Elections in The People's Republic of China - Party Control

Party Control

Although there is no legal requirement for either membership in or approval by the Communist Party of China, in practice the membership of the higher people's congresses are determined by the Party. It is possible for a dedicated person to campaign for and be elected at the lowest level of people's congresses, and this occurs from time to time. However because of the series of indirect elections between the local people's congress and the NPC, it is practically impossible for a person to be elected to provincial or national people's congresses against the wishes of the Communist Party.

There are a small number of independent candidates for people's congress, particularly in neighborhoods of major cities, who sometimes campaign using weibos posted on the internet. Independent candidates are strongly discouraged and face government intervention in their campaigns.

Elected leaders, however, remain subordinate to the corresponding CCP secretary, and most are appointed by higher-level party organizations. Although China's constitution guarantees suffrage for citizens age 18 and older, the CCP maintains a close watch on electoral democracy at the grassroots levels and controls the outcome of elections at other levels.

Furthermore, while legally responsible for the oversight of the administration, it is difficult for a person in a people's congress without party support to exercise effective control or power over the administration of the executive at a given level.

Officially, the People's Republic of China is a multi-party socialist state under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. In practice, the power of parties other than the Communist Party of China is severely limited due to the personnel structure outlined above. Because none of the minor parties have independent bases of support and rely on Communist Party approval for appointment to positions of power, none have the capacity to serve as a true opposition party. In order to represent different segments of the population and bring in technical expertise, the CCP does ensure that a significant minority of people's congress delegates either minor party or non-party delegates, and there is some tolerance of disagreement and debate in the legislative process where this does not fundamentally challenge the role of the Communist Party.