Political Institutions of the Peoples Republic of China

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Political Institutions of the Peoples Republic
of China
SOSC 152
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Military
Legislature
Executive
CCP
Judicial
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Key Characteristics of Political System

• Political system dominated by the CCP
• Highly bureaucratizedthe permanent bureaucratic
  society.
• Power based partly on power of posts
• Highly centralized system, with top leaders
  wielding enormous power Mao in command model.

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Unstable Institutions and Importance of Personal
Power

• But (1) power also based on personal
  relationsguanxiwho is your political network?
• Deng Xiaoping mobilized whole country to speed up
  reforms in 1992 when his only formal post was
  President of Chinese Bridge Association.

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Deep State Penetration into Society

• 2. CCP penetrated down to village level through
  party committees (1,000 people).
• In Qing Dynasty, county government was lowest
  level of state power (200,000 people).
• In cities, CCP has penetrated down to
  neighborhood committees

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Horizontal Control by CCP Committees at all
Levels of Hierarchy

• 3. Every level of government or administrative
  hierarchy has party committee which can monitor
  the government at that level.
• Party committees tend to dominate local
  decisionscan intervene in economic decisions.

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The Structure of Political System

• administrative hierarchy of government,
  legislatures, courts and the CCP.
• Running from Central government in Beijing, to
  provinces, municipalities (district), county,
  township, administrative village, natural
  villages.
• But today, Communist Party dominates all aspects
  except the economy.

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Standing Committee of Politburo (SC-PB)

• Most powerful people in China!
• Controls all aspects of political system
• Currently 9 membershas been as few as 5
• most members control one of key SIX systems
• party affairsrelations with other CCPs and party
  life.
• organizational affairsallocates all party
  positions
• propaganda and education-education, news,
  colleges
• political and legal affairsresponsible for
  courts, police, strike hard campaign
• finance and economicsled by Prime Minister
• MilitaryCCP tries to maintain civilian control
  of army

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Youre Nobody if youre not on the Central
Committee!!

• All key power brokers either full or alternate
  members of CC-CCP.
• Meets in Plenary Session about twice a year to
  approve important policy decisions, can totally
  redirect previous policy and take China in new
  direction
• - Reform era began in with 3rd Plenum of Eleventh
  CC in December 1978, Deng overturned strategy
  outlined by Hua Guofeng in July 1977 at 11th PC.

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Party Secretariat and Its Key Departments

• Organizational Dept. responsible for all party
  posts, key government posts, and is a key
  position to affect succession.
• Propaganda Dept.monitors press, tv, organizes
  ideological study campaigns.
• Rural Work Dept.makes rural policy.
• Peoples Daily top CCP newspaper and editorial
  board making public policy

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Executive Organizations(the government)
President Vice President
Prime Minister
Vice Premier
State Councilors
State Council
Ministries and Commissions
Provincial-level Bureaus
Provincial-level Bureaus
Prefecture Governments
Prefecture Bureaus
Country-level Governments
Country-level Bureaus
Township Governments
Village Committee
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State Council

• High degree of overlapping directorship Prime
  Minister often 3rd ranking member of SC-PB.
• Some Vice Premiers are members of PB-SC or
  Politburo.
• Prime Minister needs support of General Secretary
  of CCP to push policies.

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Legislature (makes the laws)
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Chinas ParliamentNational Peoples Congress

• Meets every 5 years to elect government
  leaders--President, PM, Vice Premiers, all
  approved before by PB-SC.
• Also, meets yearly to address key issues related
  to legal affairs, financial affairs, etc.
• Mostly rubber stamp, as laws or key decisions
  originate with CCP, approved by CCPs committees.
  
• During NPC, top leaders visit provincial
  delegations, discuss regional problems.
• Centre for popular input into laws and economy
  through its committees professionals may work
  with committees.
• Major event in 1987 when only 2/3 of NPC members
  supported Three Gorges Dam, 1/3 abstained.

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Military Affairs Commission

• Mao Political power grows out of the barrel of
  a gun
• Directly under Standing Committee of Politburo.
• General Secretary of CCP usually Chair of MAC
• Vice-Chair may be civilian, other posts belong to
  military.
• Jiang Zemin held this post 1 year after giving up
  head of CCP, hoping it would provide leverage
  over Hu Jintao.

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How does the CCP Control the Military?

• Mao The Party must always control the gun, the
  gun must never control the Party.
• Military Affairs Committee (MAC)
• budgetary allocations from State Council and
  Ministry of Finance
• Political Commissars--every military unit has CCP
  official who maintains party authority.
• Overlapping membership in CC-CCP and Politburo,
  but no member of PB-SC for many years.

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Power of PLA Ebbs and Flows

• Military has power to speak out on Taiwan issues
  and perhaps Sino-US relations.
• Chaos of Cultural Revolution forced Mao to call
  in army in 1968, army had influence for many
  years.
• Military failure in war with Vietnam in
  1979?budget cuts until 1989, when it saved CCP by
  attacking students in Tiananmen Square on Dengs
  commands.
• 12-14 annual increase in spending official
  defense budget--US30 billion, foreign
  estimates--US90 billion.

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Map of China
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Center
Province and Provincial Level Cities (Beijing,
Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin)
Municipality
Rural
Urban
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Party Penetrates the Government

• Every government office, university department,
  or enterprise, has a party branch and party
  secretary.
• Province, has governor and party secretary
• -- latter has greater authority.
• In state-owned factory, party secretary wields
  greater power than manager.
• Politics permitting, the Party Secretary will try
  to intervene in economic decisions.

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Territorial Party Committees

• Party Committee at each level of administrative
  hierarchy dominates.
• Often interferes in government decisions.
• Members responsible for education, industry,
  agriculture, population control, propaganda, and
  selection of key government officials at next
  level down through Organizational Department.

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Nomenklatura System and the Power of Appointment
Central Committee
Secretariat
Organizational Department Lists of Post

• Key to party control over personnel appointments
  and source of its power over government

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Overlapping Hierarchy
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No Independent Judiciary

• Personal power dominates China--rule of man
  over the rule of law.
• Officials like it this way, enhances their
  authority.
• all lower levels judges appointed and paid by
  county party committee.
• Outsiders rarely win in another cityChongqing
  firm wont sue Shanghai for IPR infringement
  because it cannot win in Shanghai.

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Politics of the Courts

• Older judges ex-officers with no judicial
  training.
• Crimes deemed sensitive or impacting social order
  can be judged purely on political terms.
• Forced confessions acceptable, defendants have
  great difficulty proving police made false
  arrest.
• New generation of judges, some with foreign
  education
• Case of young judge ruling for Central government
  against local Peoples Congress led to political
  attack on her (NYT).

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Comparing Political Institutions in Socialist
Countries

• SOSC 152

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A. Introductory Comments

• 1. Unstable political institutions
• despite totalitarian image, major shifts in power
  among major political institutions.
• despite rules outlining when organizations will
  meet, rules often broken, party congresses often
  did not meet
• low level of political institutionalization
• Why?

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1. Unstable political institutions

• a. Charismatic leadership, where individual power
  often more important than formal political
  position.
• b. constant political competition without
  institutionalized succession procedures leads
  individuals to try to control organizations which
  they use to advance their own power.

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1. Unstable political institutions

• c. Result is "Shifting Locus of Authority"
• shifts among State Council, Politburo, Party
  Secretariat, Military Affairs Commission
• Mao's big push for collectivization not made in
  Politburo or Central Committee
• Deng's recreation Secretariat in 1981 to
  undermine Hua Guofeng's posts of Party Chairman
  and prime minister.
• d. very limited role for Constitution which is
  often revised
• Constitution seen more as benchmark for shifts in
  historical periods than as unchanging document
  which has legitimacy or which divides power or
  authority among institutions.

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• 2. Efforts to ensure party control over army
• occurs through budgetary control, dual
  penetration, overlapping authority
• 3. Overlapping rulership and overlapping
  authority
• people wear several hats, military, party,
  government
• same decision often open to influence by
  competing organizations and individuals

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• 4. Unclear and weak property rights
• allows for competing claims to industry and goods
• allows political power, rather than clear
  contractural agreements, to determine control
  over resources.
• 5. Heavy bureaucracy due to planned economy
• central planning created large economic
  bureaucracy
• party efforts to control the economy created
  parallel structure
• heritage of central

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B. Three Main Organizations Party, Government,
and Military

• Party
• 1. Organizational Principles
• a. Hierarchical top down system,
• local organizations as policy implementors
• lower levels report to upper levels,
• elections from bottom up usually predetemined by
  next higher level
• b. Democratic Centralism
• lower levels obey upper levels, minority must
  obey majority,
• debate possible until decision made, then
  everyone must obey.

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1. Organizational Principles

• c. Dual Hierarchy of Party committess for all
  government and military organizations
• primary party organization wherever 3 members in
  an organization
• party group in all organizations to insure
  following party policy
• d. Nomenklatura key control structure
• "list of names" or positions
• Organizational Bureau responsible for all key
  positions in government and party

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• 2. Party Congresses
• party congresses occur at all levels of the
  system
• rally of the faithful to elect party committees
  which are full-time representatives between Party
  Congresses
• a. National Party Congress, elects Central
  Committee, which elects Politburo and Standing
  Committee of Politburo (most important
  organization)
• each member of Standing Committee or Politburo
  sits atop one of 5 "KOU"
• industry, agriculture, public security and law,
  foreign affairs, culture and education.

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2. Party Congresses

• b. Party Secretariat
• core center of party bureaucracy, parallel
  structure for all functional arenas or KOU
• power shifts over time, strong under Deng in
  1950s, closed during Cultural Revolution
• Stalin used it to control party local elections
  which allowed him to control membership in
  Central Committee, which allowed him to carry out
  purges
• Central Committee meets in Party Plenum to map
  out major policies between congresses
• c. Military Affairs Commission
• Party committee to control the army
• top military leaders also members, so reverse
  penetration can occur
• leads General Political Department, responsible
  for party and ideology in military