China's National People's Congress: Reform and Its Limits

Abstract

Prior to 1976, legislatures did not play a significant role in Chinese politics. In the last decade, however, efforts have been made to revamp the Chinese legislative system and strengthen its centerpiece, the National People's Congress (NPC). This paper assesses the evolving role of the NPC by analyzing the legislative reform debate of 1979-1982 and by evaluating the pattern of changes accepted and rejected. The analysis shows that four longstanding obstacles to legislative development (manipulated elections, large size, perfunctory plenary sessions, and weak committees) have yet to be fully overcome. However, reforms in personnel selection, procedures, and committee structure are enabling the NPC to play a larger consultative and rationalizing role in the political system.