CHINA

Robert, Jake, Halle, and Matt

 Unitary

 Centralized

 Local governments so numerous that policy

often is changed as it is transmitted from the

central government to local governments.

 Member of the following supranational

organizations:

 UN (United Nations)

 The World Bank

 IMF (International Monetary Fund)

 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

(GATT)

 International Atomic Energy Agency

 Many other smaller groups.

• Shi: Beijing,

Chongqing, Shanghai,

Tianjin

• Sheng: Anhui, Fujian,

Gansu, Guangdong,

Guizhou, Hainan,

Hebei,Heilongjiang,

Henan, Hubei,

Hunan, Jiangsu,

Jiangxi, Jilin,

Liaoning, Qinghai,

Shaanxi, Shandong,

Shanxi, Sichuan,

Yunan, Zhejiang,

Taiwan

• Zizhiqu:GuangxiInner

, Mongolia, Ningxia,

Tibet, Xinjiang

• Hong Kong, Macau

 Created Oct. 1, 1949

 Amended in 1988, 1993, 1999, 2004

 Create private sector and a multiparty system

 Article 35. Citizens of the People's Republic

of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the

press, of assembly, of association, of

procession and of demonstration.

 CCP Rules

 Hu Jintao-President

 Appointed by National People’s Congress

 Head of State

 The head of the CCP is actually the head

executive

 Wen Jaibao-Prime Minister (Premier)

 Can’t serve more than 2 terms

 Head of government

 Day-to-day dealings

 Executes laws

 Supervises bureaucracy

 State Council

 Main executive office

 Led by Premier Wen Jiabao

 Executes laws and supervises bureaucracy

 Unequal balance of power between the State Council

and the other branches of government

 National People’s Congress

 Most powerful on paper

 5 year terms

 Unicameral

 Standing Committee controls Congress

 2985 delegates

 Becoming more assertive

 Has power to:

 Enact and amend laws

 Approve and monitor state budget

 Declare and end war

 Elect and recall President, VP, chair of

Central Military Commission, head of

Supreme Court, and procurator-general

 Approves premier and State Council

 Only uses these powers how CCP says

 Executive picked by NPC

 Fusion of power

 Extreme party discipline

 No divided government

 Other parties are scams

 State Council holds a disproportionate share of

power.

 However, the NPC and its Standing Committee

have gained power over the past few years.

 The president is elected by the National

People’s Congress directly.

 Can serve a maximum of two 5-year terms.

 Premier appointed by the president and

confirmed by the National People’s Congress.

 Citizens do not directly choose their heads of

government and state.

 NPC elections every 5 years

 Done 2 months before term ends

 2985 delegates

 Elected indirectly by lower-level people’s

Congresses

 Delegates come from: Provinces, Autonomous

Regions, Cities, Macau and Hong Kong, and

the military

 Standing Committee members are chosen from

the members of the NPC.

 The Standing Committee serves as the

permanent body of the NPC.

 Sort of competitive

 Used to give state legitimacy

 Only direct elections are at the lowest level

 Who ever wins is always approved by CCP

 Plurality elections

 Only direct elections are at a local level

 Citizens in more populated areas directly elect

members to a local people’s congress.

 Local people’s congresses elect the members of

people’s congresses at higher levels of

authority.

 This process continues until the highest

congress, the NPC, is elected.

 Like the NPC, all other people’s congresses

have a Standing Committee that permanently

is in session.

 Chinese Communist Party

 8 other parties are insignificant/controlled by

CCP

 Market economy, Oligarchic government

 No competition

 Careful recruitment- no more mass movement

 Based on how they will participate

 Usually technocrats

 Don’t vary much in ideology

 Nomenklatura

 After 1978, Deng Xiaoping experimented with

direct elections

 Elections are not competitive

 Less corrupt than India or Russia

 Recently, officials have been arrested for

human trafficking

 Leading Small Groups – used to develop

cooperation between the Party, Government

and Military.

 Very little is known about these groups.

 Government-sponsored think tanks

 “Princelings” – relatives of senior Chinese

government officials who use the relationship to

gain power and influence.

 Prohibition of unions.

 Multiple ministries that work in conjunction

with the State Council

 Interpret and implement Chinese policy goals

 Many civil servants work in these ministries –

chosen by merit and may not be Party members.

 The People’s Liberation Army – China’s military

organization

 Air force, Ground forces, Naval force, Reserve

force, and second artillery command

 Reports to the Central Military Commission.

 The PLA has become less involved in politics

since the earliest days of the People’s Republic

of China.

 The court system in China involves a hierarchy

of four levels of power.

 Supreme People’s Court is the highest court;

judges can serve only two terms.

 Higher people’s courts  intermediate people’s

courts  basic people’s courts

 Prosecuting organs parallel the court system.

 Also a four-level hierarchy with the Supreme

People’s Procuratorate having the most power.

 Procurators serve as prosecutors in criminal

cases.

 In reality, the Party and government leaders

control most of the actions of the judiciary.

 The political values of communism and strict

government control continue to be passed down

generation to generation.

 Family most important agent of political

socialization, but government also strictly

influences political culture.

 Political unrest such as the 1989 Tiananmen

Square protests are quickly stopped, even if

violence is necessary.

 Ethnic cleavages – Tibetian conflict; otherwise

similar ethnic composition.

 Class cleavages – Disparity of wealth between

the vast majority of the Chinese population and

the elite.

 Gender cleavages – Unequal treatment of

women; men seemingly more valued.

 Overall control of the media by the Chinese

government.

 Use of blogs, chat rooms, television, etc. to

spread government propaganda.

 However, viral videos portraying governmental

abuses can spread and create doubts within the

population.

 Direct election of members to the local people’s

congresses.

 Only chance of advancement in politics is

through the Communist party.

 Party participation leads to business success and

other successes not related to politics.

 Government remains most important and

dominating aspect of most citizen’s lives

 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre

 Constant demonstrations against the

government’s abuses of power.

 The Chinese government quickly destroys these

movements in order to prevent the

dissemination of revolutionary ideas.

 Freedom of assembly and protest is not

guaranteed.

 The majority of Chinese people are from the

Han ethnic group.

 Almost all participants in politics come from

this ethnicity.

 Limited immigration and travel help limit

ethnic diversity.

 Low levels of political participation by women.

•Causes:



•Mao (Collectivization, the Great Leap Forward, the

Cultural Revolution)

•“Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”



•Started in December 1978 by reformists in the

Communist Party of China (CPC), led by Deng

Xiaoping

•Stage 1 (Late 1970’s - early 1980’s)



•De-collectivization of agriculture

•Openness to foreign investment

•Permission for entrepreneurs to start businesses

• Stage 2 (Late 1980’s – 1990’s)

• Privatization and contracting out of much state-

owned industry

• Lifting of price controls, protectionist policies,

and regulations on the private sector

• State monopolies on industries such as Banking

and Petroleum remained

• Results

• By 2005, the private sector accounted for 70% of

China’s GDP

• From 1978 to 2010, the economy grew by 9.5%

annually

 Deng Xiaoping

 “Socialism is not able to survive without

democracy. We are going to build up a

nation based on a socialist democratic

political system and the rule of law.”

 Competitive Elections

 Political Consultation System

 Central Government cut in half

 Decentralization

 Enterprise Management abolished

 Selection process for cadres greatly improved

 Freedom of Speech and Press

 Non-government owned media

 Legal System

 Development of a series of criminal, civil,

and economic laws

 Now based on the “presumption of

innocence”, rather than the “presumption of

guilt”

 Hu – Wen Administration reforms

 Four primary goals

1.Checking the power of local officials

2.Curbing corruption amongst local

officials

3.Making the bureaucracy more rational

and efficient

4.Accommodating social pressures and

economic challenges

 Equality

 Significant reduction of poverty; increase in

overall wealth

 Widening gap between rich and poor

 Increased political efficacy

 Competitive elections

 Increasing legal sensitivity



 Corruption

 Still very prevalent, yet significantly reduced

 Tight regulation of the actions of local leaders

 Goal

 By 2020, GDP will be $4 trillion (approx.

quadruple China’s GDP in 2000)

 Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao (2001 quote)

 “The Chinese government has always

dedicated to the establishment of a just

and rational international economic order

and will strive for this goal with

unremitting efforts… All countries, big or

small, strong or week, rich or poor,

should have equal rights to participate in

the formulation of the `rule of games´ in

international affairs.”

 Good Side  Bad Side

 make domestic

 exacerbate the

industry more

efficient and problem of

competitive unemployment;

 Accelerate  enlarge the income

establishment of

market economy disparities

 increase foreign  increase

direct investment. competitive

 Reconstruct pressures on firms

political,

economical, and

legal systems

• Interlinked Economies – Top countries China

– Top countries China imports from

exports to • Japan = $130.9

• United States = billion

$220.8 billion • South Korea =

• Hong Kong = $102.6 billion

$166.2 billion • Taiwan = $85.7

• Japan = $97.9 billion

billion • United States =

• South Korea = $53.7 $77.4 billion

billion • Germany = $55.8

• Germany = $49.9 billion

billion

 Supranational Organizations

 United Nations Security Council

 World Trade Organization (2001)

 East Asia Summit (EAS)

 ASEAN Plus Three

 Association of Southeast Asian Nations +

China, Japan, and South Korea

 India, Australia, New Zealand

 As of 2011, Russia and the United States

will be invited

 Influences on public policy-making and

implementation

• United Nations

– Security council

• Veto power

• WTO

– Must abide by agreements

• International Monetary Fund (IMF)

– China subject to regulations on their monetary

policy

– IMF urging China to allow the value of the Yuan to

rise

 Korean peninsula

 Currency

 Nuclear Non-proliferation

 Iran

 Human Rights

 Environmental Crisis

 Rapid population growth