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White paper on political democracy
- Democratic decision-making. All important matters touching on the villagers' interests are to be discussed at meetings of villagers or their representatives, and decisions are to be made according to the opinion of the majority. As situations differ greatly from place to place in the rural areas of China, the villages vary in size and it is especially difficult to organize and hold a committee meeting to make a decision in big villages with villagers scattered around a wide area, the problem is solved by holding meetings of villagers' representatives. To date, 85 percent of the villages in China have established the system of villagers' meetings or villagers' representative meetings for democratic decision-making. - Democratic management. In accordance with the state laws, regulations and related policies, the villagers' self-government rules, or villagers' code of conduct are discussed, formulated or revised by all the villagers in line with the local situation. In line with the self-government rules, vividly called the "lesser constitution," the villagers' committees and villagers practice self-management, self-education and self-service. Now, more than 80 percent of the villages in China have enacted villagers' self-government rules or villagers' code of conduct and established systems of democratic financial management and auditing, and for village affairs management. - Democratic supervision. The villagers supervise the committee's work and the conduct of the village cadres through making village affairs open, democratic evaluation of village cadres, regular work reports by the villagers' committee, and the system of auditing the work of the outgoing village cadres. Making village affairs public, in particular, is widely welcomed by villagers. The successful experience of villagers' self-government is a great creation of millions of Chinese farmers led by the CPC in developing socialist political democracy with Chinese characteristics. The promotion of rural grassroots democracy and the practice of villagers' self-government have greatly aroused the enthusiasm of the broad masses of rural people to act as the masters of their own affairs, enhanced their creativity and sense of responsibility, thus opening up a new chapter in the building of political democracy in rural China. (2) Building of Political Democracy in Urban Communities The urban neighborhood committee is a mass self-government organization of urban residents in China for self-management, self-education and self-service. It is an important form of direct grassroots democracy in Chinese cities. After the founding of New China in 1949, neighborhood committees were set up in cities all over the country to make urban residents carry out democratic self-government over public affairs in their residential areas. In 1982, the system of urban neighborhood committee was, for the first time, written into the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Organization of Neighborhood Committees in the Cities, enacted by the NPC Standing Committee in 1989, provides the legal basis and institutional guarantee for the development of urban neighborhood committees. In 1999, the state experimented with community building in 26 municipal districts, and then activities for community building demonstration were held all over the country. By the end of 2004, 71,375 neighborhood committees that were deemed up to the requirements for the building of new-type communities had been set up in Chinese cities. At present, urban community building is spreading from selected places to wider areas, from large cities to medium-sized and small cities, and from eastern to western areas. To improve the level of urban residents' self-government, a new type of urban communities with well-organized management and services as well as a pleasing environment and harmonious neighborhood relationships are being built throughout the country. Like rural villagers' self-government, the major
contents of the urban residents' self-government are also democratic election,
democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision. In
terms of democratic election, the form of election has developed from candidate
nomination to self-nomination, from nominating one candidate for election to
each post to multi-candidate election, and from indirect election to direct
election, breaking down the limitations on place and status, and continuously
enhancing the degree of democracy. In recent years, direct elections have been
promoted vigorously in urban communities. A survey made by the government
department concerned on the 26 experimental urban locations shows that the urban
community residents participate actively in the direct elections of neighborhood
committees and over 90 percent of them turn out to vote. As a result of the
direct elections, neighborhood committee members have tended to become younger,
better educated and more professional. In terms of democratic decision-making,
the residents of a community, as the mainstay in this respect, exercise their
decision-making power by holding residents' meetings, forums, hearings and
through other effective forms and channels. In the aspect of democratic
management, the neighborhood committees work within the framework of law,
standardize their work according to the community residents' self-government
rules and regulations, in an effort to make the residents more conscious of
being the masters of their own affairs and concerned about public affairs in the
community. In the aspect of democratic supervision, the neighborhood committee
practices open management; all issues of public concern, difficult problems and
important matters involving the residents' interests are made public to the
residents in a timely manner and subject to their discussions, comments,
suggestions and supervision.
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