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 INSTITUTIONSCCP 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

LOCAL CCP

NATIONAL PARTY

CONGRESSMeets every 5

years for a week2,100

PROVINCIAL CCP

NATIONAL PEOPLES

CONGRESSMeets Yearly for 2 weeks

3,000+73% CCP

5 years

LOCAL GOV.

PROVINCIAL GOV.

PRESIDENT

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 TODAYDemocratic 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”