China: Political Institutions and Government

Political Participation CCP: largest political party in the world party membership and leadership has changed along with modernization Maoist era: revolutionary cadres – peasants and factory workers, not intellectuals or professionals post-Deng, increasing role of technocrats party now includes ‘capitalist’ entrepreneurs and other business interests

Political Institutions basics: authoritarian regime, leadership from within party or military - decisions made by elites, little citizen input challenge: market economy and decentralization/devolution heart of the Chinese political system: CCP legitimacy: democratic centralism elite vanguard leads based on superior understanding of Chinese people and their needs

hierarchical party organization: village -> county -> province -> nation headed by general secretary : ??Who?? No, not Hu..now it is Xi Jinping! limited role/participation by non-communist parties: the loyal opposition PRC holds tightly-controlled elections

Government plagued by rampant corruption product of economic boom and guanxi (old boy network) under Hu’s leadership, thousands of officials have been punished and Discipline Commission broadened and strengthened, but problem is still widespread international publicity about tainted food, health products and drugs on the world market

Institutions 1982 Constitution: 3 central bodies: National Party Congress Central Committee (Communist Party) Politburo/Standing Committee parallel hierarchies: the Communist Party the state (government): People’s Congress the People’s Liberation Army organizations are separate but all are dominated by the party dual role: vertical supervision by the next higher level of government and horizontal supervision by the CCP at the same level

The Structure of Government Constitution of 1982 outlines 3 branches of government under 1-party state: 3 branches: Legislature Executive Judiciary all 3 controlled by the party, no check and balances all top positions held by party members (nomenklatura)

Legislative: The People’s Congresses hierarchical system: People’s National Congress at top, followed by provincial, city, and local congresses in reality, subject to party authority in theory, the people’s legislatures Executive/Bureaucracy President and Premier: 2 5-year terms Positions held by senior party leaders Bureaucracy at all levels, staffed by cadres

People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Judiciary: 4-tiered, hierarchical ‘people’s court’ system rule of law officially ‘established’ in PRC swift and harsh criminal justice system No judicial review People’s Liberation Army (PLA) parallel development: army and party huge in absolute terms, modest in population and spending terms(%) No formal political power, but an important influence on politics and policy. Mao, “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

Policy issues democracy and human rights Tiananmen crisis, 1989: student/intellectual grief demonstration following death of Hu Yaobang (liberal reformer) turned into democratic protest joined by hundreds of thousands shut down by PLA, unofficial estimates of 700 to several thousand killed pressure from international human rights organizations suppression of Falun Gong fang-shou: economic reform -> political movement/liberalization (letting go) -> retraction by Party

Population Policy Mao: population control policies were ‘imperialist tools’ designed to weaken developing countries 1979: Deng instituted “one child policy” incentives and penalties relaxation of policy in rural areas in 1984, reinstated in 2002 other consequences: female infanticide, gender imbalance, elder care

1949-1978: China followed a communist political economic model: Economic policy: 1949-1978: China followed a communist political economic model: command economy directed by central government based on democratic centralism replaced by Deng with socialist market economy : gradual infusion of capitalism while retaining state control Agricultural policy: 1949 era: people’s communes: farms merged, several thousand families one of Mao’s greatest failures 1980’s: replaced by Household Responsibility System: dismantled communes, individual families take full charge of production and marketing

“private business” urban co-ops, service organizations, rural industries all acting as capitalist enterprises private industry remains heavily regulated by the government, but price controls lifted private businesses seen as more profitable than state-owned/ once target is met- production is profit Township and Village Enterprises (TVEs): rural factories and businesses, run by local government and private entrepreneurs slowing the migration of peasants to the cities

economic problems (a) unemployment and inequality (b) inefficiency of the state sector (c) pollution (d) product safety China’s vulnerability to world economic crisis of 2008 rapid rebound, return to growth: impressive 9.6% yearly

foreign policy and international trade: late 20th century, profound changes in Chinese foreign policy closer to mainstream of international politics, yet resistant to pressure from outside quickly replacing Japan as Asia’s most powerful economy global trade is an integral part of China’s economic growth recently trying to enter arena as major diplomatic player in African conflicts

USA/China relations: no contact until early 1970s 1972 visit, Zhou Enlai, Nixon, Kissinger Deng initiated open door policy currently, major USA/China issues: trade imbalances, currency valuation, debt Taiwan: lost Security Council seat to China in 1971, since then, more active role in UN