An Overview of the Development of Urban and Rural Grassroots Democracy in China
Abstract
China’s grassroots democracy is an essential manifestation of China’s democratic politics and has formed the grassroots mass autonomy system through long-term practice. Since 1982, every National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has made arrangements to promote grassroots democracy in China. The Organic Law of Villagers' Committees of the People's Republic of China (adopted for trial implementation in 1987 and formalised in 1998) strengthened grassroots democracy in China. Subsequently, significant progress has been made in developing grassroots democracy within Chinese rural and urban communities. This paper explores the CPC’s arrangements for grassroots democracy in rural and urban communities by comparative analysis, mainly examining the differences within four interrelated dimensions: a) election provisions, b) voter competence, c) levels of political participation, and d) autonomy content. Then, it put forward suggestions to improve grassroots democracy in China. In practice, it has formed a differentiated "governance democracy" model that integrates institutional empowerment, technology-driven methods, and social training tools. The practice of grassroots democracy in urban and rural areas should shift from "formal coverage" to "improving efficiency".
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