Incremental Democratization with Chinese Characteristics
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Incremental Democratization with Chinese Characteristics By ZITING LIANG A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Political Science & International Studies School of Social Sciences The University of Birmingham 2010 1 Synopsis This thesis is centrally concerned with the ‘democratic debate ’ and assessing the prospects for democratic transition in contemporary China. The first part of the thesis (including Chapters 1 and 2) reviews the (primarily) Western academic literature on democracy and democratisation. It is argued that while this literature is useful-up to a point-in understanding how the debate of democratisation is unfolding in China, and the processes that are generating political reforms and other changes that are conducive to democracy, it has wholly neglected the specificity of the Chinese case. The third chapter of the thesis duly embarks on a discussion of both the history of debate and discussion in China historically, arguing that this debate and discussion has to be understood in the context of Chinese history and culture specifically. This chapter identifies two strands of thought about democracy among academic commentators in China: first those who foresee a swift transition to democracy and the ‘gradualists ’, who are primarily concerned with how problems of attendant social and political instability will impact on the prospects for democratisation. The second half of the thesis assesses the impact of Chinese economic reforms since the late 1970s, along with contemporary globalization and China ’s growing integration into the global economy on the trajectory of political change in China. It explores important political changes within the regime, the emerging civil society forces, focusing specifically on changing state-society relations evidenced in growing village autonomy, changes in press media, and in other areas. The thesis combines the technique of discourse analysis ‘( reading ’ and analysing the changing discourse among state and civil society actors, including official political 2 documents and speeches; and media -television and newspapers- and NGO sources) with an assessment of institutional changes within the party (elite), changes in power structures (the limited diffusion of power to civil society through electoral reform and changes in media operation and control), and changing state-society relations. 3 Acknowledgements Upon the completion of this thesis, I would like to express my gratitude to all the teachers and staff in the Department of POLSIS in University of Birmingham. Thanks for all the teaching, supervising and assistance you have generously offered to me. The one person I would like to thank specifically is my supervisor, Dr Jill Steans, who has been very kind to me, always encourages me and helps me build up my confidence in the work that I am doing. Without her, it would have been impossible to complete this thesis. I am very grateful to my family, my father, my mother, my little brother and my husband, Jun, who have been very supportive to me the whole time, emotionally and financially. I would like to take the liberty of devoting this book to Mr Weimin Liang, my beloved father, who will be the happiest to know that I did not let him down. 4 Content Introduction, Background and Context 0.1 What ’s (believed to be) happening in China? 10 0.1.1 Grassroots democratic practice 11 0.1.2 Separation of powers 13 0.1.3 Checks and balances 15 0.2 How can we understand this change? Who are involved in the debate? 17 0.2.1 Modernization school 18 0.2.2 The sceptics 22 0.3 The incremental model 25 0.4 Structure of this thesis 34 0.5 Theoretical approach 37 0.6 Methodology 40 0.7 Adopting the incremental model 42 Chapter 1 Understanding Democracy and Democratization: Reviewing the Literature 1.0 Introduction 47 1.1 On democracy (why liberal democracy) 49 1.1.1 From Elite to Participatory Democracy: Empirical Democracy and Its Critique 54 1.1.2 Participatory democracy 59 1.2 On democratization 61 1.2.1 Waves of democratization 64 1.2.2 The critique of wave theory 67 1.3 Literature on democratization 68 1.3.1 Modernization 69 1.3.2 Critique of Modernization Theory 75 1.3.3 Comparative historical sociology 77 1.3.4 Critique of historical sociology 81 1.3.5 Transition literature 82 1.3.6 Critique of Transition Literature 87 1.4 Does the literature help our understanding of the Chinese case? 88 1.5 Conclusion 89 Chapter 2 Democracy and Democratization in China 2.0 Introduction 93 2.1 Modernization School 94 2.1.1 Economic Development and Democratization 94 2.1.2 Implications for Democracy 98 2.1.3 Legitimacy and Liberalization 100 2.1.4 Democratic Developmental State 105 2.2 Sceptics 109 2.2.1 Pessimism versus Optimism 109 2.2.2 Anti-democratic versus Pro-democratic 112 2.2.2.1 Succession of CCP 114 2.2.2.2 Meritocratic Cadres 116 2.2.2.3 Separation of Party and Government 118 2.2.2.4 Political Participation 121 2.2.3 Democratization and Liberalization 123 5 2.2.4 Illiberal Democracy 126 2.3 The Missing Part 130 2.4 Conclusion 131 Chapter 3 Discourse of Democracy in China 3.0 Introduction 134 3.1 Democracy in China – From a historical perspective 135 3.1.1 The Introduction of Democracy 135 3.1.2 The Revised Mr. Democracy 137 3.1.2.1 Marxism 138 3.1.2.2 ‘Down with Confucianism’ 140 3.1.2.3 Radicalization of the Intellectuals 143 3.1.2.4 Birth of CCP 148 3.2 Recent Democracy Thoughts and Debates 149 3.2.1 Dissidents 151 3.2.2 Liberal Economists 159 3.2.3 New Left 160 3.2.4 Mainstream Incrementalists 161 3.3 Incremental Democratization with Chinese Characteristics 173 3.4 Conclusion of this Chapter 176 Chapter 4 Incremental Regime Evolution 4.0 Introduction 179 4.1 The Incremental Development of CCP 180 4.1.1 CCP in Reform 182 4.1.1.1 From Revolutionary Regime to a Reformed Regime 182 4.1.1.2 Taking in New Members 185 4.1881.2 Deng and After 188 4.1.2.1 Reformers, Conservatives and the Liberals 189 4.1.2.2 The Post-Deng Era 195 4.1.3 Conclusion 198 4.2 The Strengthening of NPC 199 4.2.1 Rule of Law 201 4.2.2 Institutionalization 202 4.2.3 Appointment of Cadres 206 4.3 Conclusion 208 Chapter 5 Grassroots Democratic Practice 5.0 Introduction 211 5.1 The Evolution of the Village Electoral System 213 5.2 The Village Committee as Self-government 219 5.3 Incremental Mutual-Empowerment 226 5.4 Conclusion 232 Chapter 6 The Press Media as An Emerging Civil Force 6.0 Introduction 235 6.1 On Civil Society 236 6.2 China ’s Emerging Civil Society 238 6.3 The Press Media – Fourth Estate or Not? 240 6.3.1 The Reduction of Dangbaos and the Increase of Shiminbao 243 6 6.3.1.1 Dangbaos 243 6.3.1.2 Shiminbaos 254 6.4 Case study: the incremental evolution in the People ’s Daily 258 6.4.1 Diversified Content 261 6.4.2 Figures of the articles 264 6.4.3 Editorials and commentaries 269 6.4.4 The change of content 286 6.4.5 Names of the leaders on the front page: the appearance and disappearance 290 6.5 People ’s Daily: Importance and Significance 294 6.6 Conclusion 296 Conclusion 7.1 Democracy and Democratization Revisited 300 7.2 Incremental Democratization 303 7.3 Chinese Characteristics 311 7.4 Possible Critiques 314 7.5 The Importance of the Case Study 315 7.4 2008 Olympics and After 316 Bibliography 7 List of Tables and Graphs Table 1 : the Circulation Figures of Party Newspapers in Some Provinces and Municipalities (10,000) 244 Graph 1 : the Circulation Figures of Party Newspapers in Some Provinces and Municipalities (10,000) 245 Table 2 : the Circulation Figures of Major Central Party Newspapers (10,000) 246 Graph 2 : the Circulation Figures of Major Central Party Newspapers (10,000) 247 Table 3 : the Increase of types of Newspapers 250 Graph 3 : the Increase of types of Newspapers 251 Table 4 : Figures of the Newspapers Circulation 251 Graph 4 : Figures of the Newspapers Circulation 252 Table 5 : Growth of Advertising Profits in China ’s Press Industry (100 Million Yuan) 253 Graph 5 : Growth of Advertising Profits in China ’s Press Industry (100 Million Yuan) 253 Table 6 : Content 262 Graph 6 : Content 264 Chart 1-11-1977 287 Chart 1-11-1987 288 Chart 18-1-1998 288 Chart 7-1-2008 289 8 INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 9 0.1 What's (Believed to Be) Happening in China? A few years ago, when a woman at my work place got to know that I came from China, she raised her left eyebrow and asked, 'What's China's capital? Is it Japan?' From the expression on her face, I realized that she was not making a joke. In 2008, Beijing successfully hosted the 29th Olympic Games, and about 30 million British audiences watched the game livingly broadcasted by BBC. I guess that kind of questions would not be asked again. Indeed, with China's economy experiencing an average annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in excess of 10% for the past 30 years, it has become the third largest economy in the world. People ’s impression of China as a red communist state has been changing along with China's economic growth and opening up.