China Elections and Governance Review
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Dear Readers:
The decade from 1998-2008 was an opportunity for political reform in China to take flight on the heels of a great economic transformation. Yet although there were in fact many im- portant experiments in electoral reform during the past ten years, the great promise for ex- panded democratization in China is unfulfilled. Thus, we begin this review in an unorthodox way: with our conclusions. It is our hope that by reading the following pages, the reader will be drawn to make his/her own determinations and to question, analyze and challenge ours.
The role of village elections
Competitive village elections created a ground swell and led many reform-minded officials to adopt similar measures in the election of officials at higher levels of the government. Follow- ing the bold Buyun direct election in 1998, if the top leadership of the Communisty Party had vision and courage, they could have followed in the footsteps of Deng Xiaoping, Wan Li, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, recognizing Buyun as the “Xiaogang” of political reform. Not only did they back away from such a decision, officials at the lower levels, who saw competitive elections as a threat to their comfortable positions, managed to convince the Chinese leadership reform efforts were unconstitutional and illegal.
The trajectory misunderstood
The initial prediction that China had made a plan to begin direct and competitive elections at the bottom and slowly move elections up the chain is incorrect. What Peng Zhen said in the mid 1980s and what Wen Jiabao has repeated more recently are not backed up by any con- crete plan. In order to believe the sincerity of Chinese leadership, we have to see a tangible timetable and an action plan.
Fear of the West undermines homegrown reform efforts
As early as 2001, Jiang Zemin voiced the concern that westerners’ interest in village elections in China was probably underlined by an attempt to force China to adopt western style de- mocracy wholesale. The current Chinese leadership has an even deeper fear of such penetra- tion because of what happened in Central Asian countries and the Bush Administration’s worldwide effort to promote democratization. The tragic consequence of this linkage is that by seeing a black hand behind China’s own genuine efforts at reform, the leadership is blind to the fact that Chinese people and many Chinese officials are reform oriented and want to promote competitive elections within the framework of the Chinese law. The anti-West ar- gument also serves the need of many corrupt and incompetent officials who avoid being held accountable by associating social agitation and political protests with western conspira- cies.
Democratization still finding a way
It may also be incrorrect to say that China is at a total standstill regarding democratization. China will face much tougher challenges ahead if it does not adopt measures to curtail China Elections and Governance Review Issue 2 | May 2009
corruption, reduce popular anger, enhance its legitimacy, and allow people the opportunity to participate in public and political affairs. In this context, both the Qingxian model and the Guiyang experiment seem to be innovative ways of moving forward. While the Qingxian model’s applicability and legality are questionable, Guiyang seems to be more significant and necessary. Either way, procedures must be standardized and a system must be adopted on a selective basis throughout the country.
Call for change
Following intra-Party democratization, which may take a decade or more to accomplish, it will be time to implement open direct elections of township/town people’s congress deputies. While China does not need to use western style democracy, China needs to trust her people and allow them to elect whom they are entitled to elect in accordance with the law. The Party should focus on the preparation of strong and able candidates who can gain popular support on their own merits.
These are the issues this second installment of the China Elections and Governance Review has addressed. We welcome contributions from our readers for the next issue of this online report, which focuses on the role of the internet in China’s social and political transformation. Please send submissions no later than June 30, 2009 to [email protected].
Yawei Liu Director, China Program. The Carter Center
China Elections and Governance Review Issue 2 | May 2009
Searching for a Direction after Two Decades of Local Democratic Experiments in China
By Lisheng Dong
rior to the 17th National Congress became particularly intense when the Na- of the Communist Party of China tional People’s Congress examined the P in October 2007, a heated debate draft Law on Property Rights, which in- was under way among officials and scho- cluded clauses on protecting private prop- lars on the general orientation of the erty. The central leadership put an end to ‘Reform and Opening Up Drive’ that this debate a year or so before the Con- would reach its 30th anniversary in late gress. In an article in the People’s Daily by 2008. Some argued that the reforms de- Premier Wen in February 2007, a rare po- viated too far from the bottom line a litical move in recent Chinese politics, the communist state should tolerate. The ex- official line was expressed, repeating the panding private sector and shrinking pub- Party’s stand of twenty years earlier: its lic sector were eroding the socialist state. work and its focus would remain on eco- Therefore more political and economic nomic development, based on the two control should be re-imposed by the par- pillars of keeping a tight lid on political ty-state. Their adversaries called for major reform while furthering the “Reform and political reform, noting that the current Opening Up” drive.1 tension in society manifesting in the gap th between the rich and poor, between the The 17 National Party Congress ushered coastal areas in the east and the hinterland, in General Secretary Hu Jintao’s second and between the demands for greater re- and last five-year term. Expectations were sources for development and the deteri- high at home and abroad for his delivery orating environment could only be alle- of strong policies now that he seemd to viated through further reforms. According have better control at the political centre. to them, the situation was such that mar- Addressing the conference marking the th ket-oriented reform could not move any 30 anniversary of the initiation of the further without, on the one hand, political reform and opening up drive on Dec. 18, openness in order to allow expression of 2008, Mr. Hu declared “never to take the different interests and, on the other, rec- old road of closeness nor go astray by al- 2 ognition of private ownership. The debate tering the banner,” basically iterating what Mr. Wen expressed earlier. What
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clues can we obtain from these messages cremental approach workable for political to judge the fate of political reform? reform?
An all-round view on Chinese politics Since the late 1980s China has imple- needs to shift from a focus on leadership mented direct elections at the village level. to a focus on society. Despite official Some scholars believe village elections will statements made by top leaders, disputes help maintain one-party rule while others have persisted among officials and scho- hold that it will bring about radical revolu- lars around the “universal values of free- tion or all-around political reform. Has dom, equality, human rights and democra- the Chinese leadership’s assessment of the cy.” Those who claim that universal values Villagers’ Committee elections changed? are a US trademark have expressed the If so, what are the reasons? view that the existing Chinese political system shows its advantages under the In policy implementation, the Chinese current international financial crisis and leaders have taken either a bottom-up, there is no need to reform it.3 Wang top-down or combination approach. Changjiang terms such opi- When direct elections at the nions as “the syndrome of “An all-round view village level were introduced insensitivity toward political on Chinese politics in the 1980s, the veteran Par- reform.”4 Zhou Qiren concurs needs to shift from a ty leader Peng Zhen envi- with Yang Xiaokai that the focus on leadership saged a bottom-up develop- advantages enjoyed by the late to a focus on society” ment of direct elections up to developing countries may the county or even provincial 7 make politicians neglect the levels. Is this feasible as need for political reform and when prob- judged by the two decades of experiments? lems accumulate to crisis level historical What kind of decision is weighing on the opportunity is lost.5 Chinese leadership?
According to Wu Jinglian, since the early This paper will explore the answers to 1980s, China’s economic reform is incre- these questions by reviewing reform de- mental in nature, i.e., the economic por- velopments over the past two decades. tion under the traditional planning me- Developments to Date chanism is retained while the market me- chanism is applied to develop the private Since the introduction of the Villagers’ sector and both Chinese and foreign joint Committee elections nationwide in 1987, ventures. The latter is much credited for China has seen varied local initiative in China’s rapid growth but is also the cause experimenting on the residents’ political of a number of negative outcomes, which participation and selection of local offi- can be summed up as the collusion be- cials. For the former, deliberative democ- tween power and business or rent-setting racy has been applied to the budget for- and rent-seeking by officials.6 Is the in- mulation and approval process of some town governments. Wenling City, Zhe-
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jiang Province took the lead on such a ficance of these more competitive elec- move in 2001 when local residents and tions is that although the law has required officials were brought together to discuss the deputies at these two levels to be di- local affairs, especially government budget rectly elected since as early as 1982, in formulation and the implementation of most cases the elections are organized major public works and services.8 In fact, perfunctorily with low intensity of compe- many county and city governments have tition or none at all.12 used the annual public assessment to eva- th luate the performance of government de- In 2002 the 16 National Party Congress partments or officials. In Nanjing, the adopted the approach of “using intra- capital of Jiangsu Province, an annual party democracy to promote the people’s 13 public assessment of the municipal gov- democracy.” Innovations in intra-party ernment departments resulted in the lead- democracy cover the competitive elections ers of the two lowest rating of the deputies to the town bureaus removed from of- and county Party Congresses; fice.9 “Direct village and the annual session of the township elections are Party Congresses instead of For the latter, village elec- the most significant as once every five years; and tions were expanded to cov- new steps in democra- decisions of important mat- er elections of their urban tization” ters, especially the personnel counterparts, the neighbor- appointments, by the full hood committees, in 1998.10 Party Committee instead of The direct elections of the village auto- its Standing Committee. In 2006 direct nomous organizations have spilled over to town elections were categorically forbid- the elections of the village Party Branch den. This point will be considered further with the invention of the two-ballot sys- in a following section. In 2008 public tem in Hequ County, Shanxi Province. nomination and public selection was re- The new method involves ordinary villag- sumed in Guiyang City for the district and ers who cast votes in opinion polls of the deputy municipal leaders.14 The difference candidates. Then the Party members elect between direct election and public nomi- the Party Branch with the list decided by nation and public selection lies in that the the result of the popular vote.11 Direct former is open to all eligible voters but the elections have been upgraded from the latter brings together local elites only. non-governmental villagers’ autonomous organization to the lowest government Of all these types of experiments, direct level at township. Various forms of indi- village and township elections are the rect elections have been used to select most significant as new steps in democra- Party and government leaders up to the tization. They present real choices to vot- prefectural level. Experimental competi- ers and candidates compete with their tive elections have also taken place to se- own platforms or promises to voters. lect deputies to the People’s Congresses at (Continues on Page 5) the township and county levels. The signi-
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cumbent from the 1998 election is ree- lected. hronology of Electoral C Experiments September 4 and 16, 2002 and Innovations, 1998-2008 Yangji Town, Jingshan County, Hubei Province: The Party Secretary and Town Magistrate are elected after a primary with December 31, 1998 all eligible voters. The Town People's Congress Deputies and the Town Party Buyun Township, Suining Municipali- Committee members confirm the selec- ty, Sichuan Province: The first direct tion of the people, electing the candidates election of a Township Magistrate who received the most votes in the prima- April 18, 1999 ry.
Zhuoli Town, Linyi County, Shanxi April-May 2003 Province: A popular opinion poll, Shenzhen: District People's Congress adopted from Hequ County’s nationally Deputy Elections take place. The election recognized "two-ballot" system is used to allows independent candidates. Voters in legitimize the candidacy of the Party Sec- one district even question the electoral retary, Town Magistrate, and Town procedure and demand the impeachment People's Congress Chairman. of the elected deputy, sparking an investi- April 30, 1999 gation, though it is eventually silenced.
Dapeng Town, Shenzhen Municipality, August 2003 Guangdong Province: All eligible voters Pingba Town, Chengkou County, in Dapeng participate in a primary in Chongqing Municipality: The Party which one candidate receives the most Secretary plans a direct election of the votes. In accordance with the will of the Party Secretary and Town Magistrate. He people, the 45 Town People's Congress does not seek approval from the higher up Deputies then unanimously elect that can- and is stopped by the County Party didate to the position of Town Magistrate. Committee. He is then put under house December 31, 2001 arrest for 15 days and stripped of his titles.
Buyun Township, Suining Municipali- December 10, 2003 ty, Sichuan Province: Leaders in Suining Beijing: Independent candidates are al- defy the constitutional ban on Buyun-type lowed to run in the district people’s con- elections by having the voters directly gress deputy election. Several Beijing resi- elect two final candidates as township ma- dents and over a dozen college students gistrate instead of selecting the final ap- announce they will launch their own cam- pointment for the magistrate. The in- paigns.
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April 2004 (Continued from Page 3)
Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province: Changing Assessments of Implications The direct nomination and direct election along with the Experiments of township/town magistrates in seven townships and towns in Shiping County. Ever since villager self-government was The elections were carried out in secret instituted, two different assessments of and were not reported by Xinhua until six the move have persisted. Its proponents months later. wanted to resort to it as a way to empow- er rural residents and initiate the first step April 2, 2005 in promoting democracy in China with the prospect of upgrading it level by level. Zhangguan Town, Yubei District, They have become more confident of Chongqing Municipality: The Yubei such a prospect with the later develop- District Party Committee trims down a ments brought about by the implementa- pool of twelve candidates to three. The tion of direct township elections. But its people of Zhangguan go to the polls, vot- opponents have had no faith in the proper ing directly for their Town Magistrate exercise of democratic rights by rural resi- from the three choices. dents and are loathe to weakening the July 23, 2008 control of the party-state over villages.
Xiaohe and Huaxi Districts, Xifeng With the forceful promotion of direct and Xiuwen Counties, Guiyang Muni- elections of Villagers’ Committees after a cipality, Guizhou Province: An elabo- few years, a question of their value be- rate process called, "open nomination and came apparent. As the Party Branches are competitive selection" is introduced to the “leadership core” in the villages, no make selections for four county-level Par- matter how competitive the elections are ty Secretary positions in Guiyang Munici- or how competent and accountable the pality. Campaign speeches, a leadership elected cadres are, the democratic value of capability test, and other means are used such experiments is limited. However, the to trim down the candidates to a final two-ballot system that opened the posi- pool for vote by the Municipal Party tions of the Party Branches to the poll of Committee. ordinary villagers has improved the quality of village democracy. Up to that point, it There are other electoral experiments at seemed that villager self-government was various levels of governments in Suqian still viewed positively by the central lea- Municipality and Nanjing Municipality in dership. It is notable in 1998 that Former Jiangsu Province, and across most towns President Jiang Zemin praised it as “the and townships in Sichuan Province. These third invention” of Chinese farmers fol- experiments are known as public nomi- lowing the introduction of the household nation and selection (gongtui gongxuan) in contract responsibility system and the de- China and there are too many to list. velopment of rural enterprises.15
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The end of 1998 saw the first break- lowest level of government, they have also through in upgrading the direct election to had long-term and strategic influence on the township level with the experiment of China’s meso- and macro-politics. Either Buyun Township, Suining County, Si- theoretically or practically, noone can pre- chuan Province. Though the immediate dict the political outcome of the direct official reaction of the central leaders was elections. This results in differing opinions negative, less competitive elections were among the central leaders and a wavering still organized in response in several prov- in the development of grassroots democ- inces. Later, the emphasis on experiments racy. was placed on the opinion poll of the candidates of the secretaries of the Town- More specifically, direct village elections ship Party Committees. Following the de- have the following political implications cision of the National People’s Congress on local governance: (1) impact on the (NPC) in October 2004 on status of the village Party extending the term of office branches (strengthening or of the town (township) gov- “The end of 1998 saw weakening effect); (2) im- ernment from three years to the first breakthrough pact on whether the village five, elections of the depu- in upgrading the direct elections will produce ca- ties to the People’s Con- election to the township dres more inclined to listen gresses at the county and level” to the opinions of villagers township levels were sche- and safeguard their interests; duled to happen between (3) impact on whether the July 2006 and December 2007.16 This village elections will result in lowering ca- would provide opportunities for refor- pability of the political control of the mers to make further experiments. How- township government over the village in- ever, to the disappointment of some re- stitutions; and (4) impact on whether the formers, Mr. Sheng Huaren, Vice- village elections will make the state poli- Chairman of the NPC Standing Commit- cies difficult to be implemented in the tee, reiterated in August 2006 that direct countryside. elections of township government leaders Viewed from the macro-politics perspec- were illegal and warned that “evil foreign- tive, the fundamental question is whether ers” were using the tool of human rights or not village elections are conducive to 17 and democracy against China. As noted the legitimacy of the Communist Party of previously, no more experiments were China. The related concern is whether the made until 2008. (See “The Color Revolution implementation of direct elections in vil- and the ‘Big Chill’” by Yawei Liu.) lages will start a bottom up chain effect on Exploration and Rationale the higher levels of government as the veteran leader Peng Zhen envisaged. Direct village and township elections have had many folds of political implications. From the very beginning, grassroots de- While they have directly impacted the mocracy was understood as compatible
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with strong control by the party-state and mulated under the concepts of scientific elections were designed to increase mass development and the promotion of a support for the Party. With this under- harmonious society advanced by President standing, the gradual ascension of elec- Hu Jintao and Premier Wen. They are an tions can be seen as a route to China’s indication of a shift in the focus of gov- democratization. However, the 2000 Tai- ernment from a one-sided pursuit of GDP wan election saw the long-term ruling onto the provision of public goods and Kuomintang Party lose power. The series services. of “color revolutions” in Eastern Europe and Central Asia resulted in the coming to The active publicity of these pro-people power of pro-Western governments. It policies is in contrast to the discourage- was under this background that the Chi- ment of the experiment on direct elections, nese leaders heightened vigilance against a prominent area of recent democratic the so-called peaceful evolution strategy development in China. Does this mean a of the West. Related to this, it is notable re-thinking of the emphasis of that the control over NGOs has tightened. local governance and a new un- derstanding of the route for Chi- This was followed by the NPC decision to “Chinese lead- na’s political development? forbid further experiments on direct ers heightened township elections with the understanding It seems that the Party believes vigilance against the so- that direct elections may threaten the Par- what is preferable are pro-people ty’s rule instead of the other way around. called peaceful policies based on maintaining fast evolution If such an analysis holds water, the deci- economic growth. As Premier strategy of the sion is still in line with the Party’s overrid- Wen recently stressed, while en- West” ing concern of strengthening its governing larging democracy, improving the capability. legal system and continuously It is worthwhile to note what has been pushing forward political structural proposed for and implemented in the reform, the attention is currently focused meantime in rural areas. In his govern- on spurring economic development, safe- ment report delivered to the NPC annual guarding the rights and interests of citi- session on March 5, 2007, Premier Wen zens, combating corruption, improving Jiabao put forward specific programs for the trust-worthiness and implementation improving the people’s livelihood such as capability of government, and promoting 19 provision of health care, social security social harmony. In order to improve the packages to all eligible citizens, and efforts provision of public goods and services, at insuring all students admitted by colleg- efforts are being made at strengthening es and universities are able to attend central power. A notable recent trend is a through scholarship programs and other revival of vertical control. Of course, to financial assistance programs run by the the Party all means are acceptable so long Ministry of Education.18 All these can be as it can prolong its grip on power, no regarded as new concrete measures for matter if its legitimacy is based on popular “Building the New Countryside” as for- active support via regular elections or pas-
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sive consent resulting from the fact that the Party can still deliver benefits.
A Strategic Choice of the Central Lea- Case Review: Direct Elec- dership tions in Shiping County, Experiments to date have proved that Honghe Prefecture China should and can introduce direct Melissa Jen elections to lower levels of government, firstly at the township level. A political For the first time in April 2004, Honghe Prefecture, an autonomous prefecture in decision should be made by the top lead- Yunnan Province, China, held direct elec- ership. Support merely by individual cen- tions for seven township magistrates in tral leaders or the central leadership’s ac- Shiping County. Party Secretary Luo quiescence of further experiments on the Chongmin initiated this unprecedented models created in the past two decades is move because he saw the need for im- not advisable. One reason, as prominent provement and reform in the following local reformer Luo Chongmin has con- areas: cluded, is that any bottom-up reforms are 1. Obligation of the local people’s con- too costly and not preferred. Luo gress – to ensure that the local people’s Chongmin, an official who has promoted congress is fulfilling their supervisory obli- comprehensive reforms in many fields, is gations well-regarded nationwide. When he was the Party Secretary of Honghe Prefecture, 2. Government transparency - Enhancing governing transparency to ensure that the Yunnan Province, Mr. Luo undertook the public knows and is able to supervise the largest scale experiment on direct town- decision-making process ship elections (planned for the whole pre- fecture and actually organized in a county). 3. Political development - Reforming the He was also responsible for the merger of institutional mechanism to promote politi- the rural and urban residence registration cal development. systems and conversions of hospital and Luo exercised four measures to ensure the media institutions into limited liability success of his reforms. He insured the companies etc. He believes that all kinds leadership of the local Party Committees, of such reforms should start at the top.20 made sure that the reform had proper legi- timacy, fully mobilized the public and (Continues on Page 10) guaranteed democratic participation, and lastly, prescribed detailed rules and proce- dures to prevent unfair competition.
The unprecedented nature of the election of the seven township magistrates in Ship- ing County, Honghe, did not occur with- out controversy. According to the Chi- nese Constitution and the Organic Law of
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Local Government, only Town’s People’s candidates, decided by majority votes, Congress deputies have the privilege of then toured each precinct in the township electing Township Magistrates. Further- to deliver speeches to the public. After more, these Town’s People’s Congress all speeches were completed, township deputies are elected by individual voters. voters then cast individual ballots to Only after the election of Congress depu- choose their candidate of choice. By the ties could Congress deputies elect the time that the head of Niujie Township – Township Magistrates - essentially on Zhang Qiang – learned that he had been behalf of the individual voters. Historical- elected as a township magistrate, he had ly, the candidates for Township Magi- made more than 10 campaign speeches strate positions were already pre- and answered over 80 questions from the determined by superior Party Commit- voters. tees, and Township Deputies could only Among all registered voters, 103,513 ac- select their candidates from this pre- tually voted, making the voter turnout an determined list. amazing 97%. When all this was com- For reformers like Party Secretary Luo pleted, the Town’s People’s congresses Chongmin, it was critical for the imple- reconvened to verify the legitimacy of the mentation of this unprecedented election elections, elected deputy magistrates, and to stay in accordance with the Constitu- announced the composition of the new tion and other applicable laws. After town/township government. careful deliberation, Luo Chongmin mas- During this experiment, villagers in un- terfully resolved this problem by requir- derdeveloped villages were paid 5 RMB ing the direct elections of township magi- each as compensation to attend the rallies strates to be moderated and supervised by where candidates delivered campaign the township people’s congress deputies. speeches. On Election Day, every village According to the electoral regulation, any set up polling sites for the voters. In individual “between 25 to 45 years old, some remote villages and busy farming possesses a high-school diploma or the fields, election committee staff carried equivalent, has the ability to manage basic portable ballot boxes to collect votes. economic and social affairs, is a legal resi- Not only did the voter turnout rate sur- dent in the township where one intends prise the county, but it also pleasantly to run, and is nominated by at least 30 surprised the prefecture governments. voters” could become a preliminary can- However, it came as no surprise that the didate for a magistrate position. The seven elected town magistrates were all complete list of preliminary candidates the originally appointed deputy town ma- totaled 66 nominated individuals. gistrates, who would have been assigned Once these candidates were determined, the magistrates’ position if not for the voter representatives, villagers' committee direct election experiment. Through the members, and members of the standing direct election experiment, the elected committee of the Township People’s candidates demonstrated their compe- Congress formed a joint committee to tence and experience, and just as impor- vote anonymously for two candidates to tantly, their knowledge of the township make the final cut. Those two final affairs and management. Not only are
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the elected magistrates responsible to the Every step of the election process was government superiors, but they have also made sure to fall in line with relevant laws received the responsibility of responding and regulations. to the villagers who elected them. The purpose of the Shiping experiment Concerning the implementation side of was not to create a standard, “one-size the election, the entire election process fits all” election model for all counties, took a total of 40 days to complete for but to demonstrate that direct election is Shiping County, with a population total applicable and effective at the county lev- of 27,000. The total cost came out to el. The scope, voter turnout, results and 190,310 RMB (~18,832 USD in 4/04). impact of the Shiping experiment are cer- The breakdown of these expenses are as tainly helpful in dealing with any skeptic- follows: 13,500 RMB for training meet- ism regarding democracy at the county ings for cadres and mobilizing voters; level. Direct elections can actually have 3,101 for election related meetings; the ability to enhance the governing ca- 33,000 for villagers’ committee funding; pacity of the CCP and improve the elec- 30,690 for old CCP member, cadres, and tion process. By placing more trust and villagers representative meetings; 2,150 responsibility in the public’s hands, and for township joint committee meetings; cultivating governing capabilities, this 6,900 for printing flyers and other docu- form of direct election is a process that ments; 11,755 for funding arts perfor- follows in line with China’s fundamental mance and other publicities; 4,756 for national political regime. ballots, ballot boxes, and identifications; 7,344 for election related travels; 20,283 for Town’s People’s Congress sessions;
3,000 for reception; 5,120 for the housing of outside election participants; 33,050 for transportation; 12,500 for awards; and 3,200 for incidental expenses. The majori- (Continued from Page 8) The other reason is ty of the expenses were funded by that the various forms of public nomina- Honghe Prefecture's Department of tion and public selection are too compli- Finance. cated in procedure. The frequent separate In efforts to maintain the legality of the elections of various positions are not only direct election experiment, the Honghe burdensome in terms of inputs in both government produced 25 circulars pre- human and material resources, but also scribing the election procedures. The may lead to the premature apathy of elec- Town’s People’s congress convened be- tions among ordinary voters. fore the election to pass resolutions for the direct elections; and reconvened after In those areas most active in promoting the election to certify the election results, local democracy, too many kinds of elec- confirm the deputy town magistrates no- tions are organized separately, including minated by elected town magistrates. elections of (1) Villagers’ Committee; (2) Village Party Branch; (3) Township Gov-
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ernment Leader; (4) Township Party Sec- procedures of elections as widely used in retary and Party Committee Members; and the world. (5) Deputies to the County and Township People’s Congresses. If all these elections The prevalent Chinese procedure of de- are conducted separately and according to ciding the candidates of township Party the electoral rules and procedures, each and government leaders includes the fol- category of elections may require more lowing steps: than one round of voting, as primaries are A) Opinion poll by the county party or- normally required. The number of elec- ganization department; tions will become a political burden on citizens, not conducive to the fostering of B) Nomination by the relevant depart- a sound electoral and political culture. ment or leaders;
An experiment has been made on com- C) Putting forward a list of primary candi- bining some categories of elections. A dates by the party organization depart- project titled “Support to ment after a survey; Township Competitive Elec- “The complicated pro- D) Decision by the county tions” that I helped to set up cedures under the ex- party standing committee was carried out in Ya’an Mu- isting relevant Party and full committee; nicipality, Sichuan Province 21 rules and local elec- from 2004 to 2006. Four E) Official nomination of toral laws and regula- townships organized direct candidates by the township tions could not be elections of the candidates party committee or PC pre- avoided” for the Party and government sidium; leaders as well as deputies to the Township People’s Congress on the F) Initiation of election procedure as pre- same day in April 2006. The experiment scribed by law. was successful in the sense of combina- By comparison, the procedure of the pub- tion of different elections and in improv- lic nomination of township party and gov- ing competitiveness. However, the com- ernment leaders is more complicated: plicated procedures under the existing relevant Party rules and local electoral A) Set up a leading group for public laws and regulations could not be avoided. nomination;
A review of the whole process of the ex- B) Publicity and training activities; periment reveals a conspicuous drawback. Procedures of the competitive elections of C) Registration of candidates; township Party and government leaders D) Screening of registered candidates by are too complicated as they have to abide county leading group; by the existing prevalent Chinese electoral rules while trying to adopt those basic E) Screening of registered candidates by county party committee;
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F) Publishing of list of registered candi- normally endorse the results of the popu- dates; lar vote. Otherwise the electorate can re- call the PC deputies. The qualification of G) Campaigning by registered candidates; candidates should be gained through a H) Vote by all eligible voters; public servant training system when the current several rounds of screening are I) Announcement of the election results; abolished. This will ensure the implemen- tation of the Party policy and state law at J) Endorsement of the election results by the lower levels of government after the the county party committee; introduction of direct elections. K) Publishing of the list of official candi- Conclusion dates; The efforts at denigrating the idea of uni- L) Initiation of the election procedure as versal values means there are forces that prescribed by law. (This means the Peo- carry political weight in the country ple’s Congress deputies vote for and the against democratization of Chinese poli- People’s Congress presidium appoints the tics. But as the Hu-Wen leadership recent- township government leaders.) ly reiterated, the move towards the rule of From the above, it is obvious that the law and democracy is endorsed in the Par- procedure of public nomination includes ty’s political platforms. Therefore the gen- all of the elements and steps of the tradi- eral direction is likely to be maintained. tional method of deciding the candidates However, facing such vocal opposition, as well as the international standards used local reformers may be more cautious in for open and competitive election. One of considering more experiments. Greater the expressed reservations at immediately challenge is placed before the central lea- introducing competitive election to the dership; there is a race between the pace township level is that the organization of of corruption and reform, which brings elections is financially too costly. However, about another race between the reform 22 the cost will be reduced if direct election and revolution. A more realistic option, is adopted as this will simplify the proce- it seems, is to design the reform for de- dure. The direct election will remove the mocratization that will make local officials possible different outcomes between the accountable to the public but will not im- popular vote and vote by People’s Con- mediately weaken central control. gress deputies. This requires a political The answer to the applicability of the in- decision at the top. It is beneficial to both cremental approach in political reform the Party and the people if decisive com- seems to be negative. As shown in the petitive election is used before the intro- case of experiments on increasing the duction of the direct election. Decisive competition in township elections, keep- competitive election means that the results ing the existing cadre appointment proce- of the popular vote will be binding or final. dures makes all kinds of experiments too The Township People’s Congress should
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complicated and the reform elements are the party-state bureaucracy and especially watered down. Indeed, different from the local governments are manifested by economic sphere, it is unthinkable to widespread corruption and internal inertia. create a new polity alongside the existing Placing them under the supervision of the one. There is only one government leader- public is necessary more than ever before. ship at any level, so incremental can only mean instilling more competition into the After two decades of competitive elec- procedure of its selection rather than ig- tions as carried out at village and township noring the existing system while creating a levels, major decisions need to be made new one. The effect, however, is ques- on the categories of elections and simpli- tionable due to the cumbersome proce- fied procedures. Mere repetition of vari- dures that test the voters’ endurance. ous previous experiments is not advisable as there are too many categories and It may be too early to claim that there has methods of elections and their procedures been a re-thinking of the bottom-up strat- are too complicated. The achievements egy of democratization. Even if it proves made to date can only be consolidated to be the case, it is actually with the momentum of consistent to China’s basic sustained development. approach to reform as set “The achievements made The consequence of no by Deng Xiaoping, which to date can only be con- progress is regression. focuses on implementing solidated with the mo- With the suspension of market-oriented economic mentum of sustained de- direct township elections reform while keeping a lid velopment” two years ago, the quality on political reform. But of the recently held Villag- three decades of fast eco- ers’ Committee elections nomic growth have been accompanied by has deteriorated. Contrary to the practice enlarging gaps between the different re- in the recent past, the Chinese media has gions and different social strata. Social currently reported little on village elec- tension has exerted pressure that tests the tions. In this sense, if competitive elec- Party’s governing ability. The pro-people tions will be permitted again as a show- policies and call for building a harmonious case, they will not serve this purpose well society have been put forward as a re- without enlarged room for manoeuvre. sponse to such social tension. If it has been proved that economic growth will Consideration should be given to officially not automatically solve social problems, it organizing the election of township Party needs to be proven that the new pro- and government leaders simultaneously people policies can be effectively imple- with that of the People’s Congress depu- mented. There has been an increasing ties. Reduction of the qualifications of consensus among Chinese officials and candidates to the minimum can be di- scholars that it is high time to introduce rected to many elements. For example, substantive and major political reform. aged above 18, literate, (if for the Party The lowering implementation capability of positions,) being a Party member. The
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primary election should be open to more Notes: voters if not require the attendance of all 1. Wen Jiabao, ‘Guanyu shehuizhuyi chuji voters. At least two kinds of “ticket sys- jieduan de lishi renwu he woguo duiwai tems” can be used. (1) The Party secretary zhengce de jige wenti’ (‘On Some Issues on and government head form a ticket; or (2) the Historical Tasks in the Primary Stage of The government head selects the deputy Socialism and China’s Foreign Policy’), in leaders. Candidates should be permitted to Xinhua Website, February 26, 2007. conduct campaigns and be supported by http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2007- volunteers. The means of the campaign 02/26/content_5775212.htm, accessed on (such as funds and use of media) should March 14, 2007. be specified in the campaign rules or regu- 2. Hu Jintao, “Zai Jinian Dang de Shiyijie lations. The assembly of Party members Sanzhongquanhui Zhaokai 30 Zhounian Da- and the People’s Congress must respect hui shang de Jianghua” (Speech at the Meet- the will of the voters and endorse the re- ing to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of sult of a popular poll. the Convening of the Third Plenum of the 11th Party Central Committee), Dec. 18, 2008. In short, more meaningful experiments See Xinhuanet, require political decisions at the top. Spo- http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2008 radic piece-meal reforms are unlikely to -12/18/content_10524481.htm contribute significantly to democratization. 3. Feng Yuzhang, “Zenyang Renshi Suowei ‘Pushi Jiazhi’” (How to Understand the So- call “Universal Values”), Sept. 10, 2008.
4. Zhangyang Dangxiao Jiaoshou: Zhenggai Mamuzheng Wudang Wuguo, Xu Gaodu Dr. Lisheng Dong is a political scien- Jingti (Professor of the Central Party School: tist at the Chinese Academy of Social Vigilence is Needed against the Syndrome of Sciences. He has authored and co- Insensitivity toward the Political Reform as It edited seven books (China’s Administra- Mis-leads the Party and State), Window of tive Reform Since 1978; A Comparative Southern Wind, Jan. 19, 2009. Study of the Central-Local Government Relations in EU Member States; Combating 5. Zhou Qiren, “Yibu Wei Wancheng de Vote-Buying in Village Committee Elec- Changquan Gaige Shi” (A History of Unfi- tions), contributed chapters to eight nished Ownership Reform), Economic Ob- books and written numerous articles. server News, Jan. 19, 2009. He received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Ant- 6. Zhang Jianjing, “Shichanghua Gaige: Cong werp (Belgium) in 1992. Nali lai, Dao Nali Qu” (Market-Oriented Reform: from where it comes and to where it goes), China Economic Times, Sept. 3, 2008.
7. Peng Zhen, “Qunzhong zizhi shi fazhan shehuizhuyi minzhu de zhongyao yi huan”
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(“Mass Autonomy is an Important Link in the http://www.chinaelections.org/NewsInfo.asp Development of Socialist democracy”), ?NewsID=101592 Speech at the Chairmanship Meeting of the Sixth NPCSC, November 23, 1987, in Peng 13. Hu Jintao. ” Report to the Seventeenth Zhen tongzhi guanyu cunmin weiyuanhui, National Congress of the Communist Party of jumin weiyuanhui de zhongyao jianghua (Im- China on Oct. 15, 2007.” Xinhua, 24 October portant Speeches of Comrade Peng Zhen on 2007.
(The Reform of the Appointment and Re- 8. Jia Xijin, “Zhongguo Canyushi Minzhu de moval of Party and Government Cadres: Pub- Xin Fazhan—Zhejiang Wenling Minzhu Ken- lic Nomination and Public Selection, Cadres tanhui Chuanxin Moshi Fenxi” (The New Compete for Positions), www.news.cn, Development in the Participatory Democracy http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008- in China—An Analysis of the Innovative 12/15/content_10508639.htm Model of Consultative Meetings in Wenling,
Zhejiang, 15. Renmin Ribao, September 25, 1998, p.1. http://www.chinaelections.org/NewsInfo.asp
?NewsID=111914, accessed on Jan. 26, 2009. 16. The decision was made by the 10th NPC
Standing Committee at its 12th Session in July 9. “Li Yuanchao Tan Mowei Taotai, ’Dang 2006. See “Quanguo xian xiang liangji renda Gangbu jiu gai you Yali’” China News Service, huanjie xuanju 2006-07-01 zhi 2007-12-31” March 30, 2002, (“Nationwide Elections during the Term http://news.china.com/zh_cn/domestic/945 Change of the People’s Congresses at the /20020330/10234423.html. Two Levels of County and Township Sche-
duled for July 1, 2006-December 31, 2007”) 10. I coordinated projects for training elector- http://npc.people.com.cn/GB/28320/62275 al staff and monitors of the Neighborberhood /, accessed on March 14, 2007. Committee elections in Guangxi Zhuang Au- tonomous Regions and Fujian Province be- 17. Sheng Huaren’s article titled “Xian xiang tween 1998 and 2004. renda huanjie mianlin xin wenti, xu jianchi
sange yuanze” (“The Term Change of the 11. Dong Jiangai, “Liangpiaozhi, Liangtui County and Township People’s Congresses Yixuan and Yijiantiao de Chuanxinxing” (On Faces New Problems and Three Major Prin- the Innovations of the Two-ballot system, ciples Must be Adhered”) was published by Two Rounds of Nominations and Election the journal Seeking Truth and immediately and Concurrencies), Socialism Studies, No. 6, made available at the website of the NPC on 2007. August 30, 2006. See 12. “Wo Suo Canjia de Renda Daibiao Zhix- http://npc.people.com.cn/GB/14554/47589 uan » (The Direct Elections of Deputies to 34.html, accessed on March 14, 2007. the People’s Congress That I Participated),
China Elections & Governance, 18. See “Shijie quanguo renda wuci huiyi Kaimuhui Wen Jiabao zuo zhengfu gongzuo
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baogao wenzi shilu” (“The Proceedings of the The Elections of Township Opening Session of the 5th Annual Meeting Magistrates in Buyun, Dapeng of the 10th NPC on Premier Wen’s Govern- ment Work Report”), and Linyi, 1998-1999 http://www.xinhuanet.com/zhibo/20070305 /wz.htm, accessed on March 14, 2007. By Yawei Liu
19. Wen Jiabao, “Guanyu shehuizhuyi chuji jieduan de lishi renwu he woguo duiwai zhengce de jige wenti” (“On Some Issues on the Historical Tasks in the Primary Stage of Socialism and China’s Foreign Policy”), in ecember 31 was the Election Xinhua Website, February 26, 2007. Day. 6,236 voters cast votes in http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2007- eleven polling stations in the 02/26/content_5775212.htm, accessed on D drizzling rain. 5,113 voters either did not March 14, 2007. come back from other places to vote or
abstained from voting. Around 5 o'clock 20. Pan Xiaoling, “Qiguan Luo Chongmin” in the afternoon, the public address sys- (An Extraordinary Official Luo Chongmin); “Zixiaershang Gai shi Gao Chengben de tem announced the election results. Tan Gaige” (The Bottom-up Reform is High Cost), Xiaoqiu got 3,130 votes (50.19%), Cai in Southern Weekend, Jan. 15, 2009, pp. 1-2. Xunhui received 1,995 votes, and Zhou Xingyi received 1,013 votes. On January 4, 21. Stig Thoergensen, Joergen Elklit and 1999, the 14th People’s Congress of Dong Lisheng, “Consultative Elections of Buyun Township passed a resolution, re- Chinese Township Leaders – report from a cognizing the electoral procedure and the recent experiment in Ya’an, Sichuan,” China election of the magistrate as valid and le- Information, Vol. XXII (1), 2008, pp. 67-89. gal.1 Tan took his oath and became the
first township magistrate directly elected 22. Zhou Qiren, “Yibu Wei Wancheng de by the voters in China.2 Changquan Gaige Shi” (A History of Unfi- nished Ownership Reform), Economic Ob- Buyun, a small town of 16,000 residents, server News, Jan. 19, 2009; He Zengke, is under the jurisdiction of the Central “Jianjing Zhengzhi Gaige yu Minzhu de City District in Suining Municipality, Si- Zhengzhi Zhuanxing” (Incremental Political Reform and Democratic Political Transforma- chuan Province. The Central City District tion), has a population of 1.37 million and en- http://www.chinainnovations.org/showNews compasses 37 townships. In 1998, reform- .html?id=713 minded district Party leaders decided to experiment with new ways of selecting leaders at the township level. It is still un- known whether the idea was an outside suggestion or came from inside the Dis- trict Party Committee. There was one re-
port suggesting that Buyun township lead-
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ers took the initiative and sought approval Directly Electing the Magistrate in Buyun from the District government.3 According Township” was broadcast on the closed- to Southern Weekend magazine, it was quite circuit public address system in the form difficult for the District Party Committee of “Circular No.100 (1998) of the Central members to give the go-ahead order since City District Government.” 6,000 letters this could easily jeopardize their political were sent out to Buyun residents who careers. Yet, regardless of the source and were working elsewhere in the country, considerations of this decision, Party lead- asking them to come back to participate in ers carried out the direct election of the the election.6 Determined to proceed with township magistrate. the election, the Committee did not seek approval from higher authorities until two District Party leaders prepared an elabo- days before the election.7 rate defense of their decision to launch a direct election. First, they claimed it was As the first to experiment with a popular mandated by the Constitution because the election of this scale, officials from the Constitution made it clear that all political District worked together with the town- power belonged to the people. Second, at ship government to establish the rules of the 15th National Congress the game. A Joint Elec- of the Party, Jiang Zemin tion Precincts Steering “To expand grassroots called on the Party to per- Committee was formed to fect electoral methods at democratization, direct handle the nomination grassroots governments election of township ma- process, supervise the and self-governing organi- gistrates will be intro- campaign, administer the zations. Commenting on duced sooner or later” election, and mediate any the motivation of taking possible disputes. The this political risk, a district Steering Committee sub- official said: ‘‘to expand grassroots demo- sequently decided not to use the haixuan cratization, direct election of township or “sea selection” method for initial nom- magistrates will be introduced sooner or ination. Instead, the Committee gave itself later. If it was successful, we could create the authority to nominate final candidates a model that others may follow. If it after a primary that would be attended by ended in failure, it could be a lesson for a selective group of electors. Political par- others to learn.”4 ties and other mass organizations could also nominate candidates. Their candi- The final decision to have a direct election dates would enter the final stage of the in Buyun was made on November 2, 1998. election automatically. Individuals could Buyun’s 10 villages had 11,349 registered nominate themselves or others but to be- voters.5 On November 27, “The Notice of
Dr. Yawei Liu is the Director of the China Program at The Carter Center. Dr. Liu has written numerous articles on China's political developments and grassroots democracy and is the editor of the China Elections and Governance Web site.
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come a formal candidate required 30 sig- wiped out. A middle-school chemistry natures of endorsement. A limited primary teacher, Zhou Xingyi, got 75 votes and would be used to whittle down the num- Villager Committee Chair Cai Yunhui re- ber of candidates. ceived 58 votes.
Tan Xiaoqiu, deputy Party secretary of Buyun and the township Party Commit- tee’s nominee got into the final round au- tomatically.
With the final candidates determined, the campaign began. Initially, the open de- bates were characterized by angry com- plaints of everything that had impacted Buyun’s life, including the exorbitant hog tax, the lack The official re- of roads, excessive fee collection, sponse to the Buyun election environmental pollution, an in- was mixed and creasing education tax, tough it is still un- family planning, and cadre cor- clear where ruption. The candidates had to China’s top endure voters who took advan- leadership tage of this opportunity to show stands on the issue [Zhang Jinming, promoter of the Buyun election] their discontent. In the latter half of the campaign, the attention of There were 15 initial candidates who came the voters shifted to whom, from very diverse social and political among the three candidates, was most backgrounds. The limited primary was qualified to lead Buyun out of poverty. conducted on December 15 to determine Tan gradually emerged as a favorite the final two candidates. The public inter- among voters because of his sincerity, est was so high that the police had to set connections, and desire to serve Buyun up a cordon to keep order. All 15 candi- and its people. dates were allowed to give a 20-minute speech and had 10 minutes to answer Aftermath questions from township officials, village The official response to the Buyun elec- leaders, village small group leaders and tion was mixed and it is still unclear where three villager representatives from each China’s top leadership stands on the issue. village, totaling 162. This elite group then The first salvo came from the Legal Daily cast ballots to determine the final two on January 15, 1999. In an editorial en- candidates. The result was a shock even to titled “Democracy Cannot Overstep the the electors themselves. The entire town- Law,” the author, Cha Qingjiu, accused ship cadre corps of five candidates was the Buyun election of violating China’s
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Constitution and declared that it was in- Strangely enough, on January 23, 1999 the correct to regard the election as a symbol Legal Daily seemingly reversed itself. In a that the Chinese people were capable of short commentary on current affairs on building socialist democracy with Chinese the second page of the paper, there ap- characteristics. He warned, however, “we peared the following passage: cannot be too critical of the Buyun elec- tion… because the election demonstrated Significant changes often take place in the sharp democratic awareness of the people countryside quietly. History has remem- and this awareness should be protected by bered Xiaogang Village that started the all means.” He also made a daring claim household responsibility system twenty that the Buyun election shows that “de- years ago. By the same token, history will mocracy is not a patented product from also remember Buyun Township for its the West.” effort to promote direct election of town- ship magistrates. Xiaogang Village was the Cha’s analysis of the Buyun elec- prelude of China’s economic reform. Will tion was not only interesting, but Buyun become a landmark of China’s po- subtly argued. Democracy could litical reform? 9 “Significant not overstep the law, he wrote, changes often because China had just underta- Most officials who spoke with Western take place in ken the great cause of the rule of journalists seemed to embrace the Buyun the country- law. While the Constitution and election. A longtime observer of political side quietly” the laws were not permanent, reform in Beijing told a Washington Post people should abide by the rule correspondent, “Did the elections exceed of law and engage in activities the rules? Maybe--but if there are no only once the Constitution and breakthroughs, there is no reform. Every- the laws are amended.8 Secondly, the cur- body recognizes that in China.” A senior rent problem with China’s democracy was Chinese official who has been involved not that there were no direct elections, but from the outset in the country’s tentative that the people never took the direct elec- experiment with democratization stated: tions at the township and county level se- “This is the high-point of 10 years of riously. He therefore recommended that democratic development.” A high-ranking the best approach to democratization was Party official said he did not think that the not to seek new paths, but to conduct Buyun election would be overturned or its people’s congress elections at all levels participants arrested: “this is reform with- according to the law, and to strictly pre- in the system; the opposition party was 10 vent any attempt to take these elections as outside the system. It is not the same.” a formality. He also emphasized that all When asked of his opinion of the consti- efforts should be made to prohibit any tutionality of the Buyun election, Chen violation or deprivation of voters’ demo- Sixi, an official from China’s National cratic rights. People’s Congress (NPC), the body which supervises all Chinese elections above the
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village level, said, “Although it [the Buyun cause there was no request made to the election] has some areas that do not com- appropriate provincial leaders for approv- pletely coincide with the current law, it al; the newly elected magistrate was the does seem to coincide with the spirit of candidate endorsed by the District organi- the regulations.” The Buyun election zation department, therefore the election brought up “a new question for discus- result was recognized; and any secret ex- sion” in lawmakers’ efforts to “adapt to periment of this nature should be strictly the common people’s demands for de- prohibited in the future.”13 mocracy.”11 On February 26, Chinese Central Television (CCTV) broadcasted Considerations and other electoral de- an extended news report praising the velopments Buyun election. The announcer com- The Buyun experience has not been fully mented that the Buyun election “is anoth- duplicated thus far and there is concern er step forward in the process of deepen- among some Chinese democracy strateg- ing rural reform” and that there was “no ists that it may be too big a leap for the need to analyze who first brought up the top leadership to condone at present. idea.” A senior official who has worked to However, in the wake of promote democracy in the the highly secretive but countryside told the Wash- “Linyi County, Shanxi widely publicized Buyun ington Post correspondent Province, decided to in- election, local officials in that the broadcast of the troduce an element of Shanxi and Guangdong Buyun election by CCTV popular choice in deter- provinces conducted two was an indication of the mining leading township experiments of elections at Chinese leaders’ endorse- the township level with 12 officials” ment of this act. official endorsement and This may be too optimistic. observation. With encou- According to a report in Singapore’s Unit- ragement from the provincial government ed Morning Daily, the decision of the cen- and assistance from Chinese scholars of tral Government in response to the Buyun elections, Linyi County, Shanxi Province, election remains “to criticize but not to decided to introduce an element of popu- overturn.” While Tan Xiaoqiu is still serv- lar choice in determining leading township ing Buyun as its first elected magistrate, officials. As a national model county in the planned rerun of the Buyun election promoting villager self-government, coun- program on CCTV was abruptly cancelled. ty leaders were fully aware of the benefits The Sichuan People’s Congress adopted a of allowing farmers to exercise their dem- 14 four-point decision on the Buyun election, ocratic rights. which was approved by the NPC. The Moreover, Linyi’s neighbor, Hequ County, four decisions were delineated as the fol- become nationally known for a unique lowing: “the election in Buyun was un- two-ballot system. Having tasted the fruit constitutional; the election violated the of direct elections of villager committees, organizational procedure of the Party be-
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villagers in Hequ began to question why removed from their current leadership village Party branch members were not positions.16 subject to the same popular scrutiny and choice. Under pressure from rural voters In early April of 1999, Zhuoli, a township and based on a successful trial in one vil- with a population of 13,271, was picked to lage, in 1992 Hequ county decided that be the pilot. Zhuoli has eight villages with when it was time for the village Party an average income of $300 per capita. Vil- branch to change term, Party members lages in Zhuoli had had four rounds of would subject themselves to an opinion villager committee elections and voters poll by all eligible voters in the village. If were believed to be well versed in political the approval rating for any Party member participation. The Party secretary, Sun fell below 50 percent, his or her candidacy Jianguo, the magistrate, Yang Yanu, and for the Party branch would be automati- the TPC chairman, Wang Zhenguo, all felt cally stripped.15 confident that they would survive the public evaluation. Yet, despite their confi- Linyi County leaders decided to apply He- dence, all three made great efforts from qu’s two-ballot system at the township April 12 to 15 to contact voters, air their level. The operation plan was that before achievements and deficiencies, and talk each township was to have its people’s about what they would do if reelected. On congress and Party congress, the three April 16, more than 1,000 representatives, leading officials of the township, the ma- who represented the township administra- gistrate, Party secretary and the chairman tion, village Party branches, villagers’ of the Standing Committee of the Town committees and villagers attended the People’s Congress (TPC), should receive a meeting to hear their work reports. The confidence vote from all eligible voters in county television station televised the the township. This procedure would be meeting and an estimated 8,000 villagers performed at the same time that voters saw the live broadcast.17 were electing TPC deputies. Officials re- ceiving an 85% or higher approval rating April 18 was the Election Day. The Zhuo- would be praised in a written notice dis- li Township election leadership committee tributed countywide, and automatically set up 17 polling stations with secret bal- granted the candidacy for the position lot booths. In addition to casting ballots they were running for. For those officials for TPC deputies, voters were given a whose approval rating fell between 60%- separate ballot to evaluate the current 70%, the county would launch an investi- township leaders according to a three-tier gation of their performance, but this scale: “confident,” “relatively confident,” would not affect their candidacy. If candi- and “not confident.” The turnout rate was dates’ approval rating dropped below 60%, unprecedented. Of the 9,445 eligible vot- they would be warned and asked to have a ers in Zhuoli, 9,240 cast ballots. All three private meeting with senior county leaders. passed the test with flying colors. Sun, the Those who had less than 50% approval Party secretary, received a 90.02 percent rating would lose their candidacy and be approval rating, Yang, the magistrate,
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88.84 percent, and Wang, the TPC chair- experiment, such as a cohesive leadership man, 88.17 percent.18 corps and less aggressive farmers. Accord- ing to Yang Chengyong, director of the Some observers called the ballot system of Section of Liaison, Shenzhen People''s injecting popular choice a failure because Congress, it would be hard for things to the officials went on to become the only get out of control in Dapeng.22 candidates for the positions they were running for. Despite the intensive publici- In January1999, the election leadership ty campaign for the three involved in the committee (ELC) of Dapeng announced poll, many voters still did not know who that all eligible voters could nominate they were and what they had accom- candidates for the position of township plished.19 However, many observers of the magistrate through a secret ballot in se- poll felt this was a breakthrough that, if venteen polling stations in the township. implemented on a wider scale, would fun- The whole nomination process lasted sev- damentally change the CCP’s personnel en days, from January 21 to 27. A total of system and make the promotion proce- 5,048 voters participated in the nomi- dure much more open and nation, a turnout rate of 97 percent. Se- transparent.20 venty-six candidates were nominated with Li Weiwen “Officials at various A few days after the Linyi receiving 3,323 votes. There levels, including the experiment, Dapeng, a town- were five other candidates National People’s Con- ship in Shenzhen, Guang- who received more than gress, have keenly ob- dong Province, conducted its 100 votes. According to the served this election” own version of the two-ballot nomination procedure, system. On the morning of those with more than 100 April 30, 1999, Li Weiwen, a 48-year old votes would enter a primary to determine government official, was unanimously the final candidates after an eligibility elected by forty-five deputies of the Da- check by the ELC. The ELC dropped one peng TPC and became the first township candidate from the pool for reasons un- magistrate elected through “people’s nom- known to outsiders. The primary was held ination” or minxuan. in a local theater with 1,068 electors, made The April 30 election, in fact, was just a up of local officials and household repre- confirmation of the result of an all-out sentatives. After hearing campaign primary that involved all eligible voters in speeches delivered by the five candidates, Dapeng.21 To a certain extent, the Dapeng the electors voted to pick the final candi- experiment was the Buyun election re- dates. Li Weiwen received 813 ballots in peated with a conservative twist. Dapeng this round. The ELC then submitted Li as has a population of 6,900 with about the final and only candidate for the posi- 23 5,300 eligible voters. Like Buyun, Dapeng tion of magistrate to the TPC. was chosen because it has a small popula- From conversations with Chinese officials tion. It also had ideal conditions for the and a few newspaper accounts, it is un-
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derstood that officials at various levels, direct challenge to the long-running tradi- including the National People’s Congress, tion of the Party making all key decisions have keenly observed this election. The on personnel changes and promotions. media was gearing for a full-scale blitz with more than nineteen domestic and Since the “Guangzhou Evening News” overseas media agencies dispatching jour- episode not a single domestic media agen- nalists to report the election.24 This at- cy reported the story again. Even the tempt was shut down when The “Guang- usually active Hong Kong media became zhou Evening News” ran a banner head- very quiet on the issue. It is important to line on April 28, declaring that the Party note Dapeng did not propose this bold committee was withdrawing from the electoral experiment on its own. Rather, it nomination process and that the two- was a pilot project for Shenzhen Munici- ballot system pality, which would produce had a strong the first popu- desire to take larly nominated the lead in magistrate. local direct “Guangzhou elections but Evening News,” did not want under attack to repeat from the Party’s what was la- Propaganda beled as un- Department, constitutional. was forced to Shenzhen make an [Dapeng Township Magistrate election. Source: Southern Metropolis Daily] officials “important must correction” on the front page the next day. have felt upset by the high drama in Editors of the News wrote that it had Buyun as it was the first municipal gov- made a mistake in the previous day’s re- ernment that had requested the NPC to porting and would like to clarify the nom- approve trial direct election of township ination procedure. The statement said that magistrates. They decided to observe the candidates were first nominated but final Law, sending the popularly nominated choice was made by the township Party and semi-directly chosen candidate to the committee and submitted to the District TPC for final election. Ji Zhilong, secre- Party committee for approval.25 This tary of the Dapeng Party committee, forced reversal clearly indicated the nerv- commented that if it was legal and good ousness of the Party at the municipal and to have farmers directly elect their com- possibly higher, levels about loosening up mittee chairs, it was only pertinent for the tight control on the nomination of them to also nominate and elect township candidates for executive positions. Both magistrates.26 the Buyun and Dapeng elections posed a
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Notes
1. This is excerpted from a paper entitled 14. Xiangzhen Luntan [Tribune on Villages and “Creeping Democracy: China’s Direct Elec- Townships], May 1999, pp. 4-6. tions at the Township and County Levels” that was presented to the 17th Conference on 15. Ibid., For the two-ballot system, see Bai Asian Studies, St. John’s University, October Gang,“Liangpiaozhi”: Zuowei Minzhu Moshi 1999. de Xuanzhe—Guanyu Shanxi Hequxian Ji- ceng Xuanju de Diaocha Baogao”[Two-Ballot 2. Ibid., Huasheng Yuebao, April 1999, Yaz- System: Choosing a Democratic Model—An hou Zhoukan , February 8-14,1999, p.26; Investigative Report of the Grassroots Elec- Lianhe Zaobao, April 11,1999; Zhongguo Shehui tion in Hequ County, Shanxi], unpublished Daokan [China Social Guide], February 1999, report, November 1998. pp. 14-19; Newsweek International , February 4,1999. 16. Zhongguo Shehui Daokan , May 1999, pp. 13- 16. 3. Huasheng Yuebao , April 1999. 17. Ibid., and Xiangzhen Luntan , May 1999, 4. The New York Times , January 26,1999 and pp.4-6. Nanfang Zhoumo, January 15,1999. 18. Ibid. 5. Yazhou Zhoukan [Asia Weekly] reported that there were 11,349 eligible voters. Li Fan, who 19. Ibid., and interview with Li Fan, Beijing, witnessed the election in Buyun, said in his August 10,1999. interview with a Singapore newspaper that 20. Xiangzhen Luntan , May 1999, p.6. there were about 7,100 voters. 21. Shenzhen Wanbao [Shenzhen Evening 6. Nanfang Zhoumo , January 15,1999. News], April 30,1999 and Nanfang Ri- 7. Interview with Dr. Tianjian Shi of Duke bao[Southern Daily], April 29,1999. University on March 5,1999. 22. Xiaocankao at http://www.ifcss.org/ftp- 8. Fazhi Ribao [Legal Daily], January15,1999. pub/org/dck/xiaocankao/9904/990429.txt For a complete translation of the Legal Daily 23. Ibid., and Yangcheng Wanbao [Guangzhou editorial see BBC Summary of World Broad- Evening News], April 28 and 29,1999. casts, February 5,1999. 24. Conversation with NPC officials, Beijing, 9. Ibid., January 23,1999. June 11,1999 and Interview with Li Fan, Au- 10. Washington Post , January 27,1999. gust 10,1999. Also see Xiaocankao [Small Ref- erence News] at http://www.ifcss.org/ftp- 11. Ibid. pub/org/dck/xiaocankao/9904/990429.txt and http://www.ifcss.org/ftp- 12. Washington Post , February 26,1999. pub/org/dck/xiaocankao/9904/990430.txt.
13. Yazhou Zhoukan , February 8-14,1999, p.26 25. Yangcheng Wanbao , April 28 and 29,1999. and Lianhe Zaobao, April 11,1999. 26. Ibid.
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The Case of Yangji: Lessons from Township-level Success
By Nadir Shams
n August 2002, Jingshan County of Hu- process and supervision of the experiment bei Province initiated a pilot experiment more effective. Ifor the direct elections of two positions in the town of Yangji: the Town Party Com- The Pre-election Process mittee Secretary and the Town Magistrate. In preparation of the historic direct elections The significance of this political experiment is on the township level, the Yangji town gov- that it marks the first successful direct town- ernment produced several articles detailing the ship election in the town of Yangji. The pur- actions regarding the implementation of the pose behind holding this election was to in- Yangji experiment. crease intra-party democracy and grassroots democracy at both the village and township At the beginning of August 2002, the Jingshan levels. County Party Committee established the “Yangji town and Village Election Leadership Three factors led to the selection of Yangji as Group” as the official group to oversee and the chosen location for the direct election ex- lead the implementation of the experiment. periment in Jingshan County. Firstly, the po- The small group consisted of current mem- litical leadership in Yangji had already been bers of the Town’s Party Committee, gov- strong and skilled prior to the election, mini- ernment, and members of the People’s Depu- mizing the possibility of unpredictable risks ty Congress. Committees under this leader- during the election. Secondly, Yangji’s popula- ship group performed the tasks of dividing tion of approximately 15,000 residents is the Yangji into 25 election districts, and register- smallest town in Jingshan County, reducing ing all eligible voters. the risk of instability among local interests. Thirdly, Yangji is located in a mountainous To inform the general public of the unprece- area with underdeveloped transportation and dented experiment in Yangji, government of- communication systems, which are characte- ficials employed methods of all kinds. Infor- ristics conducive to making the monitoring mation conferences were held, radio broad-
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casts were sent over the airwaves, posters and those who were recommended to become flyers were spread all over town, open letters candidates. Candidates for the Town Party were published, and surveys were distributed Committee Secretary position were required to the public. Additionally, to reach registered to be official members of the CCP with a high Yangji residents living elsewhere, a sizeable degree of political awareness and with the part of the campaign concentrated on moti- ability to uphold the CCP ideology. Candi- vating migrant workers to return home for the dates for the post of the Town Magistrate election. Team members attempted to con- were also required to be eligible voters and tact them through letters, phone calls, and by posses the qualifications required of a Town asking relatives and friends to help locate and Magistrate. For both positions, additional re- inform them. On August 8, 2002, Yangji town quirements were as follows: Party Committee and the town government sent out announcement letters of the upcom- 1. Eligible voter or official CCP member; ing town elections to a total of 9,469 citizens, 2. Holder of a junior college degree or higher; including all eligible voters and all party mem- 3. 50 years of age or younger for male; 48 bers. years of age or younger for a female; 4. In good health; Elections Procedure Overview 5. Working relationship with the town of Yangji; The Yangji election followed a three-step 6. Strong leadership skills. process, known as the “two recommendation – one election” (liangtui yixuan) model. The three-step process is composed of recom- mendation, nomination, and the final election. Both elections of the two positions followed this three-step process, but corresponded with separate timelines after the initial step held on August 26, 2002.
On August 26, 2002, the first step was held for both the Town Party Committee Secretary and the Town Magistrate positions. The haitui [Vote counting in Yangji] voting style allowed the entire body of eligible Eligible voters recommended their choices for voters to cast a vote. Haitui, the phrase literal- preliminary candidates by casting one vote per ly translated as “sea-recommendation” position by secret ballot. After polls closed, represents the power given to all people to the ballots were tallied on the spot, and an voice their recommendations to the govern- election official publicly announced the results. ment. 7,727 people (81.6%) out of the 9,469 people eligible to vote participated in the nomination These initial recommendation processes for process. both positions had loose requirements for
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Town Party Committee Secretary Election On September 11, 2002, 443 Yangji town vil- lager and urban representatives held an as- For the post of the Town Party Committee sembly, and chose two official candidates for Secretary, a list was compiled of eighteen pre- the post of the Town Magistrate. Wan Xiaop- liminary recommended candidates. ing received 184 votes, Chen Weizhong re- On August 29, 2002, town party members had ceived 166 votes, and Ton Qizhong only re- the chance to further pare down the list of ceived 91. Consequently, Wan Xiaoping and eighteen to create the official nomination list. Chen Weizhong were nominated as the two By voting for the recommended candidates, official candidates for the post of the Town the two candidates who garnered the most Magistrate. votes became the final nominees for the elec- tion. Out of the top eighteen, Yan Tao and On September 16, 2002, the official candi- Zhou Shubin earned the most votes. dates had a final opportunity to present their platforms to People’s Congress Less than a week later, on Sep- Deputies in the form of a th Higher-level party tember 4 , the final step of the committees no longer speech. After listening to both election process was held. Chi- speeches, the 50 People’s Con- wielded the power to nese Communist Party Deputies gress Deputies voted, and Wan officially nominate elected the Town Party Commit- Xiaoping was elected Town candidates for either tee members who directly Magistrate, beating Chen position. elected the Town Party Commit- Weizhong by a vote of 32 to 18. tee Secretary. Overall, 80 repre- sentatives voted and all 80 ballots were valid. Implications As the final part of the election process and before the balloting, both official nominees The Yangji election of 2002 marked several had an opportunity to present their ideas and definitive changes to previous election styles policy plans in a speech to the members of and efforts to democratize and to increase the Congress. Yan Tao won the position of Town transparency of the nomination process. Party Committee Secretary, defeating Zhou From this unprecedented election, higher- Shubin by a vote of 69 to 11. level party committees no longer wielded the power to officially nominate candidates for Town Magistrate Election either position. Education-level requirements for nominees were lowered, as was the age to After the recommendation step of the elec- allow more people the opportunity to become tion process for the position of Town Magi- candidates. This allowed all candidates to strate, a list of seventeen recommended can- equally gain nominations, and allowed all can- didates was compiled. Those who received didates to participate in the election contest. the most votes for the position of Town Ma- gistrate were Wan Xiaoping, Chen Weizhong, and Tong Qizhong.
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The “Color Revolution”, the Big Chill, and New Experiments
By Yawei Liu
y 2005, following the change of the Panyu District government but saw no regimes in Central Asian coun- action taken. They then invoked the Or- B tries and the Bush Administra- ganic Law and launched a petition to re- tion’s call to support democratization in call Chen Jinsheng. On August 29, a Asia, a big chill had descended upon Chi- month after the petition was filed, the na. Chinese reporters and scholars began District government claimed that the sig- to warn that the wave of the so-called natures were forged and rejected it. The “Color Revolution” would expand to villagers began a hunger strike and sur- China. An April 4, 2005 article by the rounded the villager committee office to Liaowang News Weekly, entitled “‘Color prevent any accounting records from be- Revolution’ Reveals America’s Change of ing taken away. On September 12, armed Strategy” warned that Washington was police were dispatched and high-pressure using democracy as a weapon to justify its water cannons were used to disperse the legitimacy as a global leader and that it crowd, mostly old women from the village. planned to work with Japan and South Korea to intensify the democratization On September 15, an article appeared in assault on Asia. the People’s Daily, praising the Taishi vil- lagers’ heroic efforts to recall their leader, In the summer of 2005, residents of Tai- calling it “democracy on a pile of rocks.” shi Village on the suburbs of Guangzhou This is a reference to Feng Qiusheng, initiated a recall of their villager Commit- leader of the recall effort, who read claus- tee chairman Chen Jinsheng, whom they es from the Organic Law on a pile of elected back in April. The cause of the rocks to villagers who participated in the recall was that several plots of village land recall and the blockade of the villager were graded for business development committee office. The article said that af- and most of the villagers had no clue ter the District government rejected the when the deals were struck and who ap- first petition request with 400 signatures, 5 proved them. They filed a complaint with villager representatives came back with a
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new petition that had 800 signatures. looking for a job in Guangdong. He heard When civil affairs officials went down to of the recall in Taishi and went there to the village to verify signatures, hundreds provide advice. Guo Feixiong and Yao of villagers went to the place where the Lifa were also there. It became a battle- verification was going to take place, in- ground where societal forces and govern- cluding an old woman more than 100 ment control clashed. Western reporters years old. In an earlier article in the now learned of the recall and also showed up. shut-down web site “yannan”, the author, One, a reporter from The Guardian went to who was believed to be observing the vil- Taishi in a car with Lv Banglie. They were lagers’ agitation in Taishi, called the Taishi pulled out by a bunch of people of un- recall the “Xiaogang of democratization in known identity. Lv Banglie was severely China.” This beaten. The article cited reporter filed five characte- a story of Lv ristics of the having been Taishi agita- beaten to tion. First, it death. How- was a combi- ever, this ac- nation of ob- count was eying the law, incorrect— defending Lv was badly rights and injured but protecting survived. the constitu- [Taishi villager protest] tion. Second, On Septem- it used the practice of civil disobedience. ber 18, Panyu District government held a Third, the hunger strike of limited scale briefing meeting, claiming that a small ring but unlimited time could be used in the of thugs instigated the Taishi lawful recall future as an effective weapon against an efforts. Due to the unlawful and disrup- indifference regime. Fourth, it was not tive behavior of the villagers, the govern- just the pursuit of economic rights that ment took action on September 12 to united the villagers. They were pursuing clear out the villagers who participated in their political rights that were guaranteed the sit-in outside the villager committee by the law of the nation. Fifth, the initial office. At the same briefing, an official success of the Taishi recall was due to the accused “outside organizations and finan- intersection of the small cohesive village cial corps of secretly funding the agitation. with the society at large. A satire entitled “The Bush administration is manipulating the Taishi village election” There were outsiders in Taishi. One of appeared in the famous Chinese social them was Lv Banglie, a fired people’s critique web site www.cat898.com on Sep- congress deputy from Hubei who was tember 20, 2005. Having learned of the
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Panyu official accusation that Western enemy from the West is intensifying its agents were involved in the Taishi recall, strategic scheme to westernize and divide the author said he could certainly under- China. They make a big fuss on ‘democra- stand why evil Americans chose Taishi— cy’ and ‘human rights and attempt to pe- Taishi is a village in Panyu; Panyu is a dis- netrate China through grassroots elections. trict in Guangzhou; Guangzhou is the These are new issues and new problems capital city of Guangdong; Guangdong is that are out there, unavoidable, that a province of China. Taishi is located in should not be neglected and must be han- the Pearl River Delta, a strategic location dled with the utmost attention.” He asked guarding China’s southern gate. A Dong- leaders at all levels to promote voters’ par- feng missile deployed here could hit Aus- ticipation and to prevent all outside inter- tralia; Australia is a good ally of Great ference. In Section 6 of the article, Sheng Britain; Great Britain enjoys good rela- specifically declared that no popular nom- tions with the United States. If one re- ination of candidates for town- verses the sequence, the control of Taishi ship/town magistrates would by the United States will easily lead to the be tolerated. They must be “A big chill des- American control of China. nominated by the presidium of cended and elections came the township/town people’s and went, caus- In the same month, an international con- congress or by deputies freely ing no domestic ference of lawyers was held in Beijing. associated. In the previous two excitement or Both Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao met with rounds of elections, there were international foreign participants. Both talked about areas where township/town attention” China’s determination to pursue democra- magistrates were popularly tization in China. Hu talked about four elected. Although they were democracies: democratic elections, demo- attempted as democratic experiments, cratic decision-making, democratic man- they violated the constitution and other agement and democratic supervision. Wen relevant laws. In the upcoming elections, was more specific, indicating a few years such practices should be strictly prohi- after villagers managed to run their villag- bited. es they would learn how to manage a township. The system would eventually With Sheng’s article circulated as a manda- move upward. tory order from the Central government, all innovative practices ceased. A big chill On August 30, 2006, in an article that ap- descended and elections came and went, peared in Seeking Truth, the mouthpiece of causing no domestic excitement or inter- the Party’s theory apparatus, Sheng Hua- national attention. Programming and ac- ren, secretary general of the Standing tivities by international organizations, par- Committee of the NPC, made the warning ticularly those based in the United States of the “Color Revolution” official and were unilaterally terminated by their Chi- linked it with China’s own elections. Ac- nese partners. There was the typical “wai- cording to Sheng, “Internationally, the song neijin” [loose behavior on the out-
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side and tight control from the inside] in Wen’s description of the path of China’s China. political reform seemed to be designed purely for foreign consumption. At the This was best reflected by the trip memo- 16th Party Congress, Jiang Zemin referred randum written by John Thornton after to the four democracies as part of China’s his visit to China in late October 2006. overall political reform efforts. He also Thornton reported that during a 75- said that expanding grassroots elections is minute conversation with Wen Jiabao, he fundamental to the development of social- saw the looming emergence of democracy ist democracy in China. Toward the end of Chinese characteristics. In Wen’s of the section on political reform, Jiang scheme, China’s democracy has three im- talked about maintaining social stability. portant components: “elections, judicial Five years later, at the 17th National Con- independence, and supervision based on gress of the CCP, Hu Jintao spent more checks and balances.” Thornton described time talking about how democracy should Wen’s vision as follows: be introduced but less on specifics. The most revealing paragraph is as follows: He could foresee the di- rect elections currently “In Wen’s scheme, China’s In deepening political re- held at the village level, if democracy has three im- structuring, we must keep successful, gradually mov- portant components: elec- to the correct political ing up to towns, counties, tions, judicial indepen- orientation. On the basis and even provinces. What dence, and supervision of ensuring the people's happens beyond that was based on checks and bal- position as masters of the left unsaid. As for a judi- ances” country, we will expand cial system riddled with socialist democracy, build corruption, Wen emphasized the urgent a socialist country under the rule of law need for reform in order to assure the ju- and develop socialist political civilization diciary's "dignity, justice, and indepen- to enhance the vitality of the Party and the dence." He explained that the purpose of state and arouse the initiative of the "supervision" -- a commonly used term in people. We must uphold the Party's role China that is better translated as "ensuring as the core of leadership in directing the accountability" -- is to restrain official overall situation and coordinating the ef- power: "Absolute power, without supervi- forts of all quarters, and improve its ca- sion, corrupts absolutely." Wen called for pacity for scientific, democratic and law- checks and balances within the Party itself based governance to ensure that the Party and for greater government accountability leads the people in effectively governing to the people. In his view, the media and the country. We must ensure that all pow- even the 110 million Internet users in er of the state belongs to the people, ex- China should also participate "as appro- pand the citizens' orderly participation in priate" in supervision of the government. political affairs at each level and in every field, and mobilize and organize the
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people as extensively as possible to man- A year has passed since Hu’s call for in- age state and social affairs as well as eco- novative measures to democratize the Par- nomic and cultural programs in accor- ty. How much has happened? Is the CCP dance with the law. seriously pursuing opening leadership se- lection at various levels? Hu did say more about grassroots democ- racy than Jiang Zemin but focused little Democratization has to begin from the on how China was going to move fully CCP: from the Qingxian model to the into a new phase of political reform. Guiyang experiment There is a very dire lack of vision for po- litical reform and no mention of using Qingxian is under Cangzhou City in Hebei elections to deepen such reform. There province. Since 2002, a series of gover- was a section in Hu’s report entitled nance and electoral experiments were in- “Comprehensively Carrying Forward the troduced and selectively adopted. These Great New Undertaking to Build the Party innovative measures gradually became in a Spirit of Reform and Innovation”. known as the Qingxian Model. In the According to Hu, building up the Party words of its former Party Secretary, Zhao requires intra-Party democracy and one of Chaoying, the Qingxian model is made up the methods recommended by him was to of four components: restructuring village introduce a new personnel selection sys- governance, enhancing Party leadership, tem. Hu said: expanding democracy and standardizing village governance in accordance with the Adhering to the principle that the Party is law. The current Qingxian model was, to a in charge of cadre management, we will certain extent, co-opted and remodeled to establish a scientific mechanism for select- fit the Party’s requirement. Back when the ing and appointing cadres on the basis of Qingxian experiment was first noticed by democracy, openness, competition and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, it was largely merit. We will standardize the cadre nom- seen as a way to resolve the growing ten- ination system, perfect the cadre assess- sion between the villager committee and ment system in accordance with the re- the Party branch at the village level. Zhao quirements of the Scientific Outlook on Chaoying once summarized what he was Development and a correct view on eva- trying to do as “let the Party be in charge luating cadres' performances, and improve of big issues and let the villager committee the procedures for open selection, compe- be responsible for concrete things”. tition for positions and multi-candidate When asked to define “big issues” and election. We will expand democracy in the “concrete things”, Zhao said, “big issues” work related to cadres and make demo- referred to recruiting members and mem- cratic recommendation and assessment ber education and “concrete things” were more scientific and authentic. We must related to village governance. Zhao’s enforce stricter oversight over the whole scheme of sidelining the Party at the vil- process of selecting and appointing cadres. lage level was quickly seen by the officials
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from the organization apparatus and they its usefulness in actual governance. They began to put tremendous pressure on him. believe the Party will never surrender its decision-making supremacy through chair- If one peels away all the rhetoric regarding ing the VRA. However, Cao Yesong from the Qingxian model and looks at its core, the Central Party School sees unlimited it is easy to see it is indeed a bold effort to significance to the Qingxian Model. There subject the Party to some sort of checks are 345 villages in Qingxian and more and balances in a way that will not offend than 600,000 villages in China. Cao feels if the Party. What Zhao Chaoying was trying this model could be applied to all villages to do was to restructure the Party branch- there will be a vast system of accountabili- villager committee relationship through ty in place. If the system is to be applied at adding a villager representative higher levels, it may lead to a new kind of assembly (VRA). The VRA is democracy in China. The Qingxian model not a new development in Chi- began long before the 17th Party Congress “It is indeed a na’s countryside. What is new but it does fit into Hu’s framework of in- bold effort to subject the Par- in Qingxian is that the incum- tra-Party democratization at the local level. ty to some sort bent Party branch secretary of checks and runs for the speaker position of On May 28, 2008, the Party Committee of balances in a the VRA as well as the chair- Guiyang Municipality made the decision way that will person of the villager commit- to introduce a new method to “appoint” not offend the tee. If the Party secretary loses the next Party secretaries for four county Party” in the race, he or she will have level positions: Xiaohe District, Huaxi to resign and a new Party District, Xifeng County and Xiuwen branch election will be held. To County. On July 23, all four positions many scholars, the Qingxian model, if im- were filled after a very elaborate process, plemented nationwide, could possibly re- fascinating those who have been waiting solve the Party branch-villager committee for China to launch its political reform. Li tension and turn village governance into Jun, Guiyang Party boss, said at the end of something truly participatory and demo- the Guiyang pilot that what happened in cratic. Others question the legality of the Guiyang was only a small test. Bigger and VRA since the Organic Law did not make more difficult exams lie ahead. He it a legal entity at the village level. Zhao thanked the 81 candidates who tried to Chaoying himself also said there were win the four open offices and particularly three seemingly insurmountable chal- commended the four final candidates who lenges to the Qingxian model First, there lost to their opponents during the last is no legal foundation for the VRA chair- procedure, a vote among 48 members of manship. Second, there are not clearly de- the Municipal Party Committee. During fined VRA member electoral procedures his June 30 mobilization speech, Li Jun and their responsibilities. Third, there will mentioned the Tian Fengshan and Han- be inevitable conflict between Qingxian guizhi case in Heilongjiang. He said of regulations and national laws. Many doubt several hundred government officials in-
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volved in the case, none was chosen write a governance report in two days and through open, transparent and competi- submit to the “Gongtui Jinggang Leader- tive procedures. “To let power operate ship Commission” for evaluation. Each under the sunshine is effective in prevent- report would receive a score to be added ing the abuse of and mistaken use of to the total points. On Jul 14, all 20 candi- power.” dates faced a 9-member panel and the same group of electors to defend their The Guiyang experiment was called governance reports. To avoid any poten- “gongtui jinggang”, or open nomination tial conflict of interest, all nine members and competitive selection. After the deci- came from outside Guiyang. One of the sion to open the process, a total of 82 members was from the Organization De- candidates meeting the initial require- partment of the CCP Central Committee. ments (a candidate must be at the rank of The defense was televised and transmitted deputy county magistrate or deputy Party live through the Guiyang television net- secretary position) were nominated or work and the Internet. Following their self-nominated. An initial presentation, the electors screening disqualified one would vote again (a proce- “To let power operate candidate. The second pro- dure that was not made under the sunshine is cedure was to trim 81 candi- clear by media reports). effective in preventing dates to 5 per county the abuse of and mista- through a small scale prima- On July 15, all candidates ken use of power” ry. There were 275 electors. took a leadership capability Except 19 that were ordinary test on the computer. There Party members, the rest were were 25 multiple-choice all are movers and shakers in the Guiyang questions designed by the CCP Organiza- officialdom: leading officials from the tion Committee. The weight for the five municipal Party Committee, municipal procedures was determined to be 2:2:2:3:1 government, municipal people’s congress respectively. Based on the final scoring, and municipal political consultative confe- the top two vote getters for each position rence and delegates to the national and became the final candidates and the other provincial Party congresses. It is not clear three were dropped from the roster. On how these electors got to know candidates July 23, the final eight candidates each de- or if they were told to vote for a particular livered a campaign speech to 48 members set of candidates. After the votes were of the Municipal Party Committees. Al- processed, the pool was trimmed to 20 though the point difference between the candidates. final two candidates for each position was The third phase was known as “getting to quite small, the vote outcome in four rac- know the place.” Each candidate was as- es was shockingly lopsided (Xiaohe: 39:9; signed a district and county and went to Huaxi: 42:6; Xiuwen: 46:2 and Xifeng: talk to the officials working in that district 47:1). It is hard to believe that the two or county for three days. They would then candidates were so far apart from each
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other but we are not certain if this out- come is the result of the Organization Translation: Department officials manipulating the Four Methods of “Open voters. Nomination and Direct Election”
By Zhang Changjiang and Huang Yongle The Guiyang experiment triggered a flurry Translated by Sean Ding of media reports in China and in Guiyang, a winner told the reporter from Liaowang, the new greeting in Guiyang is “Have you studied today?” This is a reference to the he Open Nomination and Direct fact that if one does not have enough Election (ONDE) of basic level knowledge there is no way for him or her Party cadres is a more democratic to win in the race to be promoted. The T approach to the traditional way of select- same winner also said, “We have made ing cadres. It is an attempt at implement- our pledges in front of a big audience ing democratic governance by changing through television. We will be scolded if the rule of cadre selection from “individu- we do not deliver.” Study Times, a publica- al centered” to “team centered”. The di- tion of the Central Party School, ran an rect election of basic level Party leadership article entitled “A political science inter- teams is beneficial to the integrity, accoun- pretation of open nomination and open tability, and efficiency of basic-level Party election”. According to the author, similar organizations; however, the effectiveness elections were also conducted in Nanjing and impact of the elections is subject to but the open positions were for the gov- the choice of different electoral proce- ernment, not for the Party. Both the dures. This analysis constitutes an effort Nanjing model and the Guiyang model to assess the effectiveness of ONDE by reflect the supremacy of the CCP in lea- discussing the pros and cons of the differ- dership and governing in that the final ent methods used by Party leadership procedure is the vote by the members of teams at the township level. the municipal Party committee. This ap- proach does not contradict the current The first method is “bottom-up election”. ironclad arrangement of the Party making It means selecting the members of the all personnel decisions, but creates a huge Party committee, then the secretary and space for meaningful democracy within the deputy secretary. This method is ap- the party to flourish. Although the Party propriate when most of the candidates are controls the entirety of the procedures, it from the same town or township. cannot dictate and manipulate the final outcome. This is what democracy is all According to Article 29 of the Party Con- about. It transforms rule by men into rule stitution, the basic level Party committees by procedures. shall be elected directly by the Party members during the Party convention, but whether the secretary and deputy secretary can be directly elected is not specified.
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Nonetheless, conducting bottom-up elec- The second method is “top-down elec- tions is not against the Party Constitution tion”—the secretary and deputy secretary and the Provisional Regulations on the will be elected before the Party Commit- Grass-Roots Election, because both in- tee election. This method is applicable struments allow nominating and selecting when the candidates have diverse back- the secretary and deputy secretary from grounds and come from different places. the directly elected Party Committee As an innovative attempt, the procedures members. This method has given the Par- of this method entail the following steps: ty members the right to vote directly for the secretary and deputy secretary, and is a First, during the Party convention, candi- breakthrough from the traditional ap- dates for the secretary and deputy secre- proach in which only committee members tary deliver speeches and engage in de- have the votes. bates, while candidates for the Party Committee only make self in- However, some problems that deserve troductions; second, 1 Party sec- attention have emerged from such an ap- retary, 2-3 deputy secretaries proach. First, many out-of-town candi- and 5 Party Committee mem- The original article dates only want to participate in the race bers will be directly elected in titled “Gongtui Zhix- for the secretary and deputy secretary. In the Party convention. The dro- uan de Sizhong Fang- the event that they were elected Party pouts can either withdraw from shi”, was published Committee members but later failed to the election, or participate in the on Study Times (Xu- exi Shibao) on Janu- win the election for the secretary and next level of election (Party ary 19, 2009. To deputy secretary, these candidates may not Committee election). In this read the article in necessarily choose to work in the town in case, if the dropouts choose to Chinese, please go which they ran for office. As a result, it is participate in the next round of to: difficult to hold them accountable for the elections, the competitiveness of http://www.xuanju. Party Committee seats they occupy. the Party Committee election org/NewsInfo.asp? will increase. NewsID=141747 Another problem is that since the candi- dates for the secretary and deputy secre- The “top-down” approach also tary are nominated simultaneously with has a number of disadvantages. the Party Committee members and con- One major problem is that it lacks a firmed before the election, if some of the strong theoretical basis. From an institu- candidates lose the Committee election, tional design perspective, because the Par- there will be no competition and even not ty Committee election is held after the enough candidates in the election for the secretarial race, candidates for the secre- secretary and deputy secretary. Therefore, tary and deputy secretary will become de from the perspective of procedural design, facto Party Committee members. While the “bottom-up” elections have some in- this is acceptable in the routine appoint- herent flaws and need to be put in prac- ment of Party secretaries, it is improper to tice and subjected to more testing. do so in an election. From both theoreti- cal and practical standpoints, if Party
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Committee elections were held before the township mayor, deputy Party secretary, race for the secretary and deputy secretary, deputy mayor and People’s Congress it is by all means possible that a potential chairman. For instance, in a 9-person lea- secretarial candidate may lose the Party dership team, the cross-branch appoint- Committee election and thus lose his or ment would be: 1 Party secretary who also her candidacy for the secretary or deputy serves as mayor; 3 deputy Party secretaries, secretary. with one in charge of Party affairs and the other two holding the concurrent posi- Moreover, the “top-down” method would tions of secretary of Discipline Inspection create uncertainties for the appointment Commission and deputy mayor; 5 Party of lower-level Party cadres, because when Committee members, with one serving out-of-town candidates lose their election concurrently as People’s Congress chair- for Secretary, it is possible that they will man, and the other 4 as deputy mayors withdraw entirely and not participate in each in charge of Party organization, pub- the next round of elections. licity and the People’s Armed Forces. One The third method is “cross-branch elec- or two more deputy posts may be added if tion”. This method entails the coordinated a township has an advanced economy, a election and cross branch appointment of relatively large population, or a broad the three branches (township Party com- geographic span. mittee, township government, township Cross-branch elections are conducted by People’s Congress). It is applicable when nominating, inspecting and confirming the there is an oversized bureaucracy and candidates for the leadership positions for complex relationships between the Party the three branches at the same time. Con- th and the government. The 4 Plenary of ventions will then be held. First, township th the 16 Party Congress made the decision Party Committee leaders will be elected at that “the scope of appointing Party and the Party convention. Second, the town- governmental leadership members on a ship People’s Congress will be convened, cross-branch basis shall be broadened in where a single-candidate election for order to reduce the number of leaders”, township mayor will be held, with the thus providing the cross-branch approach newly elected Party secretary as the sole sufficient policy support. candidate. The three deputy Party secreta- With regards to the number of the leaders ries elected at the Party convention will in the three branches, a total of 9-11 is also participate in the People’s Congress considered appropriate: 9 for townships election, where two of them will be with a population of less than 40,000 and elected deputy mayor and chairman of the 11 for those with a population of more township People’s Congress. Lastly, 3-5 than 40,000. Posts within the three deputy mayors will be elected from the branches should include Party secretary, rest of the newly elected Party Committee members.
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If the responsibilities of the three branches are not clear and their duties overlap, the leadership teams will become INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES vulnerable to “buck passing” and the me- The Carter Center is committed to waging thod of “cross-branch election” may lead peace, building hope, and fighting disease, to the Party replacing the government (yi- and interns have the opportunity to work dang daizheng). for Carter Center programs that contribute to this mission. Carter Center interns make The forth method is “secretary-forms-a- vital contributions to the Center's work. In cabinet”, meaning that a directly elected turn, The Carter Center provides a subs- township Party secretary will nominate a tantive learning experience that serves as a basis for interns to explore their career cabinet after assuming office. The institu- options and to develop professional skills. tional design in some townships has given Internships are offered during three ses- the secretary elect the right to nominate sions per year to undergraduate juniors candidates for the township Party and and seniors, graduate students, and recent government leaders. Such experiments are graduates (graduated in the past 24 months). unprecedented and have attracted signifi- cant attention. Although this method is The China Program prefers individuals capable of reducing internal friction and with a background or coursework in inter- national relations, political science, or oth- clarifies responsibility and supervision, er related fields. Applicants should com- several trends need to be prevented. The municate well in Mandarin Chinese and be political and organizational procedures of current in Chinese affairs and U.S.-China the cabinet nomination must be carefully relations. Interns should be skilled con- studied in order to avoid the dilemma of versationalists and researchers, with basic technological proficiency (such as Web the Party organization losing control and page creation, PowerPoint and Excel), democracy becoming a mere formality. capable of working independently. Dedi- Second, to some extent, nominating a cab- cation to the program's objective is man- inet is not a development in democracy datory. but rather a step towards further centrali- Interns will perform a variety of tasks, zation, because the Party secretary has the including administrative assistance, docu- right to nominate all deputy positions. ment translation into Chinese and English, Third, this method creates problems for monitoring media for political develop- ments in China, and delving into Chinese the supervision of the top leader, one of reports. the main obstacles in the cadre system reform. If the deputy secretaries and To learn more about the Carter Center internship program, visit us online at mayors are all nominated by the Party sec- http://www.cartercenter.org/involved/int retary, to whom they are directly respon- ernship/index.html sible, it is difficult for the same-level over- sight within the leadership teams and may lead to unchecked and unsupervised pow- er.
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