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| This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the People's Republic of China |
Elections in the People's Republic of China are based on a hierarchical electoral system, whereby local People's Congresses (人民代表大会) are directly elected, and all higher levels of People's Congresses up to the National People's Congress, the national legislature, are indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below.[1]
Governors, mayors, and heads of counties, districts, townships and towns in turn elected by the respective local People's Congresses.[2] Presidents of people's courts and chief procurators of people's procuratorates are elected by the respective local People's Congresses above the county level.[2] The President and the State Council are elected by the National People's Congress.
While universal franchise is guaranteed in principle by the Constitution, in practice the Communist Party of China maintains full control of the entire electoral process. In practice, only members of the Communist Party of China, eight allied parties, and sympathetic independent candidates are ever elected in any election beyond the local village level.[citation needed]
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Direct elections [edit]
People's Congresses of counties (县), cities not divided into districts (不设区的市), city districts (市辖区), towns (镇), townships (乡), and ethnic townships (民族乡) are directly elected.[1] Additionally, village (村) committee members and chairman are directly elected.[3][4] Local People's Congresses have the constitutional authority to recall the heads and deputy heads of government at the provincial level and below.[citation needed]
Village chiefs [edit]
Since taking power in 1978, Deng Xiaoping experimented with direct democracy at the local level. Some townships and urban areas also have experimented with direct elections of local government leaders. Villages have been traditionally the lowest level of government in China's complicated hierarchy of governance. In the early 1980s, a few southern villages began implementing "Vote for your Chief" policies, in which free elections are intended to be held for the election of a village chief, who holds a lot of power and influence traditionally in rural society. Many of these elections were successful, involving candidate debates, formal platforms, and the initiation of secret ballot boxes. The suffrage was universal, with all citizens above age 18 having the right to vote and be elected. Such an election comprises usually over no more than 2000 voters, and the first-past-the-post system is used in determining the winner, with no restriction on political affiliation. The elections, held every three years, are always supervised by a higher level of government, usually by a County Government.
Under the Organic Law of Village Committees, all of China's approximately 1 million villages are expected to hold competitive, direct elections for subgovernmental village committees. A 1998 revision to the law called for improvements in the nominating process and enhanced transparency in village committee administration. The revised law also explicitly transferred the power to nominate candidates to villagers themselves, as opposed to village groups or Chinese Communist Party (CCP) branches. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, as of 2003 the majority of provinces had carried out at least four or five rounds of village elections.
According to BBC News, state media regularly reports on vote buying and corruption during these elections to discredit wider implementation in higher levels of government.[5]
Procedure [edit]
Under the electoral law of 1 July 1979, nomination of candidates for direct elections (in counties, townships, etc.) can be made by the Communist Party of China, the various other political parties, mass organizations, or any voter seconded by at least 3 others.[6] The final list of electoral candidates must be worked out through "discussion and consultation" or primary elections,[6] but in practice is determined by the election committee in consultation with small groups of voters, through a process known as the "three ups and three downs" (三上三下 or sān shàng sān xià).[7]
The number of candidates for an election should be 50% to 100% larger than the number of seats, voting is to be done by secret ballot, and voters are theoretically entitled to recall elections.[8] Eligible voters, and their electoral districts, are chosen from the family (户籍) or work unit (单位 or dānwèi) registers for rural and urban voters, respectively, which are then submitted to the election committees after cross-examination by electoral district leaders.[9] Electoral districts at the basic level (townships, towns, etc.) are composed of 200–300 voters but sometimes up to 1000, while larger levels (counties, etc.) are composed of 2000–5000 voters.[10]
There are several models used:[11]
- direct nomination and election (zhi tui zhi xuan)
- direction election (zhi xuan)
- two ballots in three rounds (san lun liang piao zhi)
- competition based on mass recommendation (min tui jing xuan)
- nomination and election by the masses (海选 or hǎi xuǎn; literally "sea election")
- public recommendation and public election (gong tui gong xuan)
- vote of confidence (xin ren tou piao)
Indirect elections [edit]
People's Congresses of provinces (省), directly-controlled municipalities (直辖市), and cities divided into districts (设区的市) are indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below.[1]
National People's Congress [edit]
The National People's Congress (NPC) has 3,000-3,500 members, elected for five year terms. Deputies are elected (over a three month period) by the people's congresses of the country's 23 provinces, five autonomous regions and the four municipalities directly under the Central Government, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and the armed forces. The size of each college of delegates is related to the number of electors in the constituency. 36 deputies are elected in Hong Kong.
Executives [edit]
The people's congress at each level of government - other than the village level in rural areas, which hold direct elections - elects candidates for executive positions at that level of government.
Procedure [edit]
For elected positions such as the President of the People's Republic of China. In the 2008 election for the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, for example, president Hu Jintao, the only candidate, received a majority of approval votes. However, some electors chose to write in other names; the most popular write-in candidate was former premier Zhu Rongji.
For appointed positions requiring the approval of the People's Congress, such as the premier and cabinet ministers, delegates may either approve or disapprove of the appointment. Relevant laws provide that if the single candidate does not receive more than 50% approval, the position is left vacant until the next session of the People's Congress. This rarely happens in practice, and has never happened at the national level.
Party control [edit]
Although there is no legal requirement for either membership in or approval by the Communist Party of China, in practice the membership of the higher people's congresses are determined by the Party.[citation needed] It is possible for a dedicated person to campaign for and be elected at the lowest level of people's congresses, and this occurs from time to time. However because of the series of indirect elections between the local people's congress and the NPC, it is practically impossible for a person to be elected to provincial or national people's congresses against the wishes of the Communist Party[citation needed]
There are a small number of independent candidates for people's congress, particularly in neighborhoods of major cities, who sometimes campaign using weibos posted on the internet.[12][13] Independent candidates are strongly discouraged and face government intervention in their campaigns.[14]
Elected leaders, however, remain subordinate to the corresponding CCP secretary, and most are appointed by higher-level party organizations. Although China's constitution guarantees suffrage for citizens age 18 and older, the CCP maintains a close watch on electoral democracy at the grassroots levels and controls the outcome of elections at other levels.[citation needed]
Furthermore, while legally responsible for the oversight of the administration, it is difficult for a person in a people's congress without party support to exercise effective control or power over the administration of the executive at a given level.
Officially, the People's Republic of China is a multi-party socialist state under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. In practice, the power of parties other than the Communist Party of China is severely limited due to the personnel structure outlined above. Because none of the minor parties have independent bases of support and rely on Communist Party approval for appointment to positions of power, none have the capacity to serve as a true opposition party. In order to represent different segments of the population and bring in technical expertise, the CCP does ensure that a significant minority of people's congress delegates either minor party or non-party delegates, and there is tolerance of disagreement and debate in the legislative process where this does not fundamentally challenge the role of the Communist Party.
History [edit]
From 1979-1998, direct elections were held 6 times:[8]
- 1979–1981
- 1983–1984
- 1986–1987
- 1989–1990
- 1992–1993
- 1997–1998
2002-2003 Election [edit]
No parties other than the Communist Party and the eight allied parties were allowed at the elections, which took place from October 2002 to March 2003. The same nine parties are represented at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
| Parties | Seats |
|---|---|
|
2,984 |
| Total | 2,984 |
2007-2008 Election [edit]
| Parties | Seats |
|---|---|
|
2,987 |
| Total | 2,987 |
Procedure [edit]
The first electoral law was passed in March 1953, and the second on 1 July 1979.[6] The 1979 law allowed for ordinary voters to nominate candidates, unlike the 1953 law which provided no such mechanism.[6] The 1979 law was revised in 1982, removing the reference to the ability of political parties, mass organizations, and voters to use "various forms of publicity", and instead instructing that the "election committees should introduce the candidates to the voters; the political parties, mass organizations, and voters who recommend the candidates can introduce them at group meetings of the voters."[15] In 1986, the election law was amended to disallow primary elections.[16]
Traditionally, village chiefs were appointed by the township government.[4] The Organic Law of Village Committees was enacted 1987 and implemented in 1988.[17]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Article 97 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
- ^ a b Article 101 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
- ^ Article 111 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China
- ^ a b Niou 2011, p. 3.
- ^ Hogg, Chris (22 July 2010). "Buying votes in China village polls 'costing more'". BBC News.
- ^ a b c d Chen 1999, p. 65.
- ^ McCormick 1990, p. 141.
- ^ a b Chen 1999, p. 66.
- ^ Leung 1996, pp. 109–110.
- ^ Leung 1996, p. 109.
- ^ 林 (Lin), 峰 (Feng) (2011). In 郑 (Cheng), 宇硕(Joseph Y. S.). Whither China's Democracy: Democratization in China Since the Tiananmen Incident. City University of Hong Kong Press. pp. 65–99. At pp. 77-87.
- ^ "New faces should go back to reality" (Editorial). The Global Times. May 30, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2011. "Just like opposition parties in the West, independent candidates in China represent different opinions on the political scene. Since China's political system is based on the cooperation of multiple parties under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, it would not suit the participation of candidates who choose an opposing attitude toward the current system."
- ^ LaFraniere, Sharon (October 31, 2011). "In China, Political Outsiders Turn to Microblog Campaigns". The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2011. "an election that is ostensibly open to all comers, but in fact is stacked in favor of the Communist Party’s handpicked candidates."
- ^ Sharon LaFraniere (December 4, 2011). "Alarmed by Independent Candidates, Chinese Authorities Crack Down". The New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
- ^ Chen 1999, p. 69.
- ^ McCormick 1990, p. 142.
- ^ Niou 2011, pp. 4–5.
- "Government and Politics". China: A country study. Library of Congress Federal Research Division.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - Chen, An (1999). "Two Systems for Electing People's Deputies". Restructuring Political Power in China: Alliances and Opposition, 1978-1998. Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. 63–96. ISBN 978-1-555-87842-9.
- McCormick, Barrett L. (1990). "Elections to Local People's Congresses". Political Reform in Post-Mao China: Democracy and Bureaucracy in a Leninist State. University of California Press. pp. 130–156. ISBN 978-0-520-06765-3.
- Leung, Kwan-kwok (1996). "The Basic-Level Elections in Guangzhou Since 1979". In Macpherson, Stewart; Cheng, Joseph Y.S. Economic and Social Development in South China. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 107–. ISBN 978-1-858-98301-1.
- Niou, Emerson M. S. (2011), An Introduction to the Electoral Systems Used in Chinese Village Elections
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