Advanced PlacementComparative Government

Review: China

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power

• Characterized by Dynastic Cycles: Long periods of family rule punctuated by times of chaos.

• Power determined by the Mandate of Heaven or the right to rule as seen by ancestors that guided the empire from the heavens.

• Authority rested in the hands of the emperor and elaborate bureaucracy.

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power: Legitimacy

• Power passed through hereditary connections.

• When things went well, the emperor’s authority was accepted.

• Peasants did not determine legitimacy: Unrest served as a message that the emperor was failing.

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power

• Revolution of 1911: Legitimacy rested on popular new democratic government.

• Chaos ensued, brought on Maoism: stressed the importance of staying connected to the peasants through the mass line.

• Today, the Politburo remains the legitimate source of power.

• Authoritarian power over market-based economy.

• Corruption

Sovereignty, Authority, and PowerHistorical Traditions

• Authoritarian Power

• Confucianism

• Bureaucratic hierarchy based on scholarship/merit

• The Middle Kingdom (Zhongguo)

• Communist Ideologies

Sovereignty, Authority, and PowerPolitical Culture

• Geographic Influences:1. Access to oceans/ice free ports.2. Many large navigable rivers.3. Major geographical/climate splits

between north and south.4. Geographic isolation of the western part

of the country.5. Mountain ranges, deserts, and oceans

separate China from other countries.

Sovereignty, Authority, and PowerHistorical Eras

1. Dynastic rule: Confucian values- Order, harmony, and a strong sense of hierarchy.

2. Resistance to imperialism.3. Maoism: Collectivism (the good of the community is

valued over the individual), struggle and activism, mass line (line of communication between party leaders and the peasants. The peasants would in turn tell the leaders their thoughts.), egalitarianism (belief in the equality of all people), and self reliance.

4. Deng Xiaoping Theory: “It doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white as long as it catches mice”.

5. Importance of informal relationships (factions).

Political and Economic Change

• Until 19th century, China has a long and stable history (dynastic cycles).

• First half of the 20th century: Radical violent and chaotic. Revolutions in 1911 and 1949 had 3 themes:

1. Nationalism: Sun Yat-sen.2. Establishing a new political community: Democratic or

Communist?3. Socioeconomic development: Reestablish economy

and society after imperialistic rule.

Political and Economic Change : The Founding of the People’s

Republic of China • Born from a civil war between the KMT and the

CCP.• KMT Forced to Formosa (Taiwan) “Two

China’s” 1972.1. The Soviet Model 1949-57: Land, Civil reform

and Five-year plans.2. The Great Leap Forward (backward) 1955-66:

Freed China from Soviet control- Economic development, mass mobilization, cadres, decentralization.

Political and Economic Change:The Cultural Revolution 1966-76

• Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping: Market oriented policies.

• Mao instituted political and social change:1. The ethic of struggle2. Mass line3. Collectivism4. Egalitarianism5. Service to society • Remove all vestiges of old China (inequality)

and stress education.

Political and Economic Change:Mao’s Death 1976

• Factions:1. Radicals: Gang of Four supported the Cultural

Revolution (arrested).2. Military: Lin Biao- Dies mysteriously.3. Moderates: Zhou Enlai dies shortly after Mao.• Den Xiaoping 1978: Four Modernizations- Industry,

agriculture, science, and the military has led to an open door trade policy, education reforms, and Institutionalization of the Revolution. (Goals of the revolution were merged with the ways of old China- decentralized the government, modified elections and infused capitalism.).

Citizens, Society and the State The Growth of Civil Society

1. Non-existent under Mao.

2. New technology influencing civil society. (internet, cell phones, etc.)

3. Private organizations appearing: Social problems: AIDS, the environment, legal reform.

4. 1990s: NGO’s allowed.

5. Religion? Tibet (Buddhists) and Falon Gong.

Citizens, Society and the StateProtests

• Tiananmen Square 1989: Massive repression against any group that defies party leadership.

• Today, massive labor strikes pose serious problems for the Chinese party leadership.

Citizens, Society and the StateEthnic and Urban-Rural Cleavages

• Majority: Han Chinese 92%• Minorities: 8% (100 million)- autonomous areas

of Tibet and Xinjiang resist Chinese control.• 55 officially recognized minority groups and most

live on the outer regions of China’s borders. PRC is concerned that Uighur Muslim militant’s wish to have an independent state.

• Urban- Rural areas suffer huge economic disparities- causes friction.

• Wen Jiabao: A new socialist countryside.

Citizens, Society and the StatePolitical Participation

• CCP: Largest political party in the world (58 million), but only comprise 7% of the population.

• New members recruited from the Youth League.• Cadres: The permanent, professional members of a

party. • Technocrats: People with technical training that have

climbed the of the party bureaucracy. • Less than 40% of party membership are peasants, but

still make up the largest group in the CCP• 20%- Women in the CCP• 2001- Allow capitalists to join CCP

Political Institutions

• Regime: Authoritarian.• Difficult to govern a large territory from a central

location.• Change from command to market system also

problematic.• Trend: Decentralization or devolution of power

to sub-national governments. • Local governments ignore Beijing.• The CCP keeps the PRC connected. • Integrates the military into the political hierarchy.

Political Institutions:The CCP

• Elaborate hierarchy:1. National Party Congress: 2000 delegates

chosen from lower level Congresses and meets every five years. Elects members of the Central Committee.

2. Central Committee: 340 members meet (plenum) annually for a week. Choose Politburo and Standing Committee members.

3. Politburo/Standing Committee: Most powerful organizations that dictate public policy. Politburo, (24 members) selects the Standing Committee (7 members). Meet in secret.

Political InstitutionsNon-Communist Parties and

Elections

• 8 Democratic Parties allowed: Based on special group membership- intellectuals or businessmen.

• Elections legitimize the PRC: Direct elections only at the local levels. The CCP controls the commissions that run elections and the candidates on the ballots.

• Village level: May now elect their own local officials by secret ballot.

Political Institutions: The Political Elite and Factionalism

• Mao and the Old Guard: Guanxi- networking.• Nomenklatura: System of recruitment.• Leaders communicate through Guanxi or patron client

networks.• Guanxi is based on ties between individuals and

ideology differences and similarities. Causes factionalism.

1. Conservatives: No Democracy. No leader.2. Reformers/open door: Supports capitalism, wary of

democracy. Hu Jintao/Wen Jiabao.3. Liberals: Accepting of political liberties. Hu Youbang

and Zhao Ziyang.• Fang-shou: Tightening up, loosening up cycle. (Dynastic

Cycle?)

Political Institutions: Corruption and Interest Groups

• Guanxi and economic boom.• Bribes and corruption.• Hu Jintao: Anti-corruption campaign- thousands arrested.

(tainted food)• Interest groups only allowed with party-state permission.• Mass organizations form around occupations or social

categories. (300,000 groups)1. All-China Federation of Trade Council2. All-China Women’s Federation3. Danwei- How the party controls the people in urban areas-

social units based on a person’s place of work. • Relationship between the state and the organizations

reflects state corporatism.

Political Institutions

Three Parallel Hierarchies:1. The Communist Party: Dominates2. The state or government3. The People’s Liberation Army • Dual role: vertical supervision of the next

higher level of government and horizontal supervision of the Communist party at their own level.

• Organization of the party and state are similar to the USSR. China’s policymaking is really controlled by factions and personal relationships.

Political Institutions:Government Structure

• Three Branches are controlled by the party. Legislative Branch• The People’s Congresses: People’s National Congress at

the top. (Provincial, city, local) Select the President and Vice President.

The Executive Branch• President and Vice President serve 5 year terms, with a

two term limit. (45 years old) Ceremonial position held by senior party leaders. Premier is head of government (appointed by the president). Cadres carry out policies.

The Judicial Branch• People’s court system: Four tiered system (People’s

Congresses) People’s Procuratorate provides prosecutors and defenders.

• Conviction rate of 99%- Harsh.• Center of reform.

Political Institutions: The People’s Liberation Army

• Ground, air, and naval armed forces.• Army: 3 million active- 12 million reserve• Military budget growing rapidly (18% of

GDP)• No formal political power- never

threatened the party• Central Military Commission (Deng

Xiaoping)

Policy Issues• Democracy and human rights:Pull between political and economic rights.1. Some input by the NPC is accepted by the Politburo.2. More emphasis on laws and legal procedures.3. Village elections are now semi-competitive.

• Economic: Followed the Iron Rice Bowl or cradle to the grave theory- Changed to the socialist market economy.

1. Household responsibility system: Families take full charge of the production and marketing of crops.

2. Private Business: Urban co-ops, service organizations, and rural industries run as capitalist enterprises.

3. Township and Village enterprises- Run by local governments and private entrepreneurs.

4. Problems: Unemployment and inequality (floating population: rural migrants looking for work), inefficiency, pollution, and product safety.

Foreign Policy/International Trade

• Until 1976: Provided support for third world revolutionary movements. (Korea/Vietnam)

• US/Chinese Relations: Detente in 1972 has led to an imbalance of trade situation.

• Eighteen Special Economic Zones: Foreign investors receive tax breaks/incentives.

1. Hong Kong

2. Taiwan