Johnson County Community College

Title VI Grant

The Question of Democracy in China

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

China’s Tiered Administrative Structure

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

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)

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

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

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 !

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

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

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