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China has in fact made some progress toward democratization since it began to open up to the outside world. Compared to the democratically deficient years of the 1960s and 1970s, great advances have been made. Especially since the 1990s, progress has been made in political governance, the rule of law, and respect for human rights. At the grassroots level, in rural villages and townships, leaders are chosen in local elections. This process is expected to gradually filter upward to higher levels of society in the future.
However, it is still too early to proclaim the arrival of democracy in China. The reason for this is not because of the concentration of power in the hands of the Communist Party, nor because of a socialist system which does not allow free elections. The primary reason is the lack of democratic consciousness among the people. An attempt to implement a system that is not well understood by the people might well distort the process of democratization, causing turmoil and endangering the basic governance of society.
Consciousness is essential for the implementation of democracy. People must have a sense of civic responsibility as well as a sense of civil rights. Without this basic consciousness, democracy may go astray, becoming a blank check for people to make demands or behave in disorderly ways in their local areas.
This is not to say that free elections are unnecessary. It is not an excuse to avoid political reform in China. It is just to point out the reality of grassroots China, which has never experienced democracy in all its 5,000-year history.
As early as 1995, China began experimenting with village-level elections. In many rural areas, elections are already institutionalized at the village, township and county levels. However, even in these areas the flower of democracy has not fully blossomed. Many people don't use their rights fully; instead they try by all means to grasp an opportunity to further their personal interests.
In reality, it is commonplace that people do not use their right to vote to select a qualified candidate; rather, they transfer, pass on or sell this right for a bit of cash or some material benefit. Furthermore, some ambitious candidates use abnormal means to win elections. There are reports of such extreme behaviors as kidnapping, blackmailing and even murdering in an attempt to hijack elections. This amounts to stealing the people's right to vote.
Another factor is that China's real economic situation does not support political reforms. With basic survival still an issue in many parts of China, it is not yet time to put democratization at the top of the agenda.
The World Bank and other institutions have issued impressive statistics about the huge size of the Chinese economy. China's gross domestic product topped US$2.6 trillion in 2006, for example, making it the fourth largest economy in the world. However, with a population of 1.3 billion, the per capita GDP figure is only US$2,000, making China a lower-middle income nation, ranked 105th overall.
A recent Chinese government report argues that China's is still a low-level economy. There is also a great income gap between the east and west; GDP in the western regions is less than 40 percent that in the country's well-developed eastern coastal areas.
The gap is particularly wide when rural areas and urban areas are compared. Rural residents' income averages around 30 percent that of urban citizens. China in fact has not accomplished its goal of eradicating poverty. About 10 percent of the population -- some 130 million people -- lives below the international poverty line. According to the latest report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the countryside is at least seven years behind the city in terms of development and living standards. More time is needed before the whole nation will enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.
Therefore for much of modern-day China, food is still more important than the right to vote. Until most of China's citizens have decent shelter, adequate food, clean water, affordable healthcare and access to education, the issue of political reform is likely to remain on the back burner. It is far from the list of priority concerns for the vast majority of the nation's people.
Democracy is a good thing, most people will agree, but for China it is not yet time to experience full-fledged democracy. Cultivating a democratic consciousness at the grassroots level is more important than merely setting up an election system that can be manipulated or misused.
Even though the issue of political reforms may be on the agenda of the Communist Party Congress next week, it is not likely that sweeping changes will be introduced. The process of democratization takes time, requiring education and gradual implementation. The process is on track with the updating of the constitution, the enactment of laws to protect individual rights as well as social order, and the efforts to more evenly distribute the nation's wealth.
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(Zhang Quanyi is an associate professor at the Zhejiang Wanli University in Ningbo, China, and a PhD candidate at Shanghai International Studies University, studying policy making and collective identity. He is currently a research fellow at the School of International Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, under a grant by the Korea Foundation. He can be contacted at qyzhangupi@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Zhang Quanyi.)
