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Concept
Democracy in China
Summary
The debate over democracy in China has been a major ideological battleground in Chinese politics since the 19th century. China is not a liberal democracy. The Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) state that China is democratic nonetheless. Many foreign and some domestic observers categorize China as an authoritarian one-party state, with some saying it has shifted to neoauthoritarianism. Some characterize it as a dictatorship.
The Constitution of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the CCP constitution state that its form of government is "people's democratic dictatorship". The Constitution also holds that China is a one-party state that is governed by the CCP. This gives the CCP a total monopoly of political power which it frequently exercises. All political opposition is illegal. Currently there are eight political parties in China other than the CCP that are legal, but all have to accept CCP primacy to exist. The CCP says that China is a "socialist democracy" and, under Xi Jinping, a "whole-process people's democracy," in which the CCP is the central authority and acts in the interest of the people.
China is considered internationally to be amongst the least democratic countries in the world. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion are all severely restricted by the government. The general Chinese public has virtually no say on how the top leaders of the country are elected. Censorship is widespread and dissent is harshly punished in the country.
The first introduction of the concept of modern democracy into China is credited to exiled Chinese writer Liang Qichao. In 1895, he participated in protests in Beijing for increased popular participation during the late Qing dynasty, the last ruling dynasty of China. It was the first of its kind in modern Chinese history. After escaping to Japan following the government's clampdown on anti-Qing protesters, Liang Qichao translated and commented on the works of Hobbes, Rousseau, Locke, Hume, Bentham and many other western political philosophers.
Official source
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