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Local Elections in China LOCAL ELECTIONS IN CHINA OSCAR ALMÉN På trods af et velkonsolideret etpartisystem har Kina gennem længere tid haft valg til ledende poster på lokalt niveau. Oscar Almén analyserer i denne artikel valgenes funk- tion. Han konkluderer, at valgene på den ene side bruges kontrolleret og bevidst til at løse praktiske problemer i samfundet, men at det centrale styre på den anden side ikke har fuld kontrol med processen, og at fremtiden for valg i Kina derfor er åben. Although elections in authoritarian states have a dif- tions, yet none of them have used their political ferent meaning from elections in democracies, they powers to introduce democratic reforms. So far, the nonetheless have important political functions. They new generation of leaders has not shown any signs serve as a means of communicating with and educat- of deviating from this political strategy. Instead, ing the ‘masses’, creating a feeling of participation in elections have been used to strengthen domestic as governmental affairs, and enhancing the legitimacy well as international legitimacy of the regime, creat- of the regime (Hermet 1978: 13). Furthermore, elec- ing stability in the rural areas by getting rid of some tions provide a lens through which it is possible to corrupt and incompetent local cadres, and solving analyse governments.1 local administrative problems. Hence the intention of the leaders has seldom Since 1979, the Chinese regime has step by step been to expand elections and promote democracy expanded the system of local elections to the extent as a value in itself, but to use elections as a way to that today, at least in some areas, elections are con- attain other means. Yet, by institutionalising elec- tested and increasingly meaningful. tions, the regime might be unintentionally facilitat- Though there have probably been leaders within ing more dramatic political change. the reformist camp who genuinely believe in demo- cracy as a value, the mainstream of the party lead- Scholars within the fi eld of historical institutionalism ership have promoted the election reforms because have argued that previously latent institutions can they have been instrumental in solving other social become salient as a result of changes in the socio-eco- and political problems. Deng Xiaoping fi rst used nomic or political context, of new actors coming into local people’s congress elections as a way to balance play, or through exogenous changes that changes the power of local party committees, but had to roll the strategies of actors within existing institutions back parts of the reform when the elections resulted (Thelen and Steinmo 1992:16-17). The socio-political in open debates about the political system. Leaders development that China has undergone during the within the National People’s Congress system have past 25 years has changed the roles of elections as promoted elections as a way to expand their own well as the roles of the elected assemblies. By institu- power base. Jiang Zemin, Li Peng and Zhu Rongji tionalising and legitimising the electoral mechanism have all offi cially endorsed the system of local elec- and providing a platform for civil society to emerge, 44 POLITOLOGISKE STUDIER ÅRGANG 6 NR. 2 SEPTEMBER 2003 45 LOCAL ELECTIONS IN CHINA Oscar Almén er ph.d.-studerende ved Department for Peace and Development Studies, Göteborg University. local elections can, like in the case of Taiwan, facili- E-mail: [email protected]. tate change towards democracy (Chao and Myers 2000; Tian 1997: 141). At district and county level as well as in towns and townships the citizens in direct elections elect people’s The political changes, which congresses. In villages, the villagers elect villagers have already taken place in the committees and in some urban communities, the residents can now elect residents committees. form of local elections, have One difference between these assemblies, which created a situation which could is important to note, is the one between the election make a transformation towards of decision- making body and of executive body. The people’s congress system is the legislative system in a more democratic political China. Local people’s congresses at county level and “system smoother than had they below have no legislative authority but they are the not taken place. still the highest legal decision-making authorities. In contrast, both villagers committees and residents com- mittees have executive functions. As will be described Elections do not in themselves constitute democracy, below, experiments of the direct election of executive but they are a necessary part of democracy, neither power in townships have been tried in some areas. are elections in themselves a cause for democracy, but they can, together with other factors, facilitate Village Elections a change towards democracy. This article does not Since the late 1980’s, a system of electing the executive argue that China is heading towards democracy authority at village level has been institutionalised (although it might) since the factors affecting the and spread all over China. The elections have come future of China are many and complex which makes about as a response to the threatening instability in it impossible to make such predictions. The article the countryside. In some areas, the villages have had does, however, argue that the political changes several rounds of competitive elections, while in other which have already taken place, in the form of areas the elections have just started and in many places local elections, have created a situation which could the elections are still constrained and non-democratic. make a transformation towards a more democratic The central authorities promote the village elections political system smoother than had they not taken but meet resistance from local authorities who see place. In any case, many obstacles would have to be their power being undermined. In several of the overcome for such a transformation to take place. villages where local authorities have not interfered, For the Chinese regime, the instrumental benefits of the election system has enabled villagers to get rid of local elections have to be balanced against the risk corrupt, incompetent and unpopular village heads. of elections leading to undesirable political change In the early 1980’s, China embarked on reform- thatcould threaten the political power monopoly of ing its agricultural sector. The collective system of the Communist Party. communes and brigades was abolished and replaced In order to sort out of the system of local elections by township governments and villages. Through in China, a few words on the administrative system the new household responsibility system farmers are in place. In general, larger cities are divided were allowed to farm their own plots and decide into either urban districts or rural counties. Urban themselves what to do with the surplus. The house- districts are in turn divided into street offices, which hold responsibility system fundamentally changed are the lowest level of the state administration in the relationship between state and society in the urban areas. Below these are the communities or countryside and created an authority vacuum at neighbourhoods. At this level resident committees the village level. In the previous collective system, are formed which are grass root units and not a the local authorities collected all that was produced formal part of the state administration. In rural and then divided between villagers. The authori- areas, counties are divided into the lowest level of ties controlled the resources and the farmers were state administration, namely towns or townships, dependent on the authorities. In the new system, the and below these are the villages. farmers are basically left to themselves. The authori- 46 POLITOLOGISKE STUDIER ÅRGANG 6 NR. 2 SEPTEMBER 2003 47 LOCAL ELECTIONS IN CHINA ties still collect tax but do not give many tangible state administration. Township or county govern- resources back to the farmers. This situation changed ments are allowed to offer support and advice but the relationship between the farmers and the state they are not supposed to interfere in issues that are from one where the state was the provider and the considered to be within the scope of the village self- employer, both giving and taking resources, to one government. However, similarly to the constitution, were the state is only taking. The farmers became the village election law also includes the principle of less dependent on the state and more assertive in the leading role of the party, which in practice means demanding their rights since they knew how much that the party secretary has the ultimate authority in they gave away to the state. important political matters. Contradictions between the elected village head and the appointed party In some villages a system of village councils ap- secretary has proven to be one of the main problems peared in order to handle the common affairs of of the village self-administration system. the village. The central government did not give this development much attention in the beginning, although villagers committees (cunmin weiyuanhui) Some saw the elections as a are mentioned in the constitution of 1982 as the administrative organ at village level that should be beginning to the democratisation elected by the villagers in public elections. After a of China while others were scep- while the need for a new administrative system at tics and saw it as purely symbolic the grass root level became all the more apparent and the ministry of civil affairs started the work of devel- gestures by the regime. Neverthe- oping a suitable form of governance for villages. In less, the reform has been sup- 1987, the National People’s Congress approved ‘The “ported morally and financially by Organisation Law on Villagers Committees’. The law was a way to spread the system of village elections the EU, and bilaterally through throughout China.
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