Case of China

Free and Fair Electoral Competition: The China and Mexico will give us an understanding of this feature of democracy.

Case of China: The members of China’s Parliament called Quanguo Renmin Daibiao Dahui (National People’s Congress). They are elected by the people after every five years. The National People’s Congress has the power to appoint the President of the country and some members elected by the army. Before contesting elections, a candidate needs the approval of the Chinese Communist Party. Only its members or members of eight parties allied to it are allowed to contest. Thus, the government is always formed by the “Communist Party”.

The debate over the definition and application of democracy to China has been one of the major ideological battlegrounds in Chinese politics since the 19th century. Modern Chinese leaders state that they run a "socialist democracy" in which the Communist Party of China is the central authority that acts in the interest of the people and approves which political parties can run. Many foreign media outlets, however, describe China as totalitarian, authoritarian, soft authoritarian, as a surveillance state, or as a dictatorship.The Democracy Index, produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit, for instance, gives China a 2.26 out of 10 and classifies its government as authoritarian.

Zhengxu Wang of Fudan University in Shanghai wrote in a report in 2007: "It is clear that public support for democracy is high in China. Public opinion surveys show that more than 90% of Chinese citizens believe that having a democracy is good. But the majority is not yet ready for a major effort towards democratization because they still see economic growth and social stability as more important than freedom of speech, political participation, and other democratic rights.

During a visit to Europe in 2014, Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping said that a multi-party system would not work for China. He said China had experimented in the past with various political systems, including multi-party democracy, warning that copying foreign political or development models could be catastrophic because of its unique historical and social conditions.

Sample Questions

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Question : 1

Why can the Chinese government not be called a democratic government even though elections are held there?
A. Army participates in election		B. Government is not accountable to the people
C. Some parts of China are not represented at all		D. Government is always formed by the communist party
Right Option : D
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