The Growth of Intra-party Democracy and Its Implications for China’s Democratic Future

Abstract

During the past decades, while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued to consolidate its political leadership and refused to tolerate any opposition parties, intra-party democracy has been emphasized repeatedly and expanded vigorously by Chinese Communist leaders as an alternative to electoral democracy or liberal democracy characterized by multiparty competition. Various democratic experiments have been conducted and many democratic elements introduced at all levels in the CCP. Although the growth of intra-party democracy is limited, these great efforts and achievements have profound implications for China’s democratic future. The growth of intra-party democracy not only reflects the CCP’s continuous efforts to institutionalize the rules of elite politics and fight against widespread corruption, but might also provide a good approach for political transition to democracy with Chinese characteristics in the future.