China’s whole Process people’s democracy brings better life for all citizens.

Published: June 20,2023

By Gerald Mbanda

China’s whole process of people’s democracy I would say is a concept of people centred governance where the people participate in all issues like pertaining to the governance of the country like elections, decision making, democratic consultations and more. The people participate in identifying the best approach and practices to solve their day to day problems, rather than being imposed by political leaders on top. In Chinese, the term for democracy is (minzhu), meaning “the people are masters.” The whole-process people’s democracy is inclusive of all the citizens without discrimination. 

I am always impressed by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) which, serves as a mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Some people mistakenly think that there are no other political parties in China apart from the CPC which is wrong. The CPPCC I would say is the pillar of true democracy and unity among the Chinese people. China’s whole-process democracy focuses on consensus building, compared to   protracted bargaining by interest groups to arrive at a decision which is a distinctive feature of Western democracy. 

China’s democracy as mentioned earlier, is people centred. It is owned by the people and solves people’s problems thus improving their well-being. It is a democracy based on the needs, aspirations and contextual realities of the people and the country.  

Western countries have a tendency of calling themselves the champions of democracy and call countries like China as “autocracy.” The West assumes it has the monopoly to set the criteria for democracy and the rest of the world is to follow. Infact, in the western type of democracy for example, in the U.S. during presidential elections it’s not the candidate who gets majority votes that becomes the president. This is a suppression of the people’s voices and choices. The president is elected by the electors of the Electoral College. The presidential candidate who receives a majority of the electoral votes wins the election, although he/she may have lost not the popular votes. In 2016 Hillary Clinton received 2.8 million more votes than Trump but she did not become the president. 

No democracy is perfect. In the west, democracy is often a privilege of the rich and the powerful. The poor, who often constitute the majority of the population, have little chance of getting their voices heard, other than through their elected representatives who may or may not act to protect their interests.  

There is no model of democracy that is universal or superior to others. There is no one size fits all model of democracy. Each country has the liberty and right to make a choice of the type of democracy that aligns with the history, and contextual realities of the country’s development. Democracy is a means, not an end. It must improve the lives of all citizens. China’s whole process of people’s democracy is a complete process with wide and continual participation by the people with the purpose of bringing about better life for all citizens.

The author is a Researcher and Publisher on China and Africa