1. China:
Political Institutions and Government

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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)

8. 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: year terms
Positions held by senior party leaders
Bureaucracy at all levels, staffed by cadres

9. 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.”

10. 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

11. 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

12. 1949-1978: China followed a communist political economic model:
Economic policy:
: 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

13. “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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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