COMMENTARY

Democracy with Chinese Characteristics

Sam Noumoff

Matching public rhetoric by officials on the deepening of democracy in China, steps have been taken in the country to increase responsiveness, decentralise power and ensure greater access to information and decision-making processes. Yet, these fall short of overall aims of democratisation, defined in a manner which is distinct from western notions of political democracy.

n recent months discussion over the nature of democracy has been raging both in China and abroad. This discussion was precipitated, in the main, by the speech of Premier Wen Jiabao during the 30th anniversary proceedings for Shenzhen, followed in the same month of A ugust and interview with lieutenant general Liu Yazhou in Hong Kongs P hoenix Weekly. Premier Wen was reported to have said,
Without political reform China may lose what it has actually achieved through economic restructuring, and the targets of its modernisation drive might not be realised.

Sam Noumoff (noumoff@gmail.com) taught political science at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

This was a continuation of an analysis initially argued by President Hu Jintao two years earlier in 2008 at the 30th a nniversary of the third plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party when he a rgued for equal emphasis on political reform and economic restructuring. He also recognised the danger of excessive concentration of power unrestrained by supervision by the people which followed the speech by Deng Xiaoping in August 1980 at the extended politburo meeting titled The Reform of the Leadership System of the Party and the State. Two months before the Shenzhen speech, in June, Premier Wen expanded on his u nderstanding of political restructuring during an interview with Japans NHK T elevision when he put forward four points: (1) socialist democracy which to be meaningful includes the right to vote, be informed about, participate in and oversee government, (2) improve socialist legality, (3) realise social justice and equality, and (4) achieve all-round development in a free environment. General Liu, in his published interview, argued that a system that fails to permit its citizens to breathe freely and does not u nleash their creativity is doomed. Is this a disguised plea for westernisation of C hinas political system? Clearly not. W riters in Taiwan (Epoch Times) have commented that what Liu is advocating is a broader

dialogue on how the system can adapt to a changing reality rather than proposing any fundamental break with the system. This is largely validated by the fact that it was just a year ago, in December 2009, that President Hu promoted general Liu to the position of political c ommissar of the Peoples Liberation A rmys National Defense University. Liu further a rgued that an overemphasis on stability and moneymaking would be counterproductive generating their own contradictions. The obvious question is what is the meaning of democracy? On 29 October 2009 the Peoples Daily defined what it is not it is not the reproduction of western liberal democracy with its competitive party s ystem and separation of powers into e xecutive, legislative and judicial branches. The reason given is clear. Western powers developed their political system as they a cquired their wealth during the imperialist period by exploitation of the rest of the world, thereby affording a state-welfare system based upon that exploitation. Fragmented power also makes it impossible to confront serious problems when they emerge. To this one might add that the competition between political parties in the west, while recognising differences, establishes boundaries out of which none dare move. Differences are tactical, defined as which approach will best preserve and expand the existing system. Advocates of system change are quickly marginalised owing to overwhelming financial resources in the hands of those defending the system. The practice of the separation of powers reveals the same flaw with the overwhelming preponderance of judicial decisions made through the prism of a judge determining the best means of preserving the system. In my judgment the most useful way of examining the direction of Chinas political reforms is to recall a concept used half a century ago in political anthropology, known as structural functionalism. In examining societies of different historical cultures and levels of development this approach argued that formal institutional differences notwithstanding, all societies could be compared by examining the structures in society which are established to perform various social functions which assure social stability. In other words, all societies

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establish structures in order to deal with functions which are required by that society and that those structures can and do vary significantly, irrespective of how the functions are performed. The required functions when examining political r eform include participation, transparency of decision-making, account ability, a wellinformed population, voting accep ted norms or rules expressed in law. Has China to date significantly realised these objectives? The answer to that question is a no. Has China begun the transition? The answer to that question is an absolute yes. When Premier Wen referred to the imperative of political reform as an essential ingredient safeguarding economic reform he was referring to the need to decrease the growing income gap both individually and regionally, corruption, environmental degradation, meeting rising demands for social goods, and unrest, all of which have been unleashed by economic reforms of recent decades. Clearly the democratic impulse for political reform, or what some in China have called xieshang minzhu (deliberative democracy), is slowly gaining traction. It is important to note a number of examples: (1) In 2003, 10% of the National Peoples Congress voted against President Jiang Zemin remaining chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission. (2) Term limits for senior officials were i nstituted. (3) In 2007, President Hu Jintao was unable to designate his successor to the presidency at the expiration of his term. (4) Direct elections have been instituted in villages since the Organic Law of Village Elections in 1987, with 300 million voters electing self-governing committees by 2007, more recently extended to t ownships and selected urban areas, with open nominations encouraged since 1998. (5) There has been a slow but steady increase in awareness in the population of their rights and mechanisms of redress. (6) There is greater access to information when compared to the past. These initiatives are in the early stages of development and may appear isolated, and are yet to have achieved critical mass of becoming an organic part of routine p olitical practice. Majority rules and elections are part of but not equivalent to democracy. Minority interests must be protected, as pointed out in the Global Times

in July 2010. Meaningful democracy must combine a sense of the public good combined with high moral standards of leaders. Elections can also reveal certain inadequacies of an immature democratic ethos. Investigations in Hainan in the summer of 2010, revealed a massive bribe scheme with votes being purchased for up to $177 (1,200 yuan rmb) per head, with fortune tellers and witches becoming i nvolved as partisans of particular candidates combined with clan blood loyalties called upon for support. The power of elected officials to direct public investment merely encouraged the bribery phenomenon. Democracy only in form is no assurance for democracy in its essence. As commented by Li Junru, former vice- president of the Central Party School Democracy is our goal and our pursuit, but it needs to be carried out in accordance with reality and pushed forward step-by-step. What are the features of contemporary Chinese society and what areas require an accelerated push? In addition to the embedding of a democratic tradition as seen in the local elections, a mechanism for d irect supervision by the people has grown as a result of the fact that over 30% of the population, or 420 million citizens are registered internet users. Increasingly l ocal governments are using the internet as discussion forums prior to the release of policy a form of e-government initiative. There

have, however, been recent complaints that these local government w ebsites are more for purposes of show rather than substance. A study released by Shanghai Jiao Tung University in N ovember 2010 reported that the internet was increasingly making governments more democratic and objective. Instant communication provides people with an effective means of communication, exposure of corrupt and illegal activities and therefore improves their supervisory role. In the past five years, 75 officials in Hangxhou have been found guilty of corruption and embezzlement. The use of law suit related petitions has increased significantly. Between March and December 2010, 6,501 of these were dealt with. While the preponderant number seems to be related to the treatment of prisoners in detention and their alleged torture, others have addressed and dealt with charges of corruption. The ministry of justice has responded with a revised police training programme requiring police to properly abide by the law. The ministry is also organising a legal o ffice to assist citizens in filing complaints before a mediation office designed to assist in addressing their grievances. Another recently relative initiative is promising with the introduction of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), nonprofit organisations (NPOs) and non-profit incubators (NPIs). Initially, NGOs required

REQUEST FOR PAPER OF RAJASTHAN POLICE ACADEMYS JOURNAL RAKSHIN

Rajasthan Police Academy is planning to bring out next issue biannual journal RAKSHIN. The main focus of this journal is to be publishing empirical studies related to SOCIAL DEFENCE, MINORITY AND POLICING and other related areas of activity. Articles must be not more than 4,000 words including notes, references and tables. All papers must be submitted in hard and soft copy format. The soft copy can be sent by e-mail; alternatively it can be sent by post on a CD. Both the hard and soft copies are essential for processing. Last date for accepting research articles is latest by 28 February 2011. Your article/paper in the above-mentioned areas is welcome on the following address: Editor, Center for Research & Publication, Rajasthan Police Academy, Nehru Nagar, Jaipur-302016. www.rpa.rajasthan.gov.in, E-Mail: policeresearchrpa@yahoo.in
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an institutional sponsor, and needed to be supervised by the local government a ffairs office, however, more recently Shenzhen in 2008 introduced a procedure permitting NGOs to register without a sponsor followed by Beijing in 2010. As of 2008 there were three million unregistered NGOs (some registered as companies) and 4,00,000 which were registered. The sole beneficiaries of government subsidies are those which are registered. This process goes to the heart of a new formulation of the relationship between government a uthority and civil society and separating one from the other. The person behind this process is Wang Yang, politburo member and secretary of the Guangdong party committee. According to the Shanghai Ribao, Wang has for some time urged government organs to shed their unnecessary rights and to have social organisations do what they are supposed to do in a citizen society. In the early stage they should be charged with focusing on p ersonalised rather than bureaucratic service to the disabled, senior citizens, mentally challenged children, the environment and healthcare. Governments should then consider purchasing the services of the NGOs to permit the services to be deli vered. P eriodic reviews have been put in place to permit third party evaluation of these NGOs designed to weed out the non- performing ones. This would a ccelerate the power shift from government to the public, according to Ma Hong. director of Shenzhens department of civil society management. NPOs, or philanthropic organisations are at the very early stages of development most commonly employed during p eriods of national catastrophes such as the Sichuan earthquake relief fund. Some resentment has built up owing to mandatory contributions in local state-owned enterprises being automatically docked from pay checks in response to catastrophic events. A Tsinghua University survey revealed scepticism about contributing to a private foundation with 61% of those s urveyed preferring a government collection of funds to be despatched to critical areas. Some of the scepticism is based on the utter lack of administrative experience in 80% of the foundation officers, many of whom are retired local civil servants. This may change with

the launch of incubator professional training progra mmes for NPOs and grants providing substantial support to them from companies such as Lenovo. In sum, we can see that some very significant processes have been initiated which will benefit from experience as they develop and deepen their practice. What are the next steps in this monumental process of political reform? They include (1) expanding direct election to the county level combined with e ncouraging an increase in the number of candidates running for office considerably beyond the number of posts available. This will clearly insure a higher level of competence of officials as well as induce a greater sense of responsiveness. (2) The summing up of the experience of selective urban direct elections and expanding the experiment to a wider arena. (3) The e xamination of bureaucratic blockages which have been established by vested interests and moves to remove them by r edistributing power. These vested interests have been centred at regional (east coast), provincial (east/west unequal d evelopment), sectoral (privileged industries) or individual (employment for r etired government employees) levels, while macro-balance must continue to r eside in the centre with greater authority devolved down to the provincial and sub-provincial levels. (4) Re-emphasising

cooperative property at the grass-root level which e xpands democratic decision- making. (5) Alteration of the role of government from one of overemphasis on per capita growth to a more balanced blending of growth and per capita benefit which has already been adopted in three counties in Shaanxi. Accompanying this must be an alternation of how officials are evaluated and promoted to reflect this new direction. (6) Adopting a system of regularised annual open party meetings with an a ssurance given that each item raised will be addressed at the next regular meeting outlining any action taken. As stated above, democracy is not merely about elections, majoritarianism or the protection of private property. It entails an ethos which is committed to the public good and based on knowledge, information, participation, transparency of decision-making and the exercise of popular supervision. This is not an easy or instant process but one that must and has taken on greater importance in China. All of this must o ccur in a legal regime which defines the behaviour of both citizens and state a uthority. While economics remains the key factor, there are times when other factors in society such as political reform must be addressed in order to ensure that society adapts as it grows in meeting the aspirations of the people to be empowered.

Invitation for Ph.D. Project Fellow

Mumbai University-Department of Economics and University of AmsterdamDepartment of Social and Behavioral Science invite applications for a 4 year fully funded Ph.D. project on New Middle Class Formation and Trickle Down Effects of Offshore Service Sector Development in Mumbai and Manila. This Ph.D. project is part of a joint project of the above partners and funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific research (NWO). This project involves academic training at the University of Amsterdam and empirical research in Mumbai and Manila. Application is open to candidates from all social sciences. Selection for this position is based on Academic Record and Research Experience. For details on the project and application procedure, see: www.mu.ac.in Shortlisted candidates shall undergo a written test and interview. 23

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