GOVERNANCE & POLICYMAKING

Question 1

The PRC’s Constitution rejects any notion that the Chinese people will enjoy democratic rights and privileges; rather, it clearly stipulates that the Communist party will adhere to a strict dictatorship to assure the stability of the state. True or False

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The Chinese Communist constitution gives the CCP authority to exercise dictatorship over any person or organization that, it believes, opposes socialism and the party. True or False

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The PRC constitution is more a governing document than a political statement in spite of the historical ideological and institutional turmoil of the last fifty years. True or False

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The government of the PRC acts as the administrative agency for enacting, implementing, and enforcing policies made by the party. True or False

Answer 4

True

Question 5

The role of the National Party Congress is more symbolic than substantive, approving decisions already made by the top leaders and providing a showcase for the party’s current policies. True or False

Answer 5

True

Question 6

Today China’s top leaders tend to be very well educated having either undergraduate or advanced degrees with priority given to science, technology or other areas of higher education. True or False

Answer 6

True*

Question 7

The Politburo and Standing Committee are accountable only to the Central Committee and no one else. True or False

Answer 7

False

Question 8

The CCP uses a web-like system of organizational controls to make sure that the government bureaucracy complies with the party’s will in policy implementation. True or False

Answer 8

True

Question 9

Which of the following countries is not a state modeled on the old Soviet system, based on Marxist-Leninist ideology? a) Vietnam, b) Cambodia, c) Laos, d) North Korea.

Answer 9

b) Cambodia

Question 10

Although China has moved sharply toward a market economy in recent decades, the CCP still asserts that it is building socialism with the ultimate objective of creating: a) an efficient, democratic society with a free press, competing political parties, and limited government, b) a hybrid political and economic system similar to Western Europe, c) an egalitarian and classless communist society, d) free, democratic zones that allow for the same rights and privileges provided in Western democracies, while retaining features of an authoritarian society outside of those areas.

Answer 10

c) an egalitarian and classless communist society

Question 11

What does Communist ideology provide for China today? a) it provides the framework for governance and policy-making, b) it stipulates that a free market is acceptable alongside a socialist system, c) it delegitimizes the current ruling party, d) it forces cooperation and compromise with market capitalism.

Answer 11

a) it provides the framework for governance and policy-making

Question 12

The PRC constitution: a) has established clear and unambiguous parameters that establish individual rights and liberties more profound than in the West, b) stresses the importance of class struggle and revolutionary doctrine, c) is based on federal system similar to the U.S., where party competition is allowed, d) emphasizes national unity in the pursuit of economic development and modernization.

Answer 12

d) emphasizes national unity in the pursuit of economic development and modernization.**

Question 13

The symbolically important body that meets every five years for about one week, having some 2,100 delegates that are representatives of the Chinese Communist Party: a) Central Party Congress, b) National Party Congress, c) State Politburo Legislature, d) National Standing Congress.

Answer 13

b) National Party Congress

Question 14

The CCP Central Committee with about 370 full and alternate members that meet: a) bi-annually for about one month, b) regularly to monitor and direct the activities of the CCP, c) annually for about one week and are elected for a five year term, d) every three months and are directly appointed by the highest organ of the CCP with no limit on each member’s tenire.

Answer 14

c) annually for about one week and are elected for a five year term

Question 15

Plenums refer to: a) short and infrequent meetings, b) training for the upwardly rising members of the CCP, c) policy pronouncements and clarification on the direction of the CCP, d) the level of punishment doled out to CCP members.

Answer 15

a) short and infrequent meetings

Question 16

How many members comprise the CCP Politburo? a) 15, b) 25, c) 37, d) 48

Answer 16

b) 25

Question 17

How many members comprise the Standing Committee, the formal apex of power in the CCP? a) 9, b) 13, c) 17, d) 21

Answer 17

a) 9

Question 18

The following presides over both the Politburo and the Standing Committee in the CCP hierarchy: a) party general, b) chairman, c) president, d) general secretary.

Answer 18

d) general secretary

Question 19

Zhongnanhai is a) a town where many of China’s nationalist leaders are buried, b) a huge walled compound where many of the CCP’s top leaders live and work, c) a venerated ancient site, known for its artifacts, d) where a group of Chinese Communist leaders staged a coup against the “Gang of Four.”

Answer 19

b) a huge walled compound where many of the CCP’s top leaders live and work,

Question 20

Recently, the leadership has used the following as a vehicle against corruption within the Communist Party: a) Central Committee for Honest Government, b) Secretariat for Human Relations, c) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, d) Party Committee to Stamp Out Abuse.

Answer 20

c) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection

Question 21

Who actually selects the president and vice-president of China? a) The National People’s Congress, b) The National Party Congress, c) A national referendum, d) The Communist Party hierarchy.

Answer 21

d) The Communist Party hierarchy

Question 22

The following has the authority over the government bureaucracy and policy implementation in the People’s Republic of China: a) party chairman, b) premier, c) majority leader, d) vice president.

Answer 22

b) premier

Question 23

The cabinet of the government of the People’s Republic of China, headed by the
Premier: a) government committee, b) state secretary, c) state council, d) government agency.

Answer 23

c) state council

Question 24

Cadres are: a) taxi drivers in the major cities of China, b) groups who are allowed to establish private businesses in key areas of China, c) military personnel that are independent of the People’s Liberation Army, d) people in positions of authority paid by the government or party.

Answer 24

d) people in positions of authority paid by the government or party

Question 25

Nomenklatura refers to: a) a system of personnel selection under which the Communist Party maintains control over the appointment of important officials in all spheres of social, economic, and political life, b) rewards (spoils) that are doled out to loyal party personnel that identify problems in the system, c) the name given to counter-revolutionaries that have been ostracized for abusing their authority, d) CCP favorites are allowed beautiful homes in the countryside kept secret from the public.

Answer 25

a) a system of personnel selection under which the Communist Party maintains control over the appointment of important officials in all spheres of social, economic, and political life

Question 26

The underlying organizing principles of China’s party-state are clearly laid out in the PRC constitution where the following is stipulated:
a) the country is under the leadership of the _________ Party of China.
b) Article 1 defines the PRC as a __________ state under the people’s
___________ _____________ and
c) declares that ___________ of the socialist system by any organization or individual is prohibited.
d) Such provisions imply that the Chinese people…enjoy ___________ rights and privileges.

Answer 26

a) Communist
b) socialist, democratic dictatorship
c) disruption
d) democratic

Question 27

What are the key differences among Marx, Lenin, and Mao?

a) Marx focused on the struggle between the _____ property-owning and _____ working classes that inevitably leads to ___________.
b) Lenin focuses on how the workers should be __________ and led by the communist party to seize __________ ______.
c) Mao emphasized the crucial role of _________ in the revolution that brought the CCP to power in China.

Answer 27

a) rich, poor, revolution
b) organized, political power
c) peasants

Question 28

The most powerful political organizations in China’s communist party-state are two small executive bodies at the very top of the CCP’s structure:

a) the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ (or Political Bureau) 
b) and its even more exclusive \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. 
c) These bodies are formally elected by the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ from among its own 	members under carefully controlled and \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ conditions.

Answer 28

a) Politburo
b) Standing Committee
c) Central Committee, secretive

Question 29

The president of the PRC:

a) is China’s head of \_\_\_\_\_\_, 
b) he meets and negotiates with other \_\_\_\_\_\_ leaders. 
c) he has always been a \_\_\_\_\_-\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Communist Party leader. 
d) Both Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao served \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ as CCP general secretary and 	PRC president. 
e) The recent pattern is for the Communist Party to use the position of vice president to 	groom the country’s next \_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_\_\_.

Answer 29

a) state
b) world
c) high-ranking
d) concurrently
e) top leader