China's political structure can be best thought of as three parallel hierarchies. Separate, but interacting.
Government
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
People's Liberation Army (PLA)
China has a national, unitary, authoritarian government.
Authoritarian in that the important decisions are made by the political elites.
In recent years, China has been moving towards decentralization.
Because it's difficult to efficiently govern a large and populated country like China from a central location, especially now with its transition to a market economy.
B.Executives
President - Hu Jintao (2003 - 2013)
Hu Jintao likes to keep a low profile and not a lot is known about him. He rarely gives interviews.
"Compared to his predecessors, Hu was a bland figure, determinedly drained of flesh and blood. Deng Xiaoping, by contrast, had a revolutionary prestige, overlaid by the battle scars of years of struggle against Mao Zedong’s insane political campaigns. He proudly displayed his earthy Sichuanese roots, notoriously expectorating loudly into his spittoon while delivering to Margaret Thatcher an intimidating lecture about Hong Kong at a meeting in the early eighties in Beijing. Jiang Zemin, Hu’s immediate predecessor, delighted in singing in public and reciting extracts from the Gettysburg Address and other western canons in English. Mao, for all the horrors he inflicted on the Chinese people, was a charismatic figure renowned for his pithy aphorisms, which endure in China’s literary, political and business landscape." - The Party
Prime Minister - Wen Jiabao (2003 - 2013)
Wen Jiabao is viewed as a populist by many people.
He is often shown visiting the many provinces of China and interacting with the local people.
Unlike China's other top-ranking leaders, Wen Jiabao likes to talk, from time to time, about democratic reforms and his opinion that China needs to transition into a society that gives its citizens more freedoms.
Some Critics have described Wen Jiabao as being fake and never acting on his words.
Wen Jiabao having fun on a pleasant spring night at Tiananmen Square in 1989. The person on his left with the microphone is Zhao Ziyang, and unfortunately he probably had a lot less fun. Zhao Ziyang was a high-ranking member of the CCP, who was shortly purged after this picture was taken because of his liberal views. He would spend the rest of his life under house arrest.
Wen Jiabao playing B-Ball with some students in an effort to promote health and fitness.
It has become unofficially established for the President and Prime Minister to serve five year terms, with two terms being the maximum.
Jiang Zemin acted as President of China from 1993-2003. He ordered for the suppression of the Falun Gong movement in the late 1990s and advocated strongly for Taiwan's reunification with mainland China. He even supported the use of violence to meet this goal. Hu Jintao has taken a much more peaceful approach towards Taiwan.
In 2003, Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin as President of China.
"Hu’s displacement of Jiang was not only the first peaceful handover of power in China since the 1949 revolution, which was notable in itself, but the first in any major communist country at all." - The Party
C. Legislatures
The National People's Congress (NPC) is unicameral and consists of 2,987 members. It is the highest legislative body.
Delegates serve for five year terms. They are elected by the provincial people's assemblies, who are elected by lower level assemblies.
The NPC doesn't have any real power, and meets for only two weeks each year.
D. Elections
Wen Jiabao has stated in interviews that he believes China will become more democratic as time progresses, and some day in the future it will be possible for the Chinese people to freely elect their leaders.
Direct elections are held at the local level only.
The Chinese people get to vote for the deputies that serve on the county people's congresses.
And sometimes people in rural areas get to vote for village leaders.
E. Political Parties
China has one political party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
It also happens to be the world's largest political party with over 80 million members.
"The Party is like God. He is everywhere. You just can’t see him." - Professor from a University in Beijing
The party is lead by the General Secretary, Hu Jintao (2002 - 2012).
The major components of the CCP includes:
National Party Congress
Consists of 2,000 delegates chosen from lower level congresses.
Meets every five years, and its only real purpose is to elect members of the central committee.
Central Committee
Has about 340 members that meet for a week each year.
Chooses the members of the Politburo.
Politburo
Consists of 24 members that meet on a monthly basis in secret.
The Politburo is powerful and its decisions dictate government policies.
"But for most Chinese, the Politburo was a distant body, bloated with power, but devoid of character and personality." - The Party
Its decisions are often made by consensus rather than by majority vote.
Standing Committee
Its 9 members come from the Politburo.
The most influential and powerful body in the CCP and Chinese Government.
Consists of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.
Its members supposedly meet in secret every week and conduct decisions by consensus.
F. Interest Groups
Organized interest groups are not permitted to influence the political process unless they are under the party-state authority
The party-state forms mass organizations in which people may express their points of view within strict limits as substitutes for interest groups.
All-China Federation of Trade Unions (Factory Workers)
All-China Women's Federation (Women's interests)
State allows only one organization for any given profession or activity. This makes it easier for the state to monitor and control the organizations.
G. Military
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is composed of three million active soldiers, and 12 million reserves.
approximately 2.4/1000 people are military personnel
China currently has the world's largest army.
Hu Jintao acts as leader of the PLA through his position as Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
H. Judiciaries
Four-tiered people's court system.
China allows for the death penalty
More people are executed in China than in any other country in the world, which is understandable, because China has like 1/5 of the world's population. China also Does Not have the highest execution rate per capita.
Organization called People's procuratorate provides public prosecutors and defenders to the courts.
The Judicial system is subservient to the party hierarchy. Laws are applied selectively to hurt political opponents.
As a result, no Judicial Review exists.
I. Leaders of China
China's leaders often hold important positions in the government, CCP, and military at the same time.
Hu Jintao is the President of China, General Secretary of the CCP, and Chairman of the Military Commission.
The most important and powerful people in Chinese politics are the 9 members of the Politburo Standing Committee.
Its members include Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Xi Jinping (Vice President) , and Li Keqiang (Vice Premier).
Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, and a few other prominent members of the Standing Committee are considered to be the fourth generation of leaders. Having come into power around 2002, they will retire in 2012 to make way for the fifth generation of leaders.Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan also happens to be a very famous Chinese folk singer.
Most of the members of the Standing Committee will be replaced at the 18th Party Congress in November 2012.
Xi Jinping will replace Hu Jintao as General Secretary in 2012 and as President in 2013. Li Keqiang will also replace Wen Jiabao as Premier during this time.
Some people believe that the Sixth Generation of leaders will be the ones responsible for significant political reform, because this will be when economic growth has stabilized.
Scott Shi
A.Levels of Government
China's political structure can be best thought of as three parallel hierarchies. Separate, but interacting.
Government
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
People's Liberation Army (PLA)
China has a national, unitary, authoritarian government.
Authoritarian in that the important decisions are made by the political elites.
In recent years, China has been moving towards decentralization.
Because it's difficult to efficiently govern a large and populated country like China from a central location, especially now with its transition to a market economy.
B.Executives
President - Hu Jintao (2003 - 2013)
Hu Jintao likes to keep a low profile and not a lot is known about him. He rarely gives interviews.
"Compared to his predecessors, Hu was a bland figure, determinedly drained of flesh and blood. Deng Xiaoping, by contrast, had a revolutionary prestige, overlaid by the battle scars of years of struggle against Mao Zedong’s insane political campaigns. He proudly displayed his earthy Sichuanese roots, notoriously expectorating loudly into his spittoon while delivering to Margaret Thatcher an intimidating lecture about Hong Kong at a meeting in the early eighties in Beijing. Jiang Zemin, Hu’s immediate predecessor, delighted in singing in public and reciting extracts from the Gettysburg Address and other western canons in English. Mao, for all the horrors he inflicted on the Chinese people, was a charismatic figure renowned for his pithy aphorisms, which endure in China’s literary, political and business landscape." - The Party
Prime Minister - Wen Jiabao (2003 - 2013)
Wen Jiabao is viewed as a populist by many people.
He is often shown visiting the many provinces of China and interacting with the local people.
Unlike China's other top-ranking leaders, Wen Jiabao likes to talk, from time to time, about democratic reforms and his opinion that China needs to transition into a society that gives its citizens more freedoms.
Some Critics have described Wen Jiabao as being fake and never acting on his words.
It has become unofficially established for the President and Prime Minister to serve five year terms, with two terms being the maximum.
In 2003, Hu Jintao replaced Jiang Zemin as President of China.
"Hu’s displacement of Jiang was not only the first peaceful handover of power in China since the 1949 revolution, which was notable in itself, but the first in any major communist country at all." - The Party
C. Legislatures
The National People's Congress (NPC) is unicameral and consists of 2,987 members. It is the highest legislative body.
Delegates serve for five year terms. They are elected by the provincial people's assemblies, who are elected by lower level assemblies.
The NPC doesn't have any real power, and meets for only two weeks each year.
D. Elections
Wen Jiabao has stated in interviews that he believes China will become more democratic as time progresses, and some day in the future it will be possible for the Chinese people to freely elect their leaders.
Direct elections are held at the local level only.
The Chinese people get to vote for the deputies that serve on the county people's congresses.
And sometimes people in rural areas get to vote for village leaders.
E. Political Parties
China has one political party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
It also happens to be the world's largest political party with over 80 million members.
"The Party is like God. He is everywhere. You just can’t see him." - Professor from a University in Beijing
The party is lead by the General Secretary, Hu Jintao (2002 - 2012).
The major components of the CCP includes:
National Party Congress
Consists of 2,000 delegates chosen from lower level congresses.
Meets every five years, and its only real purpose is to elect members of the central committee.
Central Committee
Has about 340 members that meet for a week each year.
Chooses the members of the Politburo.
Politburo
Consists of 24 members that meet on a monthly basis in secret.
The Politburo is powerful and its decisions dictate government policies.
"But for most Chinese, the Politburo was a distant body, bloated with power, but devoid of character and personality." - The Party
Its decisions are often made by consensus rather than by majority vote.
Standing Committee
Its 9 members come from the Politburo.
The most influential and powerful body in the CCP and Chinese Government.
Consists of Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.
Its members supposedly meet in secret every week and conduct decisions by consensus.
F. Interest Groups
Organized interest groups are not permitted to influence the political process unless they are under the party-state authority
The party-state forms mass organizations in which people may express their points of view within strict limits as substitutes for interest groups.
All-China Federation of Trade Unions (Factory Workers)
All-China Women's Federation (Women's interests)
State allows only one organization for any given profession or activity. This makes it easier for the state to monitor and control the organizations.
G. Military
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is composed of three million active soldiers, and 12 million reserves.
approximately 2.4/1000 people are military personnel
China currently has the world's largest army.
Hu Jintao acts as leader of the PLA through his position as Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
H. Judiciaries
Four-tiered people's court system.
China allows for the death penalty
More people are executed in China than in any other country in the world, which is understandable, because China has like 1/5 of the world's population. China also Does Not have the highest execution rate per capita.
Organization called People's procuratorate provides public prosecutors and defenders to the courts.
The Judicial system is subservient to the party hierarchy. Laws are applied selectively to hurt political opponents.
As a result, no Judicial Review exists.
I. Leaders of China
China's leaders often hold important positions in the government, CCP, and military at the same time.
Hu Jintao is the President of China, General Secretary of the CCP, and Chairman of the Military Commission.
The most important and powerful people in Chinese politics are the 9 members of the Politburo Standing Committee.
Its members include Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Xi Jinping (Vice President) , and Li Keqiang (Vice Premier).
Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, and a few other prominent members of the Standing Committee are considered to be the fourth generation of leaders. Having come into power around 2002, they will retire in 2012 to make way for the fifth generation of leaders.Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan also happens to be a very famous Chinese folk singer.
Most of the members of the Standing Committee will be replaced at the 18th Party Congress in November 2012.
Xi Jinping will replace Hu Jintao as General Secretary in 2012 and as President in 2013. Li Keqiang will also replace Wen Jiabao as Premier during this time.
Some people believe that the Sixth Generation of leaders will be the ones responsible for significant political reform, because this will be when economic growth has stabilized.
Resources:
Wood Packet
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.htmlThe Party by Richard McGregor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wen_Jiabaohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politburo_Standing_Committee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Zemin