Assignment 3: Essay - Developing a Democracy. Democracy in China. (Research Paper Sample)

Democracy in China
Name
Institution
Democracy in China
China is one of the most talked of nations in the world today. The country is fast rising in terms of technological development, and has established its presence in many other countries. It is surprising that China falls in the category of developing nations. With all the technological advancements that the country has made, one is led to imagine that there are no challenges that the people of China are confronted by. However, the country is struggling to achieve proper democracy. In light of this, it is necessary to establish the obstacles to the development of democracy in China and the most appropriate form of democracy that would be suitable for the country.
Before exploring the hindrances to democracy in China, a helpful starting point would be to examine the country’s political history. China’s history dates back to many centuries ago, but there are key events that have been recorded about the country. One such event is the creation of the so-called People’s Republic of China, which happened in the year 1949. At this time, China was led by Mao Zedong, and the government system was purely totalitarian. Any attempts by the people to challenge Mao’s view attracted persecution (Goldman, 2012).
In 1976, Mae Zedong died and was replaced by Deng Xiaoping. This change of power brought equal change in the system of government; China adopted an authoritarian government system in which elections were held at the level of the village, despite the ruling party still dominating the political front. Additionally, the country was now able to take part in international business. More significantly, people witnessed greater freedom in their daily lives (Goldman, 2012). The impression that is created by this report is that China has made substantial progress in as far as democracy is concerned. However, the truth is that the people of China are yet to enjoy total democracy.
According to Goldman (2012), the end of totalitarianism has not made it possible for Chinese intellectuals to express dissident views without fear of being detained. Several factors have been cited as impeding total democracy in the country. For example, it is reported that key arms of government, namely the judiciary and the legislative, are dominated by the ruling party. More specifically, the country’s constitution is described as being “hostile to the doctrine of separation of powers” (Fu, 2016 p.168). The result of this is that the judiciary cannot function independently and has to bend its rulings to match the interests of those in power.
It also appears that the lack of democracy in China is partly caused by the high rate at which development is taking place. An interesting observation made by Magstadt (2017, p.222) is that China’s stunning success in terms of poverty reduction “provides dramatic