DEMOCRACY IN CHINA
Since 1949, after the victory of Mao Ze-dong communist forces, China has been a communist country that is ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, other minor political parties do exist, but they are under the control of the CCP. CCP does not tolerate independently established and organized political parties, thus making China be a one-party state. The CCP on its own cannot be able to make decisions on every policy (Dumbaugh & Martin, 2009). Therefore, the party collaborates with several bureaucratic and non-central government entities to dictate government policy. Additionally, the citizens, organizations, and geographical affiliations play a less significant role in implementing political decisions. Individuals working in different parts of the Chinese political system may develop political alliances on various political issues based on friendship or shared doctrines.
Therefore, China is faced with various barriers that affect the development of its democracy. For instance, the authoritarian leadership punishes anyone who advocates for multiparty in the country. The political system does not call for the constitution to be changed to create room for national elections to be held. Additionally, the government monitors internet activities and heavily censors the press. The citizens are denied freedom of speech, association, and demonstration (Dumbaugh & Martin, 2009). The government justifies its actions to deny the citizens their rights by citing constitutional articles that require the secrets of the nation to be kept private. In addition, when the citizens are given too much freedom, they may end up taking actions that are detrimental to the security and interest of the nation. However, the constitution neither specifies the country’s secrets nor points out activities that are detrimental to the state’s security.
China should institute representative democracy. This form of democracy will give the people the chance to vote for their representative in the parliament. In addition, the citizens will have the opportunity to air their opinions to their representatives (Magstadt, 2017). Moreover, people can be able to bring up issues that affect them and also offer solutions. Issues such as taxes cannot be raised without the public’s consensus. When a more qualified representative is elected, the minority group in the country gets the opportunity to address their grievances efficiently. Most of the countries that exercise representative democracy are considered to be liberal because they work hard towards satisfying the needs of the individual citizens.
In conclusion, China mainly exercises authoritarian democracy, where a single dominant party rules the nation. The party dictates how the minor parties will operate and also denies them the chance to be independent. The system of governance also limits the freedom of its citizens, for example, the right of expression and also monitors most of the internet activities. In such a state, the most appropriate system of democracy would be the representative. In such a democratic system, the citizens can elect their representative who will be able to address their grievances.
References
Dumbaugh, K., & Martin, M.F. (2009). Understanding China’s political system. Congressional Research Service, 1-24. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4b73cd512.pdf
Magstadt, T. M. (2017). Understanding politics: Ideas, institutions, and issues. Australia: Cengage Learning.