China: Political Institutions AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT

Political Institutions China’s political regime is best categorized as authoritarian Decisions are made by political elites, or those that hold political power, without much input from the citizens Leaders are promoted through the ranks of government through informal ties with others and through personal relationships In recent years there has been a push to go towards a more market based economy, which has put strain on the centralized control of the government Because of these conflicts, there has been a push towards greater decentralization within the government There has been a greater push by local governments to defy or ignore the central government by setting their own tax rates or initiating building projects As with the Soviet Union, political elites control government structures, but China also integrates the use of the military into the political hierarchy The head of the Central Military Commission is often the most power leader in China

The Chinese Communist Part (CCP) The Chinese Communist Party is the heart of the Chinese political system The legitimacy of the government lies in the historical concept that the party knows what is best for the people It is believed that society is best led by an elite party, with superior understanding of the Chinese people and their needs (democratic centralism)

Organization of the CCP The CCP is organized hierarchically by levels: Village/township, county, province, and nation Until 1976 Mao was the Chairman The title chairman was abandoned after Mao’s death and the head of the party is now called the general secretary

Organization of the CCP The party has a separate constitution from the constitution of the country. The party has separate central bodies which are the: National Party Congress: This body consists of more than 2,000 delegates, chosen primarily from congresses on lower levels This body meets every 5 years, so it is not important in policy making The main power of this body is to elect members to the Central Committee Central Committee: The Central Committee has about 350 members, who meet annually for about a week. Their meetings are called plenums and are important in that they are a gathering of the political elites. The Politburo and the Standing Committee are chosen from these members Politburo/Standing Committee: These are the most powerful political organizations and are at the top of the CCP structure They are chosen by the Central Committee and their decisions dictate government policies There are 25 members in the Central Committee. The seven members of the Politburo are chosen from among the 25 members of the Central Committee. These organizations meet in private and the balance of power reflects the power among factions in the government

Non-Communist Parties The CCP does allow the existence of eight “democratic” parties, even though China is a one party system There are only about a half million members of these parties and they do not challenge the CCP for authority Their main role is in giving advice to the CCP Attempts to form democratic parties outside the control of the CCP have been crushed, with reformers serving severe prison sentences

Elections The PRC holds elections in order to legitimize the government and the CCP The party controls the commissions that run elections, and it reviews draft lists of proposed candidates to weed out those it finds politically objectionable Direct elections are only held at the local level, with voters choosing deputies to serve on the county people’s congress

Political Elite The Long march helped create much of the political elite under Mao These people networked with one another for many years under a system called guanxi, also known as personal connections These personal connections are still extremely important in Chinese culture Like the USSR, China recruits is leaders through the use of nomenklatura This is a system of choosing cadres from lower levels of the party hierarchy for advancement based on their loyalty and contributions to the well being of the party These leaders communicate with each other through a patron-client network called guanxi These systems work very similar to the patronage systems in the west

Factionalism There are a variety of factions that exist throughout China. They are: Conservatives: They fear that the power of the party and the central government has eroded too much. They fear a move toward democracy and generally support crackdowns or organizations and individuals who act too independently Chinese Communist Youth League: This faction is led by former President Hu Jintao. This party is supposed to recognized Chinese youth from ages It is also recognized as a advocate for the urban and rural poor.

Factionalism Liberals: This faction has been out of power since the Tiananmen Square incident (1989) They were more accepting of political liberties and democratic movements than are other factions Princelings: These leaders come from the aristocracy of families with revolutionary credentials that date back to the days of Mao Zedong They are not always clear on their policy preferences Some princelings have benefited greatly from the move towards a more market based economy, while others think the move towards a market economy has been a betrayal of China’s socialist principles The factions follow the process of fang-shou, or a tightening up and loosening up cycle of government power The power structure of the parties change with the economy and the fortunes of the country

Interest Groups Interest groups are not permitted to influence the political process unless they are under the party-state authority In order to allow for people to display their displeasure the government, the party organizes mass demonstrations where people are allowed to voice their opinion according to very strict rules Urban areas are socially controlled through danwei, or social units usually based on a person’s place of work. People depend on danwei for food, income, jobs, promotion, medical care, housing, daycare, and recreation Citizen dependence on this welfare means that people are very unwilling to speak out against the state NGO’s and other interest groups, even though they number close to 2 million, have little to no influence on policy decisions

Interest Groups The relationship between organizations and the state is characterized by a system of state corporatism Just as with Lenin in the USSR, organizations are created or approved by the state, and have government officials as their leaders The state only allows one organization for any given profession or activity The organization receives beneficial treatment in the government in exchange for absolute loyalty to the leader and the party

Media Between 1949 and 1980, almost all media were state run There are a few independent media organizations in existence now, but they have very little power Xinhua is the official press agency of the government and they employ 10,000 people Independent newspapers depend on Xinhua for many of their stories The Central Committee of the CCP also depends on Xinhua for much of its information China also has a closed caption television system called Chinese Central Television (CCTV) All media outlets, including the internet, are heavily censored by the government This has been challenged as content has been harder to block