By Buyile Matiwane
“Countries vary in history, culture, system and economic development level, but peoples of all countries uphold the shared human values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom. Peace and development are our common cause, equity and justice our common aspiration, and democracy and freedom our common pursuit.” — Xi Jinping
Off the bat, I think that it is important for me to make the assertion that, within the extensive and complex global political terrain, there are those systems and values that are so universal that they may never mean the same thing to everyone. One such concept or principle is democracy.
We have seen democracy having varied applications throughout the world and its conceptualisation being suited to various national conditions. Does this fundamentally mean that one country is more or less democratic than the other because of the differences that may have in the application of democracy within the context of their very different national conditions?
It can never be disputed that democracy is one of the common values that are universally appreciated and is a subject of much attention and interest. Democracy has been perched as some sort of moral barometer to measure not only the distance between the State and the people but has also been naively postured as some safeguard against injustice, anarchy and tyranny. One must, however, recognise that such a value that is so fundamental to our humanity, as it speaks directly to our agency and those societal functions that make us whole, must be diversified in order to adapt to the various material conditions that beset many of our countries. Effective democracy cannot be achieved within the confines of rigidly set confines.
The values of democracy are rooted in history, culture and tradition. It takes diverse forms and develops along the paths chosen by different people based on their experiences and innovation. Whether a country is democratic depends on whether its people are genuinely the custodians of the character and trajectory of that society.
Later in the article, I will make the point of how this must never be limited to an election and participation in this periodic event. Democracy must be about the relationship between the state and the people.
To really appreciate the value and extent of democracy, we consciously start to undress our very limited Eurocentric understanding of democracy and concede to the fact that there is no fixed model of democracy, which manifests itself in many forms. Assessing the myriad political systems in the world against a single yardstick is in itself undemocratic.
In order to make a more poignant analysis of this, let’s take a closer look at China and how democracy is expressed and defined relative to the specific national conditions in China. In modern-day China, there is the Two Sessions event. This is a key event in the country’s political calendar of 2022, which started on March 4 and 5. The Two Sessions event has, over the years, become a window to observe China’s development and is deemed as an embodiment of the vitality of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics, creating a platform for robust, meaningful and insightful discussion.
The 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, opened its fifth annual session in Beijing on Saturday, March 5, and the fifth annual session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)opened on Friday, March 4. In order to get a clearer picture of Chinese democracy, let’s take a walk through history and get to appreciate of China’s commitment to democracy.
More than 2 000 years ago, the ancient Chinese began to explore the concept that people are the backbone of the country and not only instrumental but instrumental to the effective functioning of a country. This appreciation would carry through the ages and even play a prominent feature when the name is changed to ensure that the people will always be before the Republic in the name of the Peoples Republic of China.
These ideas contained the seeds of what we know today as democracy. Since its founding in 1921, the Communist Party of China (CPC), which is the governing party in China, has always valued (as Communist theory would annunciate) the people as a primary motive force for progressive change in society. One would appreciate that the CPC would have always appreciated and valued the people above all else.
The 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, considering the national conditions of China and the political system, the CPC developed the Whole-Process People’s Democracy as a key guiding concept and has since strived to translate it and relevant democratic values into effective institutions and set out concrete actions that would make China more democratic and embrace other critical values.
The Two Sessions Event has become a critical platform to hold a broad spectrum of key national role players accountable. The session not only looks for accountability but also reviews laws and ensures that there are all the necessary checks and balances to ensure that the State is responsive and working collectively in the interest of the people.
Firstly, insist on the system of people’s congress. It is China’s fundamental political system. People’s congresses exercise state power collectively on behalf of the people. The National People’s Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power. Local people’s congresses at all levels are local organs of state power. All administrative, supervisory, judicial and prosecutorial organs of the country are created by the people’s congresses. The Congresses will, in turn, play a very critical oversight role over these institutions and hold them accountable.
Secondly, reinforce the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC. Opposition parties can play an equally healthy and critical role without the diversions of conservative democracy.
In addition to the CPC, there are eight other political parties. These parties accept CPC’s leadership and cooperate closely with the CPC, and function as its advisers and assistants. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) serves as a key element of the multiparty mechanism.
This system unites all political parties towards a common goal, effectively mitigating the risks of inadequate oversight in one-party rule and the problems of continual transfers of governing parties and destructive competition in multiparty political systems. This is not only a new perspective on participatory democracy but also an enlightening one.
Thirdly, improve the system of regional ethnic autonomy. China is a unified multi-ethnic country. This system, which is also a basic political system, means that areas with large ethnic minority populations can practice regional autonomy, establish autonomous organs, and exercise the power of self-governance under the unified leadership of the country.
Fourthly, conduct the system of community-level self-governance. This system is represented by villagers’ autonomy, urban residents’ autonomy, and employee congresses. It has strengthened the public’s ability to understand and practice democracy, demonstrating that China’s democracy is extensive and genuine.
Democracy is not a prerogative of a certain country or a group of countries but a universal right of all people. A basic criterion of democracy should be about the people, such as whether the people have the right to govern their country, whether their needs are met and whether they have a sense of fulfilment and happiness. This is what I call a social contract defined through results – a performance legitimacy.
Democracy and national governance operate in parallel. One essential feature of a good democracy is that it will promote sound governance and boost national development. Democracy in China means people-centred development that fully mobilises the initiative of the people, relies on their strength, and ensures that all share in the benefits.
China advocates for peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, which are common values of humanity. This is because history has taught us all that drawing ideological lines or dividing the world into different camps or rival groups will only make the world suffer.
“Democracy is not mass produced with a uniform model or configuration for countries around the world.”
Last year, the CPC approved a resolution on the Party’s history and achievements during the sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee.
China has set two centenary goals — building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and building itself into a great modern socialist country in all respects.
A cornerstone of the next stage of the Chinese development story is going to be a people-centred participatory democracy. This must be applied and appreciated within the Chinese context and material condition for it to be meaningful.
“Whether a country is democratic should be left to its own people to decide. Dismissing forms of democracy that are different from one’s own is in itself undemocratic.”- Xi Jinping
* Buyile Matiwane is the Deputy President of the South African Students Congress.
** The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of /Independent Media.
