China Political Institutions

Yvonne Luk, Pd 7

Standing Committee

Politburo

Central Committee

National Party

Congress

Standing Committee

State Council

Ministries & Commission

s

Standing Committee

National People’s Congress

Legislature Government Party

Supreme People’s

Court

Supreme People’s

Procurator

Judiciary

Intermediate/Lower Court

& Procurators

Provincial Governments

Provincial Congresses

Municipal Governments

Municipal Congresses

County Governments

County Congresses

Township Governments

Township Congresses

General Secretary

Premier

President

Intro

Authoritarian government

Democratic centralism

One party system basically - 8 other minor political parties that have to listen to the Chinese Communist Party

Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Head: General Secretary Current General Secretary: Xi Jinping

Largest political party in the world (85 million + members)

Exclusive membership – have to apply and go through rigorous examination

Nomenklatura system: management of all party and government officials in positions by party committees; recruitment and promotion of elites

Guanxi: personal connections that are important to gaining higher positions within the party

or Communist Party of China (CPC)

Party Structure

National Party Congress About 2000 delegates

Meets every 5 years - too infrequent to play a significant role in policy-making

Ratify important changes in broad policy – already decided by smaller party structures but sessions publicize changes

Elects the Central Committee

Central Committee – the political elite About 350 members

Meets every year – meetings are called plenums

Determines number of congress delegates and procedures for their election

Elects Politburo, Politburo Standing Committee, General Secretary, and Party Secretariat

Party Structure

Politburo 25 members – 7 on Politburo Standing Committee who each head an important area of

national concern (such as economy or legislation)

Meetings held in secret – believed to be once every week

Party Political Structure

Party hierarchy similar to government hierarchy

On each level of government, Party has similar function, and Party has more power over government on each level

Many top members of the Party are also top members of the government

People’s Liberation Army (PLA)

“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” – Mao Zedong

Includes navy, air force, and army

Not national army but serves the Communist Party – de facto armed forces of China

Under command of the Central Military Commission of the CCP (and not Ministry of National Defense) Chairman of CMC is Xi Jinping

3 million active personnel

Legislature Structure

National People’s Congress (NPC) – not to be confused with National Party Congress Head: Chairman of the NPC

Current Chairman: Zhang Dejiang

Unicameral

Highest organization of state authority according to constitution

Delegates elected every 5 years

2987 members

Formal powers include amendment of the constitution, passage and amendment of legislation, approval of economic plans and government work reports, and appointment/removal of top state and government leaders (such as president, vice president, premier of State Council, and president of the Supreme People’s Court)

Legislature Structure

National People’s Congress (cont.)

Acts more as rubber stamp – decisions already made by the CCP

Standing Committee – about 150 members who are elected by the NPC from members of the NPC

Local Government

Township County Municipal Provincial

At each of these levels is a government and congress

The congress at each level elects the corresponding level government

The congress at each level also elects the congress for the next level, except for the township and county congresses

Only time Chinese citizens are allowed to vote is for the township and county congresses

Provincial congresses elect members of the NPC

Government Structure

Head of State: President, who is elected by the NPC. Role is highly ceremonial.

Current President: Xi Jinping

State Council

Head: Premier of the State Council – the “prime minister”

Current Premier: Li Keqiang

Composed of premier, cabinet of vice-premiers, state councilors, ministers

The premier of the State Council is nominated by the president, reviewed by the NPC, and appointed and removed by the president

Other members of the State Council are nominated by the premier, reviewed by the NPC, and appointed and removed by the president

In charge of ministries and commissions in bureaucracy implement and execute policy

Judicial Structure

Four-tier system (like local government)

Lower three tiers in charge of criminal and civil cases

Special jurisdiction courts for military, railroad transportation, and maritime

Special administrative regions (ex: Hong Kong and Macau) have their own judicial system

Criminal court has 99% conviction rate

Supreme People’s Court

At top of four tier system

Judges selected by president, approved by NPC

Supreme People’s Procuratorate

Highest agency responsible for prosecution and investigation

Media

Some independent media, but mostly state-run

All media outlets heavily censored by government – Propaganda Department

Xinhua is the official press agency

People’s Daily is the official newspaper of the Central Committee

China Central Television (CCTV) is the major state television broadcaster