Understanding China's Political System

Opaque and shrouded in secrecy, Chinas political system and decision-making processes are mysteries to many Westerners. At one level, China is a one-party state that has been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party CCP since 1949. But rather than being rigidly hierarchical and authoritarian, political power in China now is diffuse, complex, and at times highly competitive. Despite its grip on power, the Party and its senior leaders the Politburo and its Standing Committee are not always able to dictate policy decisions as they once did. Instead, present-day Chinas political process is infused with other political actors that influence and sometimes determine policy. Three other main actors co-exist with the Party at the top of Chinas political system. Chief among these is the muscular state government bureaucracy, whose structures closely parallel the Partys throughout China, operating in a largely separate but interlocking way to implement and administer state business. Another key institution is the Peoples Liberation Army, operating again largely separately and with a tenuous distinction between civilian, military, and Party leadership. Completing the top political institutions is the National Peoples Congress, constitutionally the highest organ of state power, but in practice the weakest of the top political institutions. Other political actors in China include provincial and local officials a growing body of official and quasi-official policy research groups and think tanks that feed proposals into the policy process a collection of state sector, multinational, and even private business interests exerting pressure on policy decisions a vigorous academic and university community a diverse media that informs public opinion and an increasingly vocal and better-informed citizenry that are demanding more transparency and accountability from government. Personal affiliations also can play a significant role in political decisions.