Political system of the People's Republic of China

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The political system of the People's Republic of China is formally based on the leadership of the Communist Party (CCP) over the entire country. Although there is consultation and cooperation with the “ Eight Democratic Parties and Groups ”, the People's Republic is an autocratic one-party system . This socialist economic and state system is enshrined in the constitution of the People's Republic of China . It cannot therefore be compared with two-party or multi-party systems in “ western ” countries.

The leader of the Communist Party is known as the “ Outstanding Leader ” or “Supreme Leader” ( Chinese 最高 领导人 Zuìgāo Lǐngdǎorén ), currently Xi Jinping . He does not have to face any direct or indirect democratic popular elections. The leadership of the People's Republic of China rests solely with the Communist Party. In the 2019 Democracy Index, the People's Republic of China ranks 153rd out of 167 countries, making it one of the authoritarian state systems.

Communist Party

The Communist Party had by his own admission the end of 2014 about 87.8 million members. Their hierarchy corresponds to that of the state system. The most important institutions are the Politburo of the Communist Party of China with about 20 members and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with 150 to 200 members as the central decision-making bodies. The decisions are made in informal rounds. Nothing is known about the decision-making processes. The party pursues the goal of socialism with Chinese characteristics .

The actual political leadership of the People's Republic lies with a small group of party and military functionaries. Most of them reside in Zhongnanhai , the headquarters of the Communist Party in Beijing. This is also the seat of the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China . This unites the highest offices in the state, party and army, which is also referred to as Paramount Leader in the English-language media . He is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China , the President of the People's Republic of China, and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission . Xi Jinping currently holds these positions.

The change in leadership between two people does not take place suddenly, but over a longer period of time. Hu Jintao became general secretary of the communist party in 2002, president in 2003 and chairman of the Central Military Commission only in 2004. The party offices are more important than the state offices in China.

There are eight other parties, but they do not play an independent political role. Only once a year, on the occasion of the General Assembly of the Political Consultative Conference of the Chinese People, the parties are in public. Compared to the Communist Party, their membership is very low. Of these parties, the Democratic Bund中国 民主 同盟 has the highest number of members (2014: 247,000). The seven other parties are the Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang of China中国 国民党 革命 委员会 a split from the Kuomintang (2014: 101,865), the Chinese People's Welfare Party中国致公党( Zhi Gong Party of China ) (2014: 30,000), the Democratic Self-Determination League of Taiwan台湾民主 自治 同盟 (2014: 2,700), the Democratic Peasants and Workers' Party 中国农工民主党 (2014: 125,600), the Chinese Association for the Promotion of Democracy中国民主促进会 (2014: 133,000) and the Society of September 3九三学社 (2018 : 181.262).

Structure and organs of the state

The system of government is divided into two parts. There is the official, formal part of the state and the part of the communist party. The party permeates the state at all levels. All state organs are only "agents of the CCP".

National People's Congress

The highest state organ is the National People's Congress (NPC), the parliament of the People's Republic of China. Formally it embodies state power , but in fact it is a sham parliament . In the period from 2002 to 2010, for example, there were also dissenting votes in parliament. He elects the President , the Council of State , the Supreme People's Court , the Central Military Commission and the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office. Due to its size, among other things, with around 3,000 members, it usually only meets once a year. His Standing Committee will therefore be in his place for the rest of the time. If this or a fifth of the deputies consider it necessary, the National People's Congress also meets unscheduled.

Standing Committee

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has 150 members and is de facto the parliament of the People's Republic of China with a variety of functions. He interprets the constitution and monitors compliance with it. He also formulates laws and interprets them. He also oversees the work of the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Prosecutor's Office.

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

The Political Consultative Conference of the Chinese People serves as an advisory body in the state apparatus of the People's Republic of China to form opinions on decisions of the National People's Congress . It consists of members of the CCP as well as non-party members or members of other parties.

State Council

The central administrative body is the State Council . This executes the state power. The Prime Minister presides over the Council of State and directs its work. As a representative of the State Council in the National People's Congress, he is accountable. The state secretaries and ministers support the prime minister and are responsible to him.

President

The highest civil office in the People's Republic of China is that of the President . The President of the State is a head of state with far-reaching powers: He enacts the laws passed by the National People's Congress, which only come into force afterwards. He also appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister and his deputy, the State Commissioners and the Ministers. Possibly. he declares a state of war and issues mobilization orders. Finally, he ratifies treaties and agreements with other states.

The President is elected by the National People's Congress. Any Chinese citizen over the age of 45 can be elected. He can also be voted out of office by the National Congress. His term of office is five years. The clause that a president can only be re-elected once was lifted in March 2018.

Basic democratic understanding of the population - "protectorate"

In the self-perception of many Chinese, the People's Republic of China is a democracy. The term democracy is assigned a completely different meaning than in the liberal understanding of democracy, as for example with Robert Alan Dahl . Instead of the freedom of the individual, free elections and the separation of powers, the protective function of those in power is more in the foreground. Lu and Shi call this the protectorate approach. This can often be found in societies that have had strong and authoritarian leadership for generations, as in the case of China ( Mao Zedong , Deng Xiaoping , Xi Jinping ).

Patronage

In the concept of protectorate, the government is assigned an exposed role. It is said to consist of “virtuous politicians” who have extensive, permanent and freely available (arbitrary) power. According to Lu and Shi, the population expects their opinion to be respected and included, but there are fewer constitutionally secured opportunities to have a say, such as referendums . Instead, there is a high level of reliance on government competencies, which are ascribed the ability to identify the best constitution for society.

The key qualities of leadership are:

  • Training and selection of morally competent leaders who can “guard a society and watch over it”
  • “Superior knowledge” and virtues that are used in the interest of the common good
  • Power and authority to run public discourse

It is in these requirements that the difference between the ordinary population and the government becomes clear. The special requirements for governments in the concept of patronage are based on the Minben doctrine. The Minben Doctrine emerged from Confucian ethics and ascribes a special value to the welfare of the community. As long as the well-being of the community is preserved, the government has a comparatively large amount of room for maneuver. Resistance from the population is only viewed as permissible in extreme cases. Collective actions and decisions are generally seen as beneficial. A great leap of faith is expressed that the government will act competently and righteously to maintain the good of the community. This is also evident in surveys among the population. In a survey on the tasks and competencies of the government, around 6,000 Chinese citizens were interviewed. There were two possible answers to each question, one of which could be assigned to the approach of the protectorate while the other answer corresponds to a liberal understanding of democracy . A clear preference for the understanding of patronage was evident. 72% of those questioned said that it was more important for the government to take into account the opinion of the people rather than freedom of expression when criticizing the government. Approx. 60% of respondents preferred a government that included different organizations rather than different organizations fighting for influence. 55.5% consider a small difference in income between rich and poor and covering basic needs (food, clothing, shelter) to be more important than being able to vote for the government or to criticize the political leadership. According to Lu and Shi, this understanding is promoted by the government through the mass media and the education system.

Administrative division

Political system graphic of the People's Republic of China

The People's Republic is a centralized, unitary state . Due to China's large population and area, there have been several administrative levels since the Qin dynasty (3rd century BC). The People's Republic of China today (as of December 31, 2006) is divided into:

  • 23 provinces (with Taiwan , which is one of the PRC provinces)
  • 333 districts (and administrative units of equal rank)
  • 2,860 districts (and administrative units of equal rank)
  • 41,040 municipalities (and administrative units of equal rank)
  • as well as about a million villages and neighborhood committees.

There are also four directly administered cities, five autonomous areas and two special administrative areas at the provincial level. The communist party is built into all levels of administration in the form of party committees and party cells and has the leading role.

The system of the People's Republic is characterized by considerable decentralization , despite a unitary state ruled by the Communist Party from top to bottom in totalitarian fashion. It is true that the national government continues to play a decisive role and, for example, sets up basic framework conditions for the administration or the regulation and design of the infrastructure in the transport, energy and communication sectors; however, at the end of the 1970s, the functions of the state were increasingly concentrated on the lower national political levels.

After Mao's death, the People's Republic of China briefly developed into a more open society with growing participation , increasing autonomy of the provinces and individuals and increasing legal security for two years with the start of economic reforms . In the course of changes in society as a whole, the state withdrew from some areas. At the administrative level were carried out limited processes of decentralization , so that China, according to Hans Mathieu from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation even de facto a federal state has become, though the fiction of " democratic centralism " under the leadership of the CCP is maintained.

Legal system

Traditionally, the Chinese legal system could not be compared to “the Western”. The new system established in 1949 after the communists came to power is based on Marxism-Leninism and is based on the Soviet legal system. Since the 1980s more and more “Western influences” have become recognizable.

The constitution forms the basis of the Chinese legal system . In its first article, this defines the People's Republic of China as a “socialist state under the democratic dictatorship of the people”, emphasizing the leadership of the working class. Constitutional jurisdiction lies with the highest body of the judiciary, the Supreme People's Court. He also monitors compliance with the laws of the Council of Ministers.

It was not until the constitution of 1978 that comparable Western bodies were introduced. The judiciary is divided into three parts:

  1. The general courts of justice with the Supreme Court at the top of the hierarchy.
  2. The public security departments.
  3. The police and law enforcement agencies.

Armed forces

The Chinese armed forces consist of the People's Liberation Army, armed police units and the People's Militia. The People's Liberation Army (VBA) is not only the largest army in the world in terms of numbers, it also has nuclear weapons . It is very closely interwoven with the Communist Party: there are members of the CCP in every group, a party group in every platoon, and a party cell in every company. In larger military units, party committees have been set up that decide all important questions. The VBA is subordinate to the Central Military Commission and thus to its chairman. The actual Ministry of Defense serves political purposes only.

The task of the VBA is national defense, defense against aggression and protection of the "peaceful work of the people". If necessary, it is also used internally to maintain social order. This is also the task of the people's militia and the armed police. The latter also performs security tasks.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Democracy-Index 2019 Overview chart with comparative values ​​to previous years , on economist.com
  2. ↑ Heilmann, Sebastian and Lea Shih: The Communist Party of China . In: Heilmann, Sebastian (ed.): The political system of the People's Republic of China . 3. Edition. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-07228-5 , p. 44-58 .
  3. ↑ Jakob Hort: The institutional structure of the PR China and its dependency on personnel-political constellations ( memento of the original from October 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. China focus, 2000 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chinafokus.de
  4. ^ Heilmann, Sebastian and Matthias Stepan: Legislation, People's Congresses and Political Consultative Conference . In: Heilmann, Sebastian (ed.): The political system of the People's Republic of China . 3. Edition. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2016, ISBN 978-3-658-07228-5 , p. 111-127 .
  5. ↑ a b Sebastian Heilmann: An overview of the political system of the People's Republic of China ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Chinappolitik.de, 1999/2000 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chinappolitik.de
  6. ↑ a b Yang Fengchun: The People's Congress System China Internet Information Center, 2001
  7. ↑ Yang, Fengchun: The Current Political System of China 当代 中国 政治 制度 . Renmin University of China Press, Beijing 2014, ISBN 978-7-300-19957-3 .
  8. ↑ Yang Fengchun: The Central Administration System China Internet Information Center, 2001
  9. ↑ Yang Fengchun: The President 's System China Internet Information Center, 2001
  10. ↑ China clears way for Xi Jinping to rule for life. CNN, March 11, 2018, accessed February 18, 2019 .
  11. ^ Lu, Jie / Shi, Tianjian: The battle of ideas and discourses before democratic transition: Different democratic conceptions in authoritarian China. Ed .: International Science Review. 2014.
  12. ^ Jie Lu, Tianjian Shi: The Battle of Ideas and Discourses Before Democratic Transition: Different Democratic Conceptions in Authoritarian China . ID 2482016. Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY July 12, 2013 ( ssrn.com [accessed February 16, 2017]).
  13. ^ Lu / Shi: The Shadow of Confucianism. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 4, 2015 ; accessed on February 15, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lujie.org
  14. ^ Jie Lu, Tianjian Shi: The Battle of Ideas and Discourses Before Democratic Transition: Different Democratic Conceptions in Authoritarian China . ID 2482016. Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY July 12, 2013 ( ssrn.com [accessed February 16, 2017]).
  15. ^ Jie Lu, Tianjian Shi: The Battle of Ideas and Discourses Before Democratic Transition: Different Democratic Conceptions in Authoritarian China . ID 2482016. Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY July 12, 2013 ( ssrn.com [accessed February 16, 2017]).
  16. ^ Jie Lu, Tianjian Shi: The Battle of Ideas and Discourses Before Democratic Transition: Different Democratic Conceptions in Authoritarian China . ID 2482016. Social Science Research Network, Rochester, NY July 12, 2013 ( ssrn.com [accessed February 16, 2017]).
  17. ↑ China's New Capitalism: Endless Growth? , Federal Agency for Civic Education, September 22, 2010, accessed on January 14, 2018.
  18. ^ Hans Mathieu: Decentralization and local self-administration. Case study China. Friedrich Ebert Foundation , 2009, p. 62 f.
  19. ^ Joan Liu: Finding Chinese Law on the Internet: Characteristics and Sources of Chinese Law GlobaLex, February 2005
  20. ↑ Sebastian Heilmann: Instructions come from above Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 2008
  21. ↑ Yang Fengchun: The Military System China Internet Information Center, 2001