the peoples republic of china

Question 1

mao’s position in government

Answer 1

in the New People’s republic of China, the leading role of the CCP was enshrined in the constitution and the structure of the government.
- Mao was the chairman of the party, chairman of the Central Peoples Consultative (aka President), and chairman of the People Revolutionary military council
- he was not involved in the day-to-day making and implementating policy
- he saw his role as being to lead and keep alive an ideological debate within the party over the underlying principles on which policy should be.
- Mao’s personality cult was booted by leading the party to victory

Question 2

what was the power structure?

Answer 2

there were three sections (parallel but equal): state bureacracy. communist party (CPC), and the Military (PLA). each indiviual section was split into four sections: National, Regional (pre- 1954), Provincial (post 1954), and Local.

Question 3

what was included in the State Bureaucracy at a National level?

Answer 3

• Central People Government Council (chairman: mao)
• state council (premier: Zhuo Enlai)
• 24 ministries

Question 4

what was included in the State Bureaucracy at a Regional (pre-1954) level?

Answer 4

-government chairman
- peoples congresses and peoples government

Question 5

what was included in the State Bureaucracy at a provincial (post- 1954) level?

Answer 5

• provincial government
• provincial peoples congresses and peoples government

Question 6

what was included in the State Bureaucracy at a local level?

Answer 6

• county
• municipal district
• village
• people’s congresses and people’s council

Question 7

what was included in the Communist Party (CPC) at a National level?

Answer 7

• standing committee (5 members; the chairman is Mao)
• Politburo (14 members)
• central committee (44 members)
• military affairs committee (chairman: Mao)

Question 8

what was included in the Communist Party (CPC) at a regional (pre- 1954) level?

Answer 8

• first party secretary
• regional party secretary

Question 9

what was included in the Communist Party (CPC) at a provincial (post 1954) level?

Answer 9

• party secretary
• provincial party committee

Question 10

what was included in the Communist Party (CPC) at a local level?

Answer 10

-local party committees
-party branches in factories, shops, schools, offices, ect

Question 11

what was included in the Military (PLA) at a national level?

Answer 11

• peoples revoloutionary military council (pre- 1954) (chairman: mao)
• national defence council (post 1954) (defence minister: Peng Dehuai)
• general staff inculding general political department

Question 12

what was included in the Military (PLA) at a regional (pre 1954) level?

Answer 12

-regional military commander
- army political commissar

Question 13

what was included in the Military (PLA) at a provincial (post 1954) level?

Answer 13

• provincial military commander
• political commissar

Question 14

what was included in the Military (PLA) at a local level?

Answer 14

• regimental military commanders
  -political commissars
• party branches in PLA units

Question 15

who were in charge of important debates?

Answer 15

the partys standing committee (a select group of the larger politburo)

Question 16

the CCP influcence over the power structure

Answer 16

• a political consultative conference was held in 1040 to formally establish the new republic
• the nationalist party congress that brought together representatives from party branches from all over the country to debate political issues and make decisions but they met infrequently
• after 1949 they did not meet til 1956
• they merely agreed on issues already agreed on by Politburo
• the leading role of the CCP had been legitimised
• there were other parties who were tolerated: 15 parties participated in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 1949
• 11 of the 24 minister appointed to the state bureaucracy in 1949 came from parties other than the CCP
  as long as it did not threaten CCP rule they were tolerated

Question 17

who was Gao Gang (1902-54)

Answer 17

-few communist leaders with little formal education
- virtually illiterate but proved to be an effective organiser
- 1926, he joined CCP and became local party leader in Shanxi province.
- during civil war, in charge of planning the economic recovery of Manchuria and he rose to become the head of the central planning commission in 1952

Question 18

who was Deng Xiaoping (1904-97)?

Answer 18

• son of a peasant from Sichuan
• joined CCP while in France in 1920s on a work-study programme
• studied in moscow in 1926-27
• veteran of the long march, long standing ally of mao, and served in the PLA as a military leader during civil war
• by 1950s, recognised as a leading figure in the CCP hierarchy and became Party’s general secretary in 1957.

Question 19

mass party membership

Answer 19

-membership of the CCP stood at 4,448,00 in Oct 1949
-dec 1950, membership increased to 5,821,604 (small number in a country of 500 million)
- follow the Leninist concept of a vanguard party, memberhip was restricted to those who could demonstrate their commitment and ideological commitment
- more select groups of party cadres
- part cades permeated all levels of government and administration, the legal system, schools, and colleges, and the PLA.
- the CCP established branches in all aspects of normal life: factories, shops, schools, colleges, offices, neighbourhoods, and PLA units
- CCP members took leading roles in various mass organisations such as trade unions, the all-china Federation of democratic youth and the all-china Federation of women
- many ‘mass autonomous organisations’ through which the CCP sought to involve the ‘masses’ to transform society
- urban neighbourhood committee, public security matters of public health, and people mediation committees overlooks matters of public health, policing, and the resolution of disputes all under the watchful eyes of the CPC and its cadres
- all activities were closely scrutinised by the Communist party
-at the base of the governmental pyramid in the new China was the danwei or work unit
- every employed chinese citizen living in an urban area belonged to those work units
- those who did not work came under the supervision of a resident committees
- work units lead by party cadres controlled the allocation of housing, cooking oil, grain, and rice
- work unit also issued permits to marry, travel, enter the army or uni, and change employment
- party cadres had privileged lifestyles
- CCP functioned as a kind of family
- ‘iron rice bowl’ - guaranteed employment and income for life

Question 20

What is a vanguard party?

Answer 20

Party created by the Russian communist leader Lenin that restricted its membership to workers and intellectuals who had achieved a high level of ‘revolutionary consciousness’ e.g. commitment to the revolutionary cause; Lenin argued that only a revolutionary party which was disciplined and dedicated could lead a successful revolution; this revolutionary would be in the vanguard of the revolutionary movement

Question 21

Political parties in china

Answer 21

• more important of the non-communist parties: the revolutionary committee of China, which had broken away from the main Gmd; china democratic league; the china democratic national construction association; china peasants’ and workers’ Democratic Party and the china Zhi Gond Dang
• these and other parties are still in existence and participate in the political structures
• subject to the prosecution during the purges 1950s and 1960s

Question 22

Democratic centralism

Answer 22

• theory that party members were free to express opinions and participate in debates on policies, but once a final decisions had been made by Politburo, they must promote those beliefs
• debate within the party did occur but within narrow lines due to the enshrinement of Mao Zedong Thought
• the legitimacy of the CCP and Mao was due to their victory in the civil war and the claim that they represent the people
• they also eliminated their enemies which is part of they reason their power was unchallenged until 1949
• ‘ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up’
• despite the lack of of alliance with the Gmd during the civil war, mao continued to use united front tactics in order to gain trust from the peasants, working class, petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie
• maos united front policy gaining broad support
• in power after 1949,Mao was careful to not destroy the united front due to needing support for rebuilding the economy and consolidating the regimes
• Mao referred to the system of 1949 as ‘new democracy’ or ‘people’s democratic dictatorship’
• based on the system he adopted in Yan’an 1936-45
• based on the belief that china was not ready for full socialist system and a transitional period was necessary to bridge between semi-feudal to socialism
• the working class (proletariat) were not large enough to rule alone so they had to work with other classes
• four class constituted the ‘people’ and only the people could participate in the political life of the PRC or be granted any political rights
• other classes were called the ‘five black categories’: ‘reactionary elements’, ‘feudal elements’, ‘lackey of imperialism’, ‘bureaucratic capitalist’, and ‘enemies of the people’
• groups were classified as non people, lacking political rights but still subject to the laws of the state; they were to be repressed, punished, or reformed