Orientation and Policy Choice of the Political System Reform After the 18th National Congress of the CPC

Abstract

After entering the twenty-first century, China has been experiencing a rapid social-economic transformation and there are major challenges in its ability to govern the country. The proper and firm promotion of the reform of the political structure is an important choice for enhancing the ability of state governance and overcoming transition crises. Judging from the experience of state governance in most transitional societies, political system reform is often accompanied by uncertainty. The transformation towards greater democracy, as directed by the regime change, is now even more fraught with political risk. This is especially the case with democratization driven by major economic and social crises. The ideological debate over the types of basic political systems in the face of major realities in the modernization of the country’s governance system and governance capacity does not seem to provide us with any more knowledge and feasible policy proposals. Political system reform has never been carried out independently. It is bound to be influenced by the constraints of the social and economic structure, and consequential changes to that social and economic structure. Actors in the system must not only consider the political impact of these structures and changes, but also consider the uncertainties in the political outcomes that result from reform programs and policies. What can be altered in China’s next political reform? This chapter intends to discuss the following issues: First, it examines the demands and logic of China’s gradual political system reform from the level of cognitive understanding; second, it discusses how the challenge of state governance in the socio-economic transition crisis determines the fundamental purpose and content of the reform of the political system; third, it discusses the adaptability and contents of democratic reform in the existing system; and fourth, it discusses the contents of relevant reforms that should be promoted in establishing a responsive government system.