All you need to know
China
AP Comparative Gov’t
Unit 1—Why China?
Comparison between the different
outcomes in China and Russia
Comparison between China and other
third world
Why does China have such great unity in
the midst of so many nationalities and
languages—although 90% of pop is Han
Chinese there are several different groups
in the border areas.
Unit 2—Sovereignty, Authority, and Power
Chinese royal families ruled in several
different dynasties influenced by the
rulings of Confucianism.
Southern China, called Manchuria, was
invaded by the Japanese during the 1930s
before WWII.
Soviet forces came down during the WWII
to help the Chinese fight the Japanese.
After the World War the political leaders
were seen as catering to the US and
favoring the rich.
Chinese Civil War ended with the Long
March, Mao Zedong and the CCP
ascending to power, and Chiang Kai-shek
leader of the Kuomintang (KMT)
nationalist government fleeing to Taiwan.
Mao’s campaigns
Great Leap Forward—used five year plans
focus on industrialization and
modernization
Hundred Flowers Campaign—brief
relaxation of control over dissent
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution—
ideological battle against anyone seen as
having bourgeoisie or capitalistic leanings
Before Mao’s death the “Sino Soviet split”
occurred mainly over the Soviets
unwillingness to help China’s nuclear
development.
After Mao’s death there was a brief time of
rule by the “Gang of Four” and then Deng
Xiaoping which lead to economic change
including allowing foreign investments,
privatizing industry, and relaxing some of
the political controls
Legitimacy
Legitimacy during imperial times came
from the Confucian order and a “mandate
from heaven”
Legitimacy under Mao came through
egalitarianism (striving for equality) and
the mass line
Legitimacy now rests on the success of
the economy and promises of new
opportunites.
Unit 3—Political Institutions
 Democratic Centralism is a key concept. Interest
Articulation is only allowed at the top.
 Party and State offices are parallel and
hierarchical.
 Often times the same person can hold the
parallel positions in both state and party.
 People earn their positions through the
nomenklatura system.
 Even though both state and party positions exist
the party is always dominant.
Political Institutions
The top legislative body constitutionally is
the National People’s Congress (NPC)
with nearly 3,000 members that meets just
for a few weeks each year.
The Central Committee meets every
couple of months to make decisions.
The Standing Committee and the State
Council function each day to run the
country
Political Institutions
 The State Council resembles a parliamentary
cabinet.
 The head of the State Council is the Premier (or
PM) who is the head of government.
 The President is the head of state and has little
constitutional power.
 These executives are elected for five-year terms
by the NPC after being nominated by the
National Party Congress.
 Parallel to the People’s Congress is the Party Congress.
 Above the Party Congress is the Politburo which (like in
the USSR) is the most important policymaking
organization in China.
 The Politburo members all have jobs as heads of local
party operations or overseeing the bureaucracy as part
of the Secretariat.
 The Standing Committee of the Politburo includes the
president, the prime minister, and their closest
associates.
 The head of the Politburo is the General Secretary who
has conveniently also been the President for several
years.
Hierarchical and Parallel
President
and Premier
Standing
Committee
State Council
Central Committee
National People’s Congress
Secretary
General
Standing
Committee
Politiburo
Central Committee
National Party Congress
Political Institutions
 The peak of the bureaucracy is the government
ministers in the State Council and the Prime
Minister
 The offices of the government administration are
paralleled by the party bureaucracy headed by
the Secretariat.
 Allowed highly centralized local ministries find
ways to adapt national policies to local problems
 The PLA is China’s military and has oftentimes
been the arms of the party
Political Institutions
 The judiciary in China is a hierarchy of Peoples’
Courts that handle criminal cases with the
Supreme People’s Court at the top.
 The Supreme Peoples’ Procuratorate’s job is to
investigate cases of suspected illegal activity, to
prosecute cases where crime is found, and to
defend the rights of those brought to trial.
 Some resemblance of a rule of law has been
found in China recently, most likely because of
the demands of foreign investors and the World
Trade Organization.
Political Institutions
The Sub-national government work as part
of the national government
They are the local people’s congresses
and the party congresses.
They implement national policies and
select delegates for the congresses up a
level and the local administrations from the
nomenklatura lists.
Unit 4—Citizens, Society, and the State
90% of the population is ethnically Han
Chinese
Each area has its own dialect which can
cause disunity
Cleavages are (illiterate) rural (75% of
pop) vs. (educated) urban and old vs.
young
Only about 5% of the population is part of
the CCP
Political Participation
 Officially accepted forms of political participation
include letter writing to public officials, telephone
hotlines to report abuses, letters to newspaper
editors, and voting at elections for village
committees.
 Unacceptable forms of political participation
include strikes, marches, and other forms of
protests.
 The Democracy movement, Tiananmen Square
massacre and the Falun Gong are examples of
movements that are unacceptable.
Censorship
 Even today, the party monitors teachers and
students
 Print and broadcast media are tightly controlled
by the CCP
 The gov’t, the party, and the PLA publish
national and regional newspapers.
 Websites and discussion groups are monitored
and censored; e-mails are often eavesdropped;
and government firewalls sit between Chinese
networks and the global Internet.
 Violators serve long prison terms as a deterrent
for others.
Unit 5—Political and Economic Change
Transitions are slow, but peaceful and
fairly smooth
Political Change has been stifled
Economic Change is directed by the Party
and the government
Government still controls most of the
banking sector
FDI have moved in and made some
market sectors the fastest growing in the
world
Unit 6—Public Policy
Policy is top-down with the use of the
mass line.
Policy is made by the elite within the party
(although local units are able to use
national policies to meet their needs)
Economic Policies and making China a
world power are at the top of the agenda
Points to think about!
How do you see democratization in
China?
How do you see globalization in China?
China AP Questions
Multiple Choice
Which of the following is an achievement
of the Maoist period that has been
overturned by economic reforms in China?
A) Guaranteed employment
B) Extensive female employment
C) Effective environmental policies
D) Competitive educational opportunities
E) State subsidies for defense industries
Which of the following is true about
economic policy in Communist China
today?
A) all decisions are made by a central planning
organization
B) There is a safety net in China for those who
are unemployed
C) The state employs more citizens than the
private sector
D) Private entrepreneurship is banned
E) China has close to a market economy today.
China’s official legislature is the
A) National People’s Congress
B) Politburo
C) People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
D) Secretariat
E) village officials
All of the following are forms of legitimate
political participation in China EXCEPT
A) calling the government hotline
B) voting in a village election
C) strike
D) writing an editorial
E) contacting a public official