People's Republic of China
From Wikinfo
State power within the People's Republic of China (PRC) is divided among three bodies: the Communist Party of China (CPC), the state, and the People's Liberation Army (PLA). This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities. Most positions of significant power in the state structure and in the army are occupied by members of the CPC which is controlled by the Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China, a group of 5 to 9 people, who make all decisions of national significance. As the role of the Army is to enforce these decisions in times of crisis, support of the PLA is important.
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Political divisions
The PRC has administrative control over twenty-two provinces and claims Taiwan as its twenty-third province.[1] There are also five autonomous regions, each with a designated minority group; four municipalities; and two Special Administrative Regions (SAR's) that enjoy considerable autonomy. The twenty-two provinces, five autonomous regions and four municipalities are collectively referred to as "mainland China", a term which usually excludes Hong Kong and Macau.
Constitution
The PRC Constitution was created on 20 September 1954. Before that, an interim Constitution-like document created by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was in force.
The 2nd and 3rd promulgations of the PRC Constitution took place against the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution. The 2nd promulgation in 1975 shortened the Constitution to about thirty articles, and contained Communist slogans and revolutionary language throughout. The role of the courts was slashed, and the Presidency was removed. The 3rd promulgation in 1978 expanded the number of articles, but was still under the influence of the recent Cultural Revolution.
The current Constitution is the PRC's 4th promulgation. It was promulgated on 4 December 4 1982 and has served as a stable Constitution since then. The role of the Presidency and the courts were normalized, and all citizens were declared equal. Amendments were made in 1988, 1993, 1999, and 2004, which recognised private property, safeguarded human rights, and further promoted the non-public sector of the economy.
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest state body and only legislative house in the PRC. Although the membership of the NPC is still largely determined by the CPC, it has moved away from being a symbolic rubber-stamp legislature to become a forum for mediating policy differences between different parts of the Party and the government.
President
The President and Vice-President are elected by the NPC for five-year terms. The President is the head of state. The office was created by the 1982 Constitution. Formally, the President is elected by the NPC in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution. In practice, it is a "single-candidate" election. The candidate is recommended by the Presidium of the National People's Congress.
State Council
The State Council is the chief administrative authority of the PRC. It is appointed by the NPC and is chaired by the Premier and includes the heads of each governmental department and agency. There are about fifty members in the Council. The State Council directly oversees the various subordinate People's Governments in the provinces, and in practice maintains an interlocking membership with the top levels of the Communist Party of China creating a fused center of power.
Central Military Commission
The Central Military Commission (CMC) exercises the command and control of the PLA and is supervised by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The state CMC is nominally the supreme military policy-making body, and its chairman, elected by the NPC, is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In reality, command and control of the PLA, still resides with the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee — the "party CMC".
Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate
The Supreme People's Court (SPC) is the highest court in the judicial system of the PRC. The judges of the Supreme People's Court are appointed by the NPC.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) is the highest agency responsible for prosecution in the PRC.
Hong Kong and Macau have their own separate judicial systems, based on British common law and Portuguese civil law traditions respectively, and are out of the jurisdiction of the SPC and SPP.
Provincial and local government
The governors of China's provinces and autonomous regions and mayors of its centrally controlled municipalities are appointed by the central government in Beijing after receiving the nominal consent of the NPC. The Hong Kong and Macau SAR's have some local autonomy but defer to Beijing in foreign affairs and national security, and their chief executives are handpicked by the central government. In 2004, below the provincial level there were 50 rural prefectures, 283 prefecture-level cities, 374 county-level cities, 852 county-level districts under the jurisdiction of nearby cities, and 1,636 counties. There also were 662 cities (including those incorporated into the four centrally controlled municipalities), 808 urban districts, and 43,258 township-level regions. Counties are divided into townships and villages. While most have appointed officials running them, some lower-level jurisdictions have direct popular elections. The organs of self-governing ethnic autonomous areas (regions, prefectures, and counties) exercise the same powers as their provincial-level counterparts but are guided additionally by the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy and require NPC Standing Committee approval for regulations they enact.
References
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