At one level, China is a one-party state that has been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1949. But rather than being rigidly hierarchical and authoritarian, political power in China now is diffuse, complex, and at times highly competitive. Contents of this report: (1) China¿s Preeminent Political Institutions; (2) The CCP: The Political Bureau; The Politburo Standing Committee; The Secretariat; Party Discipline; (3) The Chinese Gov¿t.: The State Council; The Ministries; Gov¿t. Control; (4) National People¿s Congress; (5) People¿s Liberation Army; (6) Relationships Among Leaders; (7) Other Important Political Actors; (8) Provincial, Municipal, and Local Governments; (9) Trends and Idiosyncrasies of China¿s Political System. Illus.

This report is designed to provide Congress with a perspective on the contemporary political system of China, the only Communist Party-led authoritarian state in the G-20 grouping of major economies. China's Communist Party dominates state and society in China, is committed to maintaining a permanent monopoly on power, and is intolerant of those who question its right to rule. Nonetheless, analysts consider China's political system to be neither monolithic nor rigidly hierarchical. Jockeying among leaders and institutions representing different sets of interests is common at every level of the system.

The Chinese political system is the subject of much media and popular comment in part because China supports an economy with an apparently inexorable dynamic and impressive record of achievement. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to China's political system, outlining the major features of the Chinese model and highlighting its claims and challenges. It explores the central role of the Communist Party in the country's politics and the way in which the Party controls most elements of the political system. The book also draws parallels with previous historical periods in China's history. Finally, it addresses the question of what kind of role the People's Republic of China will play in global politics as a whole, the implications for the West and the re-balancing of relations between China and its neighbors.

The Chinese political system is the subject of much media and popular comment in part because China supports an economy with an apparently inexorable dynamic and impressive record of achievement. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to China’s political system, outlining the major features of the Chinese model and highlighting its claims and challenges. It explores the central role of the Communist Party in the country’s politics and the way in which the Party controls most elements of the political system. The book also draws parallels with previous historical periods in China’s history. Finally, it addresses the question of what kind of role the People's Republic of China will play in global politics as a whole, the implications for the West and the rebalancing of relations between China and its neighbours.

The purpose of Understanding China is to enable any reader to ask and even answer such questions as: What is the capacity of China's political system to deal successfully with the principal problems confronting the nation today - the inflammatory Taiwan issue, the future of Hong Kong, the maintenance of economic growth while the global political climate seems to be changing, the management of an orderly succession in the political leadership? Indeed, how will China be governed?

It is widely recognised that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses the media to set the agenda for political discourse, propagate official policies, monitor public opinion, and rally regime support. State agencies in China control the full spectrum of media programming, either through ownership or the power to regulate. Political Communication in China examines the two factors which have contributed to the rapid development of media infrastructure in China: technology and commercialization. Economic development led to technological advancement, which in turn brought about the rapid modernization of all forms of communication, from ‘old’ media such as television to the Internet, cell phones, and satellite communications. This volume examines how these recent developments have affected the relationship between the CCP and the mass media as well as the implications of this evolving relationship for understanding Chinese citizens’ media use, political attitudes, and behaviour. The chapters in this book represent a diverse range of research methods, from surveys, content analysis, and field interviews to the manipulation of aggregate statistical data. The result is a lively debate which creates many opportunities for future research into the fundamental question of convergence between political and media regimes. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Political Communication.

his report is designed to provide Congress with a perspective on the contemporary political system of China, the only Communist Party-led state in the G-20 grouping of major economies. China's Communist Party dominates state and society in China, is committed to maintaining a permanent monopoly on power, and is intolerant of those who question its right to rule. Nonetheless, analysts consider China's political system to be neither monolithic nor rigidly hierarchical. Jockeying among leaders and institutions representing different sets of interests is common at every level of the system. The report opens with a brief overview of China's leading political institutions. They include the Communist Party and its military, the People's Liberation Army; the State, led by the State Council, to which the Party delegates day-to-day administration of the country; and the National People's Congress (NPC), China's unicameral legislature. On paper, the NPC has broad powers. In practice, the legislature is controlled by the Communist Party and is able to exercise little of its constitutionally mandated oversight over the state and the judiciary. Following its 18th Congress in November 2012, the Communist Party ushered in a new Party leadership.