Social:Whole-process people's democracy
Whole-process people's democracy (Chinese: 全过程人民民主; pinyin: Quán guòchéng rénmín mínzhǔ), formerly termed whole-process democracy (全过程民主; Quán guòchéng mínzhǔ), is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) political concept describing the people's participation in, and relationship to, governance under socialism with Chinese characteristics.[1] Whole-process people's democracy differs from liberal democracy in that it is a consequentialist model of political decision-making, aiming to be judged by how well the government is able to improve the socioeconomic lives of citizens, rather than being based on democratic processes.[2]
Development of the term
The term "whole-process people's democracy" developed in distinct stages.[3](pp60-61) Narratives of a CCP-style "democracy" and democracy in Marxism have evolved in CCP's language since it's founding.[4]
First, the term "whole-process democracy" was used to describe existing governance practices[3](pp60-61) such as Chinese experiments with democratic elements in the legislative process and in local government activities.[3](pp60-61) CCP general secretary Xi Jinping first used the term publicly on November 2, 2019, while visiting the Shanghai grassroots consultative center for the National People's Congress (NPC).[3](pp60-61) Xi stated, "China's people's democracy is a type of whole-process democracy" in which legislation is enacted "after going through procedures and democratic deliberations to ensure that decision-making is sound and democratic."[3](pp60-61)
Second, the term "whole process democracy" was incorporated into Chinese law in March 2021.[3](pp60-61) The NPC passed the Decision on Amending the Organic Law of the NPC, which incorporated "adherence to whole process democracy."[3](pp60-61) The NPC viewed whole-process democracy as an area where it could make significant contributions.[3](pp60-61) As a result, the NPC led a national campaign (in which local people's congresses at all levels participated) to promote the principle.[3](pp60-61) The CCP then incorporated the concept into its ideology, promoting it and explaining it as an improved model of socialist democracy suited for the needs of the 21st century.[3](pp60-61)
On July 1, 2021, Xi incorporated the word "people's" into the term during his speech at the 100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, giving the new name: "whole-process people's democracy."[3](pp60-61) Xi tied the term to "common prosperity."[3] The addition of "people's" to the term emphasizes the Maoist practice of the mass line.[3](pp60-61)
Theory
Xi describes four components of whole-process people's democracy, expressed as paired relationships:
- Process democracy (过程民主) and achievement democracy (成果民主)
- Procedural democracy (程序民主) and substantive democracy (实质民主)
- Direct democracy (直接民主) and indirect democracy (间接民主)
- People's democracy (人民民主) and the will of the state (国家意志)[1]
According to Xi, this results in "real and effective socialist democracy."[1]
The concept's emphasis on "whole-process" is intended to further distinguish the CCP approach to democracy from the procedural qualities of liberal democracy.[3](p64) It includes primarily consequentialist criteria for evaluating claims of democracy's success.[3](p64) In this view, the most important criterion is whether democracy can "solve the people's real problems," while a system in which "the people are awakened only for voting" is not truly democratic.[3](p64)
Whole-process people's democracy also serves as a political tool to both defend the Chinese government's governance practices and criticize liberal democracy.[3](p64) In the CCP's view, whole-process people's democracy is "more extensive, more genuine and more effective" than American democracy.[3](p64) The CCP uses the concept of whole-process people's democracy as a means to participate in global discourses on democracy, seeking to deflect criticism and improve its foreign relations.[3](p64) This ties into the government's larger efforts to promote its global leadership.[3](p64)
In that regard, the Chinese government's 2021 white paper China: A Democracy that Works emphasizes the whole-process people's democracy perspective in an effort to demonstrate the country's "institutional self-confidence."[3](p64) Zubeda Anjum Niazi argues that the white paper states that whole-process people's democracy is the impetus behind China's development and growth.[5] In another example of the government's promotion of the whole-process people's democracy concept in an effort to increase its "discourse power," then-Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang gave remarks at a conference organized by U.S. thinktanks the Carter Center and The George H.W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations, in which he stated, "Isn't it obvious that both China's people-center philosophy and President Lincoln's 'of the people, by the people, for the people' are for the sake of the people? [...] Shall we understand China's socialist whole-process democracy as this: from the people, to the people, with the people, for the people?"[6]
See also
- Chinese views on democracy
- Democracy in China
- Democratic deficit
- Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party
- People's democracy (Marxism–Leninism)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Whole-Process Democracy" (in en-US). 23 November 2021. https://chinamediaproject.org/the_ccp_dictionary/whole-process-democracy/.
- ↑ "Why Is China Insisting It Is a Democracy?" (in en-US). The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2021/12/why-is-china-insisting-it-is-a-democracy/.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 CPC Futures The New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press. 2022. doi:10.56159/eai.52060. ISBN 978-981-18-5206-0. OCLC 1354535847.
- ↑ Holbig, Heike. "Inside" Chinese Democracy": The Official Career of a Contested Concept under Xi Jinping." J. Pol. & L. 15 (2022): 21.
- ↑ Niazi, Zubeda Anjum (December 31, 2021). "China's Whole Process People's Democracy". https://thediplomaticinsight.com/chinas-democracy-whole-process-peoples-democracy.
- ↑ "Xi's U.S. Envoy Invokes Lincoln in Declaring China a Democracy" (in en). Bloomberg News. 2021-09-23. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-23/xi-s-u-s-envoy-invokes-lincoln-in-declaring-china-a-democracy.
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