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Johnson County Community College
Title VI Grant
The Question of Democracy in China
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The State
“In its sovereign form, and independent political-administrative unit that successfully
•claims the allegiance of a given population•exercises a monopoly on the legitimate use of coercive force•controls the territory inhabited by its citizens or subjects.”
Thomas Magstadt
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China’s Tiered Administrative Structure
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BBC How China is Ruled
Chinese governing structure
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-05/far-more-important-election-part-1-chinas-political-process
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Challenges for the State:
• Today’s leaders are vested in staying in power
• They need to have stability, especially in the face of rapid development
• They also have the responsibility of thousands of years on their shoulders as the rest of the world scrutinizes China in an historically unprecedented manner
One Solution:Weiwen (maintaining stability)
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Some Problems for the Citizens:
• Weak rule of law
• Censored information flow
• Some government officials working with developers taking land without any sort of process
• Corruption
• Increasing wage disparity
•Pollution
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The State
“In its sovereign form, and independent political-administrative unit that successfully
•claims the allegiance of a given population•exercises a monopoly on the legitimate use of coercive force•controls the territory inhabited by its citizens or subjects.”
Thomas Magstadt
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Whose Democracy?
“A government held together by the bands of reason only, requires much compromise of opinion; that things even salutary should not be crammed down the throats of dissenting brethren, especially when they may be put into a form to be willingly swallowed, and that a great deal of indulgence is necessary to strengthen habits of harmony and fraternity.”
THOMAS JEFFERSON, letter to Edward Livingston, Apr. 4, 1824
“The marks of a democratic government should be transparency, a response to popular will, and a scientific approach.”Controversial 1988 CCTV program criticizing the imperial era (and by extension the Mao era)
Feedback Loops !
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Governmental System of Citizens’ Direct Participation Includes:
Social consultation and dialogue
Writing letters and petitions (xin fang)
Workers and staff congress (at work committees)
Mass autonomy in bottom-level areas (local committees)
Ballot voting at the village level (soon at the urban neighborhood level)
Feedback Loops
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Informal Feedback Loops between Citizens and the Government:
Media and internet
Muckraking
Street protests (has a long cultural history in China)
NGO and GONGO activity
Individual government agencies’ websites informing the public and seeking their opinions
Feedback Loops
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Democracy is Messy:
“Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage”H.L. Menken
But We’re in this Together:
“Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents.”
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN, Stranger in a Strange Land