CHINA’S LEADERS(Standing Committee of the Politburo)

BBC

THE CHINESE SYSTEM

“UNDERSTANDING CHINA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM”CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE REPORT R41007www.crs.gov

CCPLegislature Executive

Judicial

Military

These slides from a presentation by David Zweig, HKUST

Key Characteristics of the System

• Political system dominated by the CCP• Highly bureaucratized—”the permanent

bureaucratic society.”• Power based partly on “power of posts”• Highly centralized system, with top leaders

wielding enormous power; “Mao in command” model.

Unstable Institutions and Importance of Personal Power

• But (1) power also based on personal relations—”guanxi”—who is your political network?

• Deng Xiaoping mobilized whole country to speed up reforms in 1992 when his only formal post was President of Chinese Bridge Association.

Deep State Penetration into Society

• 2. CCP penetrated down to village level through party committees (1,000 people).

• In Qing Dynasty, county government was lowest level of state power (200,000 people).

• In cities, CCP has penetrated down to neighborhood committees

Horizontal Control by CCP Committees at all Levels of Hierarchy

• 3. Every level of government or administrative hierarchy has party committee which can monitor the government at that level.

• Party committees tend to dominate local decisions—can intervene in economic decisions.

The Structure of Political System

• administrative hierarchy of government, legislatures, courts and the CCP.

• Running from Central government in Beijing, to provinces, municipalities (district), county, township, administrative village, natural villages.

• But today, Communist Party dominates all aspects except the economy.

Legislative

National People’s Congress

NPC Standing Committee

Provincial-level People’s Congresses

County-level People’s Congresses

Township People’s Congresses

Representative Village Committee

CPPCC

Party

National Party Congress

Central Committee

Politburo

SecretariatCentral Discipline Inspection

Commission

Organization Dept Rural Work Dept Propaganda Dept

Provincial-level Party Committees

Municipal Party Committees

County-level Party Committees

Township Party Committees

Village Party Committees

Military Affairs Commission

Standing Committee of the Politburo

Judicial

Supreme People’s

Procurator

Supreme People’s

Court

Intermediate & Lower Court &

Procurators

Executive

Ministries and Commissions

Provincial-level Bureaus

County-level Bureaus

Prefecture Bureaus

Provincial-level Government

Prefecture Governments

County-level Governments

Township Governments

Village Committee

Prime Minister

Vice Premier

President & Vice President

State Council

State Councilors

Party National Party Congress

Central Committee

Politburo

SecretariatCentral Discipline Inspection

Commission

Organization Dept Rural Work Dept Propaganda Dept

Provincial-level Party Committees

Municipal Party Committees

Country-level Party Committees

Township Party Committees

Village Party Committees

Military Affairs Commission

Standing Committee of the Politburo

Standing Committee of Politburo (SC-PB)

Most powerful people in China!

• Controls all aspects of political system• Currently 7 members

1. party affairs—relations with other CCPs and party life.2. organizational affairs—allocates all party positions3. propaganda and education-education, news, colleges4. political and legal affairs—responsible for courts, police,

“strike hard campaign”5. finance and economics—led by Prime Minister6. Military—CCP tries to maintain civilian control of army

Party Secretariat and Its Key Departments

• Organizational Dept.— responsible for all party posts, key government posts, and is a key position to affect succession.

• Propaganda Dept.—monitors press, tv, organizes ideological study campaigns.

• Rural Work Dept.—makes rural policy.• People’s Daily— top CCP newspaper and

editorial board making public policy

Executive Organizations(the government)

Prime Minister

Vice Premier

President & Vice President

State Council

Ministries and Commissions

Provincial-level Bureaus

Prefecture Bureaus

Country-level Bureaus

Provincial-level Bureaus

Prefecture Governments

Country-level Governments

Township Governments

Village Committee

State Councilors

State Council

• High degree of overlapping directorship —Prime Minister often 3rd ranking member of SC-PB.

• Some Vice Premiers are members of PB-SC or Politburo.

• Prime Minister needs support of General Secretary of CCP to push policies.

Legislative

National People’s Congress

NPC Standing Committee

Provincial-level People’s Congresses

Country-level People’s Congresses

Township People’s Congresses

Representative Village Committee

CPPCCLegislature(makes the laws)

China’s Parliament:National People’s Congress

• Meets every 5 years to elect government leaders--President, PM, Vice Premiers, all approved before by PB-SC.

• Also, meets yearly to address key issues related to legal affairs, financial affairs, etc.

• Mostly rubber stamp, as laws or key decisions originate with CCP, approved by CCP’s committees.

• During NPC, top leaders visit provincial delegations, discuss regional problems.

• Centre for popular input into laws and economy through its committees; professionals may work with committees.

• Major event in 1987 when only 2/3 of NPC members supported Three Gorges Dam, 1/3 abstained.

Military Affairs Commission

Mao: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”• Directly under Standing Committee of Politburo.• General Secretary of CCP usually Chair of MAC• Vice-Chair may be civilian, other posts belong to

military.• Jiang Zemin held this post 1 year after giving up head

of CCP, hoping it would provide leverage over Hu Jintao.

How does the CCP Control the Military?

Mao: “The Party must always control the gun, the gun must never control the Party.”

• Military Affairs Committee (MAC)• budgetary allocations from State Council and

Ministry of Finance• Political Commissars--every military unit has CCP

official who maintains party authority.• Overlapping membership in CC-CCP and Politburo,

but no member of PB-SC for many years.

Center

Province and Provincial Level Cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin)

MunicipalityRural

UrbanCounty

Township

Administrative Village

Natural Village

Residence Committee

Urban Distinct

Party Penetrates the Government

• Every government office, university department, or enterprise, has a party branch and party secretary.

• Province, has governor and party secretary -- latter has greater authority.

• In state-owned factory, party secretary wields greater power than manager.

• Politics permitting, the Party Secretary will try to intervene in economic decisions.

Territorial Party Committees

• Party Committee at each level ofadministrative hierarchy dominates.

• Often interferes in government decisions.• Members responsible for education, industry,

agriculture, population control, propaganda, and selection of key government officials at next level down through Organizational Department.

Central Committee

Secretariat

Organizational Department Lists of Post:

Chinese Academy of Science

LIST:

•President

•Vice President

•Members of Party Core Group

•Head of Discipline Inspection Group

Ministry of Education

LIST:

•Minister

•Party Secretary

•Members of Party Core Group

Beijing University

LIST:

•Party Secretary

•President of University

Nomenklatura System and the Power of

Appointment

• Key to party control over personnel appointments and source of its power over government

No Independent Judiciary

• Personal power dominates China--”rule of man” over the “rule of law.”

• Officials like it this way, enhances their authority.• all lower levels judges appointed and paid by county party

committee.• Outsiders rarely win in another city—Chongqing firm

won’t sue Shanghai for IPR infringement because it cannot win in Shanghai.

Politics of the Courts

• Older judges ex-officers with no judicial training.• Crimes deemed sensitive or impacting social order

can be judged purely on political terms.• Forced confessions acceptable, defendants have

great difficulty proving police made false arrest.• New generation of judges, some with foreign

education

Consequences

Unstable political institutions • despite totalitarian image, major shifts in power

among major political institutions.• despite rules outlining when organizations will

meet, rules often broken, party congresses often did not meet

• low level of political institutionalization

Why?

Unstable political institutions

• a. Charismatic leadership, where individual power often more important than formal political position.

• b. constant political competition without institutionalized succession procedures leads individuals to try to control organizations which they use to advance their own power.

• c. Result is "Shifting Locus of Authority" – shifts among State Council, Politburo, Party Secretariat,

Military Affairs Commission– Mao's big push for collectivization not made in Politburo or

Central Committee– Deng's recreation Secretariat in 1981 to undermine Hua

Guofeng's posts of Party Chairman and prime minister.

• d. very limited role for Constitution which is often revised – Constitution seen more as benchmark for shifts in historical

periods than as unchanging document which has legitimacy or which divides power or authority among institutions.

Political institutions

2. Efforts to ensure party control over army• occurs through budgetary control, dual penetration,

overlapping authority

3. Overlapping rulership and overlapping authority• people wear several hats, military, party, government• same decision often open to influence by competing

organizations and individuals

4. Unclear and weak property rights• allows for competing claims to industry and goods• allows political power, rather than clear contractural

agreements, to determine control over resources.

5. Heavy bureaucracy due to planned economy• central planning created large economic bureaucracy• party efforts to control the economy created parallel

structure• heritage of central

Party: 1. Organizational Principles• a. Hierarchical top down system, – local organizations as policy implementors– lower levels report to upper levels, – elections from bottom up usually predetemined by next

higher level

• b. Democratic Centralism– lower levels obey upper levels, minority must obey majority, – debate possible until decision made, then everyone must

obey.

• c. Dual Hierarchy of Party committess for all government and military organizations– primary party organization wherever 3 members in an

organization– party group in all organizations to insure following party

policy

• d. Nomenklatura: key control structure – "list of names" or positions– Organizational Bureau responsible for all key positions in

government and party

Consequences for business:

“The state can legitimately intervene in any business deal at any time under any pretext”

Dealing with the bureacratic maze

The negotiating spiral