Elections in the People's Republic of China occur under a one-party authoritarian political system controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). By law, all elections at all levels must adhere to the leadership of the CCP.
Since the 1949 proclamation of the People's Republic of China, elections have been highly constrained by the CCP's monopoly on power, limitations on free speech, and party control over nominations. Rory Truex, a researcher of Chinese politics at Princeton University, states that "the CCP tightly controls the nomination and election processes at every level in the people's congress system...the tiered, indirect electoral mechanism in the People's Congress system ensures that deputies at the highest levels face no semblance of electoral accountability to the Chinese citizenry." Candidate nominations at all levels are controlled by the CCP, and CCP's supreme position is enshrined in the country's constitution.
Electoral system
Direct elections
People's congresses of counties (), city districts (), towns (), townships (), and ethnic townships (), are directly elected. The representative of these districts then elect the members of the People's Congress for the next administrative level: in most cases this would be the prefecture-level city. There are a few cities which are not divided into lower-level districts () and as such the city-wide Peoples' Congress is directly elected. Additionally, village () committee members and chairpersons are directly elected.
Local People's Congresses
thumb|A list of voters posted in a neighbourhood in [[Shenzhen, Guangdong. April 11, 2014.]]
Under the electoral law of 1 July 1979, nomination of candidates for direct local elections (in counties, townships, etc.) can be made by the CCP, the various other political parties, mass organizations, or any voter seconded by at least 10 other voters. The final list of electoral candidates must be worked out through "discussion and consultation" or primary elections, which officially is conducted by an election committee in consultation with small groups of voters; Election committee members are appointed by the standing committees of the people's congresses at the corresponding level.
The number of candidates for a direct election should be 1.3 to 2 times the number of deputies to be elected.
- direct nomination and election ()
- direction election ()
- two ballots in three rounds ()
- competition based on mass recommendation ()
- nomination and election by the masses ( or ; literally "sea election")
- public recommendation and public election ()
- vote of confidence ()
Village chiefs
After taking power in 1978, Deng Xiaoping experimented with direct democracy at the local level. Villages have been traditionally the lowest level of government in China's complicated hierarchy of governance. Under the Organic Law of Village Committees, all of China's approximately 1 million villages are expected to hold competitive, direct elections for sub-governmental village committees. A 1998 revision to the law called for improvements in the nominating process and enhanced transparency in village committee administration. The revised law also explicitly transferred the power to nominate candidates to villagers themselves, as opposed to village groups or CCP branches.
Many have criticized the locally elected representatives as serving as "rubber stamps", with the local CCP secretaries still holding the ultimate power, though during some eras the Communists have flirted with the idea of potentially allowing some competition. Many of these multi-candidate elections were successful, involving candidate debates, formal platforms, and the initiation of secret ballot boxes. Initial reforms did not include universal suffrage. Such an election comprises usually no more than 2000 voters, and the first-past-the-post system is used in determining the winner, with no restriction on political affiliation. The elections, initially held every three years but later changed to five,
Since 2018, the central authorities in the CCP officially called for the yijiantiao () model, in which the village committees and the CCP village committees to have the same membership, with both led by the CCP village committee secretary.
Indirect elections
People's Congresses of provinces (), directly administered municipalities (), and cities divided into districts () are indirectly elected by the People's Congress of the level immediately below. Presidents of people's courts and the regional prosecutors general of people's procuratorates are elected by the respective local People's Congresses above the county level. Generally, seats are apportioned to each electoral district in proportion to their population, though the system for apportioning seats for Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and the People's Liberation Army differ. No electoral district may be apportioned fewer than 15 seats in the NPC. with all candidate nominations pre-approved by the CCP. CCP regulations require members of the People's Congresses, People's Governments, and People's Courts to implement CCP recommendations (including nominations). Elected leaders remain subordinate to the corresponding CCP secretary, and most are appointed by higher-level party organizations. Independent candidates are strongly discouraged and face government intervention in their campaigns. In practice, the power of parties other than the CCP is eliminated. Whereas there are CCP committees in people's congresses at all levels, none of the other parties operate any form of party parliamentary groups.
Legislation
The first electoral law was passed in March 1953, and the second on 1 July 1979. The 1979 law allowed for ordinary voters to nominate candidates, unlike the 1953 law which provided no such mechanism. The 1979 law was revised in 1982, removing the reference to the ability of political parties, mass organizations, and voters to use "various forms of publicity", and instead instructing that the "election committees should introduce the candidates to the voters; the political parties, mass organizations, and voters who recommend the candidates can introduce them at group meetings of the voters". In 1986, the election law was amended to disallow primary elections.
Traditionally, village chiefs were appointed by the township government. Freedom of political speech and freedom of political assembly are all severely restricted by the government. The general Chinese public has virtually no say on how the top leaders of the country are elected.
China is the 3rd least electorally democratic country in the world and second least electoral democratic country in Asia according to 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices. Freedom House rates the People's Republic of China as 0 out of 4 for freedom of the electoral process.
See also
- Advisory Council (Qing dynasty)
- Freedom of the press in China
- Human rights in China
- Legislative system of China
- List of voting results of the National People's Congress
- National Assembly (Beiyang government)
- Politics of China
- Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China
- System of multi-party cooperation and political consultation
- Yao Lifa