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POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS OF CHINA
ELECTIONS Elections designed to give the party-
state greater legitimacy
Party controls elections to prevent dissent
Direct, secret-ballot elections at local level Found most common at the village level
(could be a façade) Indirect elections at other levels
NONCOMMUNIST PARTIES
CCP allows the existence of eight "democratic" parties. › China Democratic League-intellectuals› Chinese Party for the Public Interest-overseas
experts Membership is small and has very little
power Important advisory role to the party leaders
and generate support for CCP policies › Meet at CPPCC during National People’s
Congress (and attend NPC as nonvoting deputies)
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
CCP CHINESE GOVERNMENT PLA
PARALLEL HIERARCHY
Three parallel hierarchies Principle of dual role China's policy making is governed
more directly by factions and personal relationships (guanxi)
ORGANIZATION OF THE CCP
Organized hierarchically by levels
The party has a separate constitution from the government's constitution of 1982, and its central bodies are: National Party Congress
Central Committee
Politburo/Standing Committee
GOVERNMENT
Three branches - a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary.
People's National Congress The National People's Congress choose the President
and Vice President of China, but there is only one party-sponsored candidate for each position
Executive/Bureaucracy The President and Vice President The Premier
Bureaucracy
GUANXI
Chinese for patron-client relationships Think nomenclatura in the CCP
Helps to build contacts and power Can determine Politburo membership
among other things
STATE COUNCIL
STATE COUNCIL
LOCAL CCPLOCAL CCP
NATIONAL PARTY
CONGRESSMeets every 5
years for a week2,100
NATIONAL PARTY
CONGRESSMeets every 5
years for a week2,100
PROVINCIAL CCP
PROVINCIAL CCP
NATIONAL PEOPLES
CONGRESSMeets Yearly for 2 weeks
3,000+73% CCP5 years
NATIONAL PEOPLES
CONGRESSMeets Yearly for 2 weeks
3,000+73% CCP5 years
LOCAL GOV.LOCAL GOV.
PROVINCIAL GOV.
PROVINCIAL GOV.
PRESIDENTPRESIDENT
PREMIER
Head of State Elected by NPC (One
candidate selected by CCP)
5 year term, 2 term limit Traditionally the General
Sec.
Premier = PM Head of government Member of the Standing
Committee State Council = Cabinet Authority over Bureaucracy
(40m cadres) 2 term limit
THE GOVPARTY >
EXECUTIVES
President and Premier (Prime Minister)› President is head of
state with little constitutional power, but is sometimes the General Secretary of CCP
› Prime Minister is head of State Council, or ministers, and is in charge of “departments” of government
EXECUTIVES CONTINUED
They are elected for 5-year terms by National Peoples Congress, nominated by CCP’s National Party Congress
They also serve on Central Military Commission, which oversees the PLA
The CCP’s leader is the general secretary and he is in charge of bureaucracy, or Secretariat
THE LEGISLATURE
Think of Russian Matrioshka dolls Top legislative body is National
Peoples Congress 3,000 members chosen by provincial
peoples congresses across the country They meet in Beijing once a year for a
couple of weeks to “legislate” for 1 billion+ people
Pass laws; amend Constitution, On paper very powerful, but checked by
Party
LEGISLATURE
The National Peoples Congress chooses a Central Committee of 200 that meets every 2 months to conduct business
Inside this is the Central Committee’s Standing Committee which functions every day
PARTY REPRESENTATION
Parallel structure The National Party Congress is main
representative body of CCP, not people› Has 2,000 delegates› Select 150-200 people chosen for Central Committee› It chooses a Politburo of 12 people to run party’s day
to day business› Many of these people work in Secretariat so Politburo
chooses a Standing Committee of 6 headed by General Secretary (Thus merging executive to legislative)
MERGING OF EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE
Standing Committee of Politburo includes president and prime minister, plus closest associates, and the party legislative “branch” and party executive is joined with government executive
BUREAUCRACIES State Council
› Government Ministers and Premier carry out the decisions made by National Peoples Congress (or Politburo)
› Chinese bureaucrats are paralled by party members assigned to their ministries Leadership small groups are informal groups
that link other ministers to coordinate policymaking and implementation
› In spite of centralization, provincial and local ministries have had to adapt national policies to local needs
JUDICIARY
China has a 4-tiered "people's court" system› Handle criminal cases and government working on
civil law codes
“People's Procuratorate" › Investigates suspected illegal activity
Criminal justice is swift and harsh (capital punishment is a bullet in the back of the head)
Human Rights organizations criticize China› Not a rule of law system, rather a rule by law system
THE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY"Political power grows out of the barrel of a
gun.“ - Mao
The People's Liberation Army encompasses all of the country's ground, air, and naval armed services.
Important influence on politics and policy.
The second half of Mao's famous quote above is less often quoted:
"Our principle is that the party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the party."
This propaganda poster represents life in the "Red Army" - the military under Mao before the People's
Republic of China was formed in 1949.
PLA CONTINUED
During the 1970s and 80s the government didn’t have money to modernize Army so fended for itself It ran hotels, construction companies,
factories that produced pirate copies of everything, satellite dishes
By 1990s government began controlling the Army and its activities
INTERNAL SECURITY
Ministry of State Security Combats espionage and gathers
intelligence People’s Armed Police
Guards public buildings and quell unrest Ministry of Public Security
Maintenance of law and order, investigations, surveillance
Maintain labor reform camps No habeas corpus rights
POLICIES AND ISSUES
Economic reforms › Corruption› Iron rice bowl broken› High unemployment› Inequality of classes› Floating population› Environmental implications
Demand for political power and civil liberties?
Will contact through trade mean that China will become more like their trading partners?
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Hong Kong
Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
TAIWAN
China trades with Taiwan, but the PRC views Taiwan as part of China and Taiwan does not But they want to
benefit from its trade
POLITICAL CHANGE TODAY
Democratic reforms can be seen in these ways: Some input from the National People's
Congress is accepted by the Politburo
More emphasis is placed on laws and legal procedures
Village elections are now semi-competitive, with choices of candidates and some freedom from the party's control
DURING THE LONG PROCESS OF HISTORY, BY RELYING ON OUR OWN DILIGENCE, COURAGE AND WISDOM, CHINESE PEOPLE HAVE OPENED UP A GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL HOME WHERE ALL ETHNIC GROUPS LIVE IN HARMONY AND FOSTERED AN EXCELLENT CULTURE THAT NEVER FADES.
-CCP CHAIRMAN XI JINPING
POLITICS TODAY Xi was Chosen as General Secretary of the
Communist Party of China on Nov. 15, 2012 Became President of the People's Republic of
China on March 14, 2013, following his election by the National People's Congress, thus replacing his predecessor Hu Jintao.
Although the presidency is officially a ceremonial post, in recent years it has become customary for the general secretary to assume the presidency as confirmation of his rise to power.
Has adopted the theme; “Chinese Dream”