China Flashcards
China Legislative Executive system
Communist Party Authoriatrian Regime
Type of Democracy / Authoritarianism
Authoritarian, both formally and funtionally
Unitary or Federal china
Unitary
Sub-national governments exist but rights not codified
Asymmetrical structure (cities autonomous religions, special administrative regions)
Head of State
President (General Secretary of the Party)
Rules State Council (mirrored by politburo Standing Committee)
Collectively oversees 25 committees
National People’s Congress
Unicameral legislature China
Half of members elected on basis of geographical representation.
Half of members elected on basis of functional expertise
Meats yearly
Mirrored by National Party Congress (members tend to be of both)
Judiciary China
Supreme People’s Court
Electoral System China
Economic transformation but political stagnation
Corruption as the storngest challenge to the regime
Beijing Consensus
Floating Population
Hokou (house registration)
Red Capitalists
Special Economic Zones
Beijing Consensus
Neomercantilist model of state-led capitalist development adopted by China and proposed as alternative to Western neoliberal model known as the Washington consensus.
Floating Population
China’s roughly 150 million itinerant peasants who have been leaving the countryside seeking urban
employment since the 1990s.
Hokou
Maoist program that tied all Chinese to a particular geographic location (essentially a residence permit
which prevents rural citizens from living in urban areas).
Red Capitalists
Private entrepreneurs who are also members of the CCP and whose interests generally align with those
of the party-state.
Special Economic Zones
Enclaves established since 1980 by the Chinese government that have offered tax breaks and other
incentives to lure foreign investment.
Confucianism and Democracy
Confucianism: Philosophy attributed to Chinese sage Confucius (551–479 BCE) emphasising social
harmony.
Zhai (2017) asks: To what extent can we explain the authoritarianism in China through the confucian
values that have been prevalent in Chinese society historically?
Zhai makes a distinction between Political and Personal Confucian Values
Pol: confucianism as the ideology that explains relations between the state and individuals
VS Priv: confucianism as the ideology which orders the private lives of citizens)
Confucian Values
Hierarchy (and respect for seniors)
Conformism and aversion towards Conflict
Collective instead of Individual identities (harmony)
Support for authorities (politically, the most important aspect of Confucian ideology)
Broadly, when surveyed, Chinese citizens who identify with confucian values are supportive of
democracy (on an abstract level)
However: Chinese citizens who identify with confucian values do not support specific
elements of liberal democratic values (freedom of press, institutions)
He draws the conclusion: Confucian values are compatible with support for democracy BUT less
compatible with the practical application of liberal democratic values
Liberal democratic values increase with generational shift (evidence that older Chinese with
stronger Confucian values have less support, than younger Chinese with less Confucian values)
Xi for Life
- Deng Xiaoping; introduction of fixed terms; term limits; retirement age (1992-2012)
- Power resides in the party not in the person
o Xiaoping, Zemin, and Jintao retired peacefully - Xi: abolition of term limits (2018) – personalistic rule
o Elite conflict poses a threat to the stability of the regime
Principle is correct, but the fixed terms worked better - Why possible
1. Rules are unwritten
2. No institutional or personal checks and balances
3. Ambiguity of authority & patron-client networks
4. Tiananmen legacy
5. Failures of collective leadership under Hu Jintao
a. Xi’s predecessor
Social Credit System
- Not a country wide system
- Only if you behave right, you get a score about your behaviour
- Main reason of this system is to raid and clarify if businesses are reliable or not
- Implemented at regional level
- The social Credit System
Hong Kong protests
- 1847-1997: UK colony / territory
- Since 1997: Special Administrative Region
o Xi fucked it, and fucked the things they should be able to get - One Country, Two Systems” Principle
- Since 2014: Protests Against Increasing Centralization
Chinese Dream
o Patriotic nationalist appeals
The objective is for China to become a “modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious.”, including many more ambitious political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions.[5] Xi said that young people should “dare to dream, work assiduously to fulfill the dreams and contribute to the revitalization of the nation.”
Cultural Revolution China
Mao’s radical movement launched in 1966 to regain political control from rivals and resulting in a decade
of social and political chaos.
Hundred Flowers campaign
was a period from 1956 to 1957 in the People’s Republic of China during which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) encouraged citizens to openly express their opinions of the Communist Party.[1][2]
During the campaign, differing views and solutions to national policy were encouraged based on the famous expression by Mao: “The policy of letting a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend is designed to promote the flourishing of the arts and the progress of science.”[3] The movement was in part a response to the demoralization of intellectuals, who felt estranged from the Communist Party.[4] After this brief period of liberalization, the crackdown continued through 1957 and 1959 as an Anti-Rightist campaign against those who were critical of the regime and its ideology. Citizens were rounded up in waves by the hundreds of thousands, publicly criticized, and condemned to prison camps for re-education through labor, or even execution.[5] The ideological crackdown re-imposed Maoist orthodoxy in public expression, and catalyzed the Anti-Rightist Movement.
China’s Future
FOUR SCENARIOS (2015)
Chaotic Pluralisation - Disintegration of CCP and desertion by political elites (Yeltsin Model)
Institutionally fragile but adaptive party-state - Return to Deng Xiaoping era with increased
freedoms
Disciplined party and security system - Permanent concentration of power at party headquarters
(Xi System)
Strong-man politics supported by the security organs - Divisions at party headquarters (Putin
System) - Most likely trajectory of Chinese politics
Parties
One-party state
CCP as Vanguard Party
Pyramid structure
Complete fusion of party and state
Nomenklatura system
Non-transparent structure
Reformers and conservatives
Fusion of Party and state
One-party regime / state
An authoritarian regime that is dominated by a strong political party able to create a broad membership
as a source of political control
Complete fusion of Party and State = State institutions mirrored by party institutions
Only one legitimate party exists, and the others are banned
Ideology of the party: that the CCP is the Vanguard party (Communism and Leninism) that needs
to lead people to an ideal future
Pyramid Structure: Party has strongly hierarchical organisation with power concentrated at the
top, and a very dense network of organisation below
No (direct) elections or internal party democracy: Members largely do not have a say
Party is present in all segments of society (aspects of private life that are usually separate from
the state such as education)
Corruption and regime China
Formal vs Informal Power - The informal distribution of power = Uncertainty over where power
lies = Power struggles between politicians = Politicians taking advantage with corruption
1980s onward: Increasing liberalisation = More opportunities for politicians to enrich themselves
with corruption
2000s: Decentralisation of power towards the regional governments has increased corruption
among regional politicians
2011: Wukan Protest against Corruption (A national level protest centred in one province that
threatens the stability and legitimacy of the CC)
2012: Xi initiates enormous anti-corruption campaign
Questions over whether the campaign is genuinely anti-corruption or a way to purge political
opponents, most visibly in: Bo Xilai (Xi’s main rival) arrested and sentenced to life
imprisonment
Xi’s anti-corruption campaign has seen > 100,000 arrests of corrupt officials, and has been a
purge at all levels of the party (from significant figures in the party to local level mayors)
Elitists vs Populists China
Elitists: Faction of CCP officials who are the offspring of former high-ranking cadre and who favor
economic growth and market liberalization.
Populists: Faction of CCP officials who have risen from relatively humble backgrounds and who favor
decreasing inequality.
Reformers vs Conservatives
Behind the scenes, there is continuous struggle between those who seek increased liberalisation and
those who protect the status quo.
Great Leap Forward
Mao’s disastrous 1958–60 effort to modernize China through localized industrial production and
agricultural communes.
Opium wars
Fights about ports and about whether France and Brittain could use their Opium. Two conflicts lost by China. Century of humiliation
Boxers, Revolution & Sun Yat-sen
Boxer Rebellion because they did not feel the dynasty could protect China from the west
o 1911: Xinhai Revolution: end of Empire
o 1911-1925: Kuomintang (KMT) rule under Sun Yat-sen
“the father of the nation”
He led China under an authoritarian military regime
After he died
Civil War & Japanese Occupation
- Fought between KMT-CCP Civil War 1927-1937
o Kuomintang was way stronger then the communist party
o CCP = communist
They had to retreat because they lost - 1937-1945: Japanese occupation
o During the occupation there was a shaky alliance between KMT and CCP
o When Japan was defeated the civil war continued - 1945-1949: Civil war (KMT-CCP)
o This time CCP won, because large parts of the KMT were destroyed
o KMT went to ‘Taiwan’ and claimed they were the real China. Was also seen that way by many EU countries
Mao’s China
- 1949: Establishment of the PRC
- 1958-1960: Great Leap Forward
o Program aimed at mass-industrialization
o Was a failure, caused the death of 10s of millions of people because of starvation - 1966-1976: Cultural Revolution
o Anti-intellectual and anti-authoritarian revolution
o Goal = purify the regime, and the red guard taking the lead to that
o 1976 Mao himself died
Reforms and Tiananmen
: Reforms and Tiananmen
- Deng Xiaoping (1979-1992)
o Reformist president
o He starts a process called reform and opening
Not politics, but economically
Very succesful
- 1989: Tiananmen Square protests
o Regime declared marshall law
o Restoring order in China
o Since then we see the Chinese party continuing on that path
Vanguard party
(Communism; Leninism)
Means that within communist ideology, revolutions should be kickstarted by a political party
Organizational parallelism
Mirroring of party and state
The Politburo Standin Committee
Head of the party
Xi-jing Ping
