characteristic of China for thousands of years. Great Britain's civil service examinations are modeled after the old Chinese system, but they are limited to ordinary officials.
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