Wiley Davis
COUNTRY FACT SHEET: ________China______________________
FEDERAL/UNITARY
PRESIDENTIAL;
PARLIMAMENTARY, OR MIXED
HEAD OF STATE/
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
NAME OF LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
(Identify both houses if applicable)
NAME OF JUDICIAL BRANCH
Supreme People’s Court
Local People’s Courts
Special People’s Courts
BUREAURACRACY/CABINET
Number of subunits
22 provinces
5 autonomous regions
4 centrally administered
municipalities
2 Special Administrative
Regions
Name of Head of State (i.e.
Pres)
President Hu Jinato
Powers of Head of state,
length of term
The president is simply a
figurehead elected officially
elected by the People’s
Congress but really is
chosen by the upper
echelon of the party.
Election of head of state,
length of term
Elected by the legislature,
but only with the approval
of the CCP leadership.
Because of this the general
secretary of the CCP is
normally the person with
real power in the country. 5
Year Term
2,987 seats
5 year terms
The legislature mainly acts
as a rubber stamp and
almost always votes
according to the CCP
Supremes are appointed by
the NPC
Locals are appointed by the
provincial and regional
legislatures
And Special are like
military courts
The bureaucracy is filled
with corruption and
patronage. People must be
members of the CCP to get
Description of arrangements
Power is mainly
centralized with the local
CCP and government
having some control over
their respective regions.
Hong Kong is pretty much
left alone.
Name of Head of
Government
Premier Wen Jiabao
Powers of head of
government
The head of government is
also simply another
figurehead. He leads the
People’s Congress but in
actuality the People’s
Congress is a rubber stamp
so he is the most powerful
of the powerless.
______________________
Election of head of
government
Officially elected by the
legislature but only with
the consent and direction
of the upper echelon of the
CCP
Members are elected by
municipal, regional, and
provincial people’s
congresses, and PLA.
Supposed to be
independent but they are
not. No judicial review.
99% conviction rate with
extremely harsh
punishment.
The main cabinet form is
the General Secretary’s
Standing Committee which
is less of an advisory board
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promoted to high positions.
There is also a system of
almost like bribes called
guanxi, which accompanies
job placement.
POLITICAL RECRUITMENT How are elites recruited?
OTHER IMPORTANT INSTITUTIONS: PLA
MEDIA Describe type of “feedback”
citizens receive
LEGITIMACY The Chinese government is
fairly legitimate because of
the economic growth which
fares well with the will of
the people
FEATURES OF CONSTITUTION December 1982
and actually is the
government itself. They
make the major decisions.
Elites are recruited
through the Chinese
system of nomenklatura in
which members in the
party form the hierarchy.
The government is built
from within through a
patronage like system.
The army is one of the
most revered institutions in
the country and many time
the country’s true
leadership comes from the
CMC (Central Military
Commission)
Citizens receive feedback
from their government by
mass line the idea that
there is a great line of
communication between
the government and its
constituents. This mass line
however is heavily filtered
by the CCP.
Mandate of Heaven used
to be the main source of
legitimacy, now it is the
Politburo. As the ultimate
power, the Politburo
determines the legitimacy.
Provides for parallel
government between the
CCP and the state
government
Is not considered the main
source of legitimacy and
rather is more like a party
doctrine than a regulatory
or guiding document.
Doesn’t have real checks
and balances.
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COUNTRY FACT SHEET PAGE 2
HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF Identify 3 key events and briefly
POLITICAL TRADITIONS explain how the events shaped
current government
KEY POLITICAL LEADERS Mao Zedong
AND THEIR POLICIES
Zhou Enlai
Deng Xiaoping
ETHNIC CLEAVAGES Major ethnic cleavage is the
different regions between Han
Chinese and the other more
widely diversified minorities.
POLITICAL PARTIES Communist Party is the only
really powerful political party.
Believes in some economic
liberalization but not social
liberalization.
Communism-Formed a
collective attitude for the people
of China
Authoritarian Rule-
Throughout history China has
been ruled by authoritarian
forms of government, therefore
they are not necessarily opposed
to the rule of an autocrat.
Mandate of Heaver-Determines
who has the right to rule. Losing
the Mandate of Heaven means
you have lost power in the eyes
of the people.
Maoism characterized by mass
line, collectivism,
Great Leap Forward (The
Great Big Failure), One
Hundred Flowers Movement,
and the Cultural Revolution
Four Modernizations. Opened
China up to trade and
communication with the outside
world. Nixon Visit
Economic liberalization without
political liberalization. Socialism
with Chinese characteristics.
The most notable result of
ethnic cleavages is the Tibetan
independence movement which
involves the popular Dalai
Lama and shines a light on
alleged civil rights injustices of
the Chinese.
The CCP
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ROLE OF POLITICAL ELITES
CITIZENS
INTEREST GROUP SYSTEM
(pluralist or corporatist)
ECONOMIC SYSTEM:
Identify type: capitalist, socialist,
etc.: identify major economic
policies government has adopted
FIRST WORLD/THIRD WORLD
SUPRANATURAL
ORGANIZATIONS
PUBLIC POLICY
Identify elites and describe their
roles
Apathetic
There are no specific interest
groups mentioned that are
especially powerful. Only now
are interest groups beginning to
emerge and currently these
interest groups are not that
populous or powerful.
Socialistic
Many of the major businesses
such as petroleoum and steel are
government owned however
many of the government owned
corporations are inefficient and
are operating on a loss. The only
reason they are funded is
because they large number of
jobs they provide.
Third World Developing
Has one of the fastest growing
economies in the world. Second
best economy ahead of Japan
and behind the US
WTO, UN, G-20, WMO, IMF
One Child Policy has caused a
gap in the number of males
compared to the number of
females.
Refusal to let the Yuan
appreciate has caused
international tensions between
the US and China
The lack of product safety in
china has come from multiple
recalls in which it has been
Political elites rule the country
with no real respect to rule of
law.
Citizens sometimes vote in local
elections but a lack of political
efficacy has convinced people
that their opinions on
government do not matter.
Many of the interest groups in
China are environmentally
based and advocate for China to
implement green reform in the
country. This is allowed because
of the relatively benign nature
of this type of protest to the
survival of the communist party.
Private Industries while before
were very limited now make up
to 75% of China’s GDP. They
thrive do to a large labor force
many of which are willing to
work cheap.
Public Industries are
ineffectively run and riddled
with corruption and waste.
Rural/ Urban economic
disparities
Lack of civil society
Lack of Competitive Elections
Media Censorship
Some liberalization of the
markets.
Impacted human rights
development, globalization, and
foreign investment
Most pressing problem is
controlling the rapid economic
growth in a way that does not
cause rapid inflation and
managing to keep the economic
growth of the country from only
benefiting the rich elite rather
than the entire nation, creating
a gap between the rich and the
poor.
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revealed that multiple hazardous
things have been found in
products. Though many times
the leaders of oversight agencies
are executed

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