Participatory and Deliberative Institutions in China

Abstract

In recent years consultative and deliberative institutions have been developing in China, and an increasing number of public hearings have provided people with opportunities to express their opinions on a wide range of issues—the price of water and electricity, park entry fees, the relocation of farmers, the conservation of historical landmarks, and even the famous Beijing zoo, to name a few. As T. V. Smith and Eduard C. Lindeman have pointed out, “Genuine consent, a vital ingredient of the democratic way of life, is the end-product of discussion or conference. Citizens of democratic societies are equipped for their role when they have acquired the skills and the arts of conferring” (1951, 130). Participatory and deliberative institutions in China are helping to develop citizenship skills and are modernizing China politically. Although much attention has been focused on electoral institutions within China, there are, however, few empirical studies on Chinese deliberative institutions. Democratic procedures, however, need to be firmly anchored in the process of genuine deliberation to avoid the tyranny of majority rule. To address the normative question of how to develop deliberative democracy in China, we must explore the deliberative institutions China already has. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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