The Reconstruction of Local Power: Wenling City’s “Democratic Talk in All Sincerity”

Abstract

Democratization can be pursued on two dimensions: we can democratize the origin of power and we can hope to democratize the exercise of power. From the perspective of the origins of power, Chinese grassroots democracy is well developed. For example, starting more than twenty years ago, there have been relatively free, just, and periodic elections in rural China. The election processes have already met international standards and utilize secret voting. These elections are free because the villagers need not worry about retaliation when voting and they are just because every vote is accorded equal weight. Periodic elections enable villagers to have some degree of substantial control over the leaders they elect. Of course, many problems still exist in the election processes in many regions. But the election process is spreading and democratic direct elections are being tested in villages and towns.1 Meanwhile, democratization in the origin of power in the villages has begun to influence urban areas; many cities have now experimented with democratic election and democratic management in neighborhood committees in their communities.2 Yet, as a result of the reality of Chinese politics, direct election of officials at a national level is still unmanageable (if not unimaginable) at the present time in China.