Starting from the Chinese willingness to think democracy outside the Western conceptual framework, this research aims to reflect on the meaning of the concept of democracy in China (minzhu民主), avoiding the two extremes of Western imitation and Eastern exceptionalism. This is a necessary operation that allows first of all to contextualize the many debates on democracy in today's China, and then to grasp the meanings and the prospects for the development of the so-called “whole process-people democracy” (WPPD) of Xi Jinping. The research assumes the methodological perspective of conceptual history adopted by Melvin Richter's proposal, that seeks to bring conceptual history and the history of political discourse into dialogue to consider also the “history of debates”. Tracing the genealogy of the development of the concept of democracy, from the fall of the Empire, through the birth of the Republic of China, the founding of the People's Republic (PRC), and arriving at the New Millennium, the various ideological trends concerning democracy are highlighted. This enables an analysis of the fundamental Maoist ideas of “new democracy”, “people's democratic dictatorship”, “great democracy”, “consultative democracy”, and the principles of “democratic centralism” and “mass line” underlying PRC’s political theory. The same is done for the decades afterwards, going through the ideas of Political Reform and “socialist democracy”, as well as through the practical and theoretical development of “grassroot democracy” and intra-party democracy to that of “democracy with Chinese characteristics”. This reconstruction makes it possible to highlight how the advent of Xi Jinping brought profound changes to the structure supporting Chinese democracy as developed over the previous three decades. The research analyzes the internal and external motivations behind the leader's choices, also reading them in relation to the global process of depoliticization and the need to create a strong discourse community. Since 2012 Xi placed limitations on the old structures by placing great emphasis on the role of ideology, a strong centralization of power, and increased social and ideological control; but he also proposed innovations, conceiving and creating new structures for popular participation on the various levels of governance (e.g. Local Legislative Outreach Offices), and new official formulations around democracy. Through the analysis of the leader's thought, at the level of political theory and political discourse, the various directions on which the new discourse on democracy in China is developed (e.g., the ideas of “Chinese Democracy,” “direct democracy,” “true democracy”, and “democracy that works”) are traced and the illiberal implications highlighted. This has made it possible to understand the meaning of the WPPD, to reflect on the implications and pitfalls of this new official formulation, and to clarify the forms that the Chinese democratization process has taken.
Starting from the Chinese willingness to think democracy outside the Western conceptual framework, this research aims to reflect on the meaning of the concept of democracy in China (minzhu民主), avoiding the two extremes of Western imitation and Eastern exceptionalism. This is a necessary operation that allows first of all to contextualize the many debates on democracy in today's China, and then to grasp the meanings and the prospects for the development of the so-called “whole process-people democracy” (WPPD) of Xi Jinping. The research assumes the methodological perspective of conceptual history adopted by Melvin Richter's proposal, that seeks to bring conceptual history and the history of political discourse into dialogue to consider also the “history of debates”. Tracing the genealogy of the development of the concept of democracy, from the fall of the Empire, through the birth of the Republic of China, the founding of the People's Republic (PRC), and arriving at the New Millennium, the various ideological trends concerning democracy are highlighted. This enables an analysis of the fundamental Maoist ideas of “new democracy”, “people's democratic dictatorship”, “great democracy”, “consultative democracy”, and the principles of “democratic centralism” and “mass line” underlying PRC’s political theory. The same is done for the decades afterwards, going through the ideas of Political Reform and “socialist democracy”, as well as through the practical and theoretical development of “grassroot democracy” and intra-party democracy to that of “democracy with Chinese characteristics”. This reconstruction makes it possible to highlight how the advent of Xi Jinping brought profound changes to the structure supporting Chinese democracy as developed over the previous three decades. The research analyzes the internal and external motivations behind the leader's choices, also reading them in relation to the global process of depoliticization and the need to create a strong discourse community. Since 2012 Xi placed limitations on the old structures by placing great emphasis on the role of ideology, a strong centralization of power, and increased social and ideological control; but he also proposed innovations, conceiving and creating new structures for popular participation on the various levels of governance (e.g. Local Legislative Outreach Offices), and new official formulations around democracy. Through the analysis of the leader's thought, at the level of political theory and political discourse, the various directions on which the new discourse on democracy in China is developed (e.g., the ideas of “Chinese Democracy,” “direct democracy,” “true democracy”, and “democracy that works”) are traced and the illiberal implications highlighted. This has made it possible to understand the meaning of the WPPD, to reflect on the implications and pitfalls of this new official formulation, and to clarify the forms that the Chinese democratization process has taken.
Understanding democracy in Contemporary China: the Whole-Process people’s democracy of Xi Jinping (Political Discourse, Debates and New Challenges)
MARCANTONI, ASIA
2025
Abstract
Starting from the Chinese willingness to think democracy outside the Western conceptual framework, this research aims to reflect on the meaning of the concept of democracy in China (minzhu民主), avoiding the two extremes of Western imitation and Eastern exceptionalism. This is a necessary operation that allows first of all to contextualize the many debates on democracy in today's China, and then to grasp the meanings and the prospects for the development of the so-called “whole process-people democracy” (WPPD) of Xi Jinping. The research assumes the methodological perspective of conceptual history adopted by Melvin Richter's proposal, that seeks to bring conceptual history and the history of political discourse into dialogue to consider also the “history of debates”. Tracing the genealogy of the development of the concept of democracy, from the fall of the Empire, through the birth of the Republic of China, the founding of the People's Republic (PRC), and arriving at the New Millennium, the various ideological trends concerning democracy are highlighted. This enables an analysis of the fundamental Maoist ideas of “new democracy”, “people's democratic dictatorship”, “great democracy”, “consultative democracy”, and the principles of “democratic centralism” and “mass line” underlying PRC’s political theory. The same is done for the decades afterwards, going through the ideas of Political Reform and “socialist democracy”, as well as through the practical and theoretical development of “grassroot democracy” and intra-party democracy to that of “democracy with Chinese characteristics”. This reconstruction makes it possible to highlight how the advent of Xi Jinping brought profound changes to the structure supporting Chinese democracy as developed over the previous three decades. The research analyzes the internal and external motivations behind the leader's choices, also reading them in relation to the global process of depoliticization and the need to create a strong discourse community. Since 2012 Xi placed limitations on the old structures by placing great emphasis on the role of ideology, a strong centralization of power, and increased social and ideological control; but he also proposed innovations, conceiving and creating new structures for popular participation on the various levels of governance (e.g. Local Legislative Outreach Offices), and new official formulations around democracy. Through the analysis of the leader's thought, at the level of political theory and political discourse, the various directions on which the new discourse on democracy in China is developed (e.g., the ideas of “Chinese Democracy,” “direct democracy,” “true democracy”, and “democracy that works”) are traced and the illiberal implications highlighted. This has made it possible to understand the meaning of the WPPD, to reflect on the implications and pitfalls of this new official formulation, and to clarify the forms that the Chinese democratization process has taken.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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Descrizione: Understanding democracy in Contemporary China: the "Whole-Process people’s democracy" of Xi Jinping (Political Discourse, Debates and New Challenges)
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