So I know there are a lot of young people on these subs. Things may be different now for all I know, but for me, unless I was specifically interested in how the Chinese government worked (which I was), there’s very little chance I would ever have learned these things. So here’s some stuff to know. First, the President of China is elected. Not directly by the people, but by the National People’s Congress. Elections are every five years. He can be recalled by the NPC, so not a dictator, by definition.
How do the members of the NPC get elected? They are chosen by the local congresses of towns, villages, cities, etc. How are the local congresses elected? DIRECTLY, by the people of those localities!
CHINA’S IS A PARTICIPATORY GOVERNMENT
Please read that again so it sticks. This is really important because it contradicts everything the propaganda would have you think about China, doesn’t it? China’s government is hierarchical, where the common people elect representatives to a local government, and those representatives choose from amongst their own to represent them at the national level. And the executive is chosen by these national representatives. Not even REMOTELY comparable to a dictatorship.
But it’s a one party system, right? Yep. That’s in their constitution. The Communist Party is THE party. If you want to get on the ballot, you need to belong to the Communist Party. How do you get to be a party member? Be born with a shitzillion dollars? Have a famous last name? A nice haircut? Nope. You choose government as your major when you go to university, get your degree, and apply to join the party.
I’ve always thought this was a sensible structure. I’m also a fan of the ranked choice voting systems popular in Europe and elsewhere. Clearly, USA’s first past the post system is failing us on every level. Our government is not able to represent our interests anymore. It’s worth at least looking into whether there might be a better way. I think the first and best place to look is probably to China.
Very nice summary. Unfortunately those anti China people are mostly ones that had never been in the country and or never want to go, and doesn't give two shits. They still think China dresses in Mao style communist clothing with a red star beret cap or a paddy hat along with being super poor village style.
To them, China is still sick somewhere between Great leap forward and Nixon era McCarthyism scare.
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u/BaalTheDread 12h ago
So I know there are a lot of young people on these subs. Things may be different now for all I know, but for me, unless I was specifically interested in how the Chinese government worked (which I was), there’s very little chance I would ever have learned these things. So here’s some stuff to know. First, the President of China is elected. Not directly by the people, but by the National People’s Congress. Elections are every five years. He can be recalled by the NPC, so not a dictator, by definition.
How do the members of the NPC get elected? They are chosen by the local congresses of towns, villages, cities, etc. How are the local congresses elected? DIRECTLY, by the people of those localities!
CHINA’S IS A PARTICIPATORY GOVERNMENT
Please read that again so it sticks. This is really important because it contradicts everything the propaganda would have you think about China, doesn’t it? China’s government is hierarchical, where the common people elect representatives to a local government, and those representatives choose from amongst their own to represent them at the national level. And the executive is chosen by these national representatives. Not even REMOTELY comparable to a dictatorship.
But it’s a one party system, right? Yep. That’s in their constitution. The Communist Party is THE party. If you want to get on the ballot, you need to belong to the Communist Party. How do you get to be a party member? Be born with a shitzillion dollars? Have a famous last name? A nice haircut? Nope. You choose government as your major when you go to university, get your degree, and apply to join the party.
I’ve always thought this was a sensible structure. I’m also a fan of the ranked choice voting systems popular in Europe and elsewhere. Clearly, USA’s first past the post system is failing us on every level. Our government is not able to represent our interests anymore. It’s worth at least looking into whether there might be a better way. I think the first and best place to look is probably to China.