FREE ESSAY ON CHINA

CHINA

China
(Course Analysis Three)
by
DeBajier Tucker
Prepared for
Gregory Fant, Ph.D., M.P.A., M.S.P.H.
Adjunct Professor, Political Science
POL 310, Comparative Political Systems
Strayer University
Prince George's Campus
February 25, 2000
Introduction
Administratively, The People's Republic of China is made up of twenty-two provinces, five
autonomous regions, and four centrally administered cities, and one Special
Administrative Region.
The Making of the Modern Chinese State
The PRC is one of only a few countries in the world that is still a Communist
party-state. This is a political system which the ruling Communist Party holds a monopoly
on political power, claims the right to lead or control all government and social
institutions, and proclaims allegiance (at least officially) to the ideology of
Marxism-Leninism. 
The PRC can be compared with other Communist party-states with which it shares or has
shared many political and ideological features. Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France in
the early nineteenth century, is said to have remarked "Let China sleep. For when China
wakes, it will shake the world." 
Political Economy and Development
The growth of China's economy, since Deng Xiaoping began his market-oriented reforms in
the late 1970s, has been called "one of the century's greatest economic miracles," which
has, in turn, led to "one of the biggest improvements in human welfare anywhere at any
time." During the same period, the average income of the Chinese people quadrupled, and
although there are still many very poor people in China, more than 200 million have been
lifted from living in absolute poverty to a level where they have a minimally adequate
supply of food, clothing and shelter. 
Governance and Policy Making
The PRC by far the most important in terms of size and power. The underlying political
and ideological principles of party-state organization are clearly laid out in China's
current constitution. 
The government of the PRC is organizationally and functionally distinct from the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP). The power of the Communist Party-particularly the nearly unchecked
power of the top twenty-five or thirty leaders-is at the heart of governance and
policy-making in China. Party domination, however, does not mean that the system
"operates in a monolithic way". In fact, the system "wriggles with politics" of many
kinds, formal and informal.
Representation and Participation
The CCP describes the government of the People's Republic as a socialist democracy, which
it claims is superior to democracy in a capitalist country. The formal structures of the
Chinese political system are designed more to extend state control of political life than
to facilitate citizen participation in politics. Therefore, people make extensive use of
their personal connections based on kinship, friendship, and other ties (guanxi) to help
ease their contacts with the bureaucrats and party officials who wield such enormous
power over so many aspects of their lives. 
Politics in Transition
There are deep doubts about the ability of the CCP to continue to manage the economy
effectively because of its reluctance to make even more fundamental changes, such as
extending the market reforms to sectors of the economy that remain under state control,
like banking and the production of steel and oil. Beyond money, the Internet is also
spurring a sense of nationalism among many of the Net entrepreneurs. They think the
Internet can help them draw level with the West. "This is the first time we see a way we
Chinese can catch up," says Jack Ma, head of Alibaba.com, an e-commerce site based in
Hangzhou. 
Conclusion
Economic reform in China has already created groups and processes, interests and ideas
that are likely to become sources of pressure for more and faster political change. The
experience of the newly industrializing countries and other developing countries suggest
that such pressures are likely to intensify as the economy and society continue to
modernize. Consequently, at some point in the not-too-distant future, the CCP may again
face the challenge of the democratic idea.
Endnotes for Analysis Three
Bibliography
Bibliography
Kesselman, Mark and Joel Krieger, William Joseph. Introduction to Comparative Politics.
Boston, MA; Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
McCarthy, Terry. "China's Internet Gold Rush." Time Magazine. (28 February 2000); p.
50-51.