Understanding China’s Political Economy Ways:

How Chinese Style Democracy leads to Rapid Economic Development

After the end of the cold war, almost all political scientists agree with Fukuyama’s (1992) thesis which states that the ideology of capitalism and liberal democracy is the endpoint of the ideological evolution of mankind and as the final form of human government.

However, the world’s political history did not match what was predicted. China, a country with a communist ideology and most of whom is considered by western scientists as an autocratic country, is now considered to have broken Fukuyama’s thesis.

With an economy set to be the biggest on earth in a few years and expanding international political influence, China is considered to dominate this century (Fenby, 2017). This is confirmed by the IMF’s 2018 report on China’s economic outlook, which predicts that China will displace the United States as the world’s strongest economy by 2030. (IMF, 2018).

This paper aims to discuss the portrait of China’s democracy through the perspective of modernization and political approach theories. First, I will discuss at what point China fits the above theories. Second, I will explain how the role of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China’s political system is and how existing theories do not adequately explain its continued existence. In the conclusion section, I will address why out of these three theories, the political approach theory can analyze China’s current political situation.

Making China Modern

Modernization theory assumes how the transformation of a country that is still traditional into a modern one, through a process of economic growth and social change. Therefore, the first thing that must be done to modernize a society is industrialization (Goorha, 2003). Modernization theory divides a country into developed and developing countries.

The level of progress of a country is measured by the rate of economic growth and technological innovation. Including political change towards democracy (Huntington, 1968). According to Lipset (1994) modernization generates a democratic process through socio-economic development promotes other changes, such as middle-class organization, ideally suited to democracy.

China’s rapid economic growth and social change to some extent can be compatible with modernization theory since it has made a major transformation from a feudal state with a traditional agricultural system in the era of the Qing Dynasty and Mao Zedong to an industrialized country supported by advanced technological infrastructure.

Deng Xiaoping is the architect behind China’s progress. Deng Xiaoping adopted the western model of capitalism by helping to accelerate China’s economy by building special economic zones in Shanghai, Guangdong, and Shenzhen (Muhlhahn, 2o2o).

Later, the success of its economic development made Deng Xiaoping later known as the father of Chinese modernization.

Yet, Deng did not necessarily adopt the whole concept of capitalism, he still adopted and modified the communist political system inherited by Mao Zedong. It might be concluded that Deng’s figure seems to be filled with hypocrisy because it is inconsistent in implementing an ideology.

Deng has always insisted that he does not deny the official ideology of the state. He introduced “communism with Chinese characteristics”, namely a combination of communism led by one party CCP with pragmatic economic policies that are friendly to foreign investment and active in global trade (Kau, 1993).

Despite, Deng’s maneuvers during his tenure have recorded achievements that are narrated as “the largest poverty reduction program in human history”. China’s global sales in 1978 were worth only 10 billion dollars. In the next three decades, the figure was a hundredfold (Bell, 2018).

Economic liberalization is the key, even though in the outer packaging, Deng and China are still labeled communist. This “ideology” was continued by Deng’s successors, until today in the Xi Jinping era, and brought the PRC as one of the largest economic powers in the world.

Nevertheless, based on lessons from China’s development, modernization theory fails to explain the role of a single political party in carrying out development and modernization reforms in China.

Because modernization theory believes the more advanced an economy and the higher the number of the middle class, democracy will become a necessity. Yet, China’s authoritarian one-party system does not adhere to a democratic standard of governance and yet continues to enjoy economic growth.

Will China Democratize?

Unlike modernization theories, which emphasize the economic and developmental aspects of democratization, political approach theories emphasize the essential role of political actors in a country’s democratization.

Geddes (1993) claims when a person is elected, there are three things he will do, first, ensure that he will survive at least his leadership period, second, create a loyal and loyal political machine. will support it, and third, creating an effective government. The three targets identified by Geddes are often not always in line with democratic principles.

Geddes's approach fits the current Chinese political phenomenon. Because the CCP already has a strong hegemony, and its political power has been well consolidated to all actors.

As already mentioned above before, along with economic reforms, Deng Xiaoping re-consolidated the CCP party system. Deng’s concept of Chinese-style communism has been incorporated into one of the mandatory curricula on college campuses. It was also established as the country’s guiding ideology in 1997.

Despite its relatively strong hegemony, the CCP is not immune to the opposition. For example, in 1989, the CCP fundamentally rejected aspirations for democratization in China. Deng’s response to student militancy was aggressive and repressive, resulting in hundreds of fatalities.

This tragedy established a black mark against Deng’s regime and drew international condemnation. China has also received international criticism recently from countries that are members of the G7 group. They accused China must be responsible for human rights abuses against the Uyghur community and violence in Hong Kong (bbccom, 2020).

Subsequently, the international community refers to China as “The Great Firewall of China” due to the government’s strict censorship policies. On the one hand, it is difficult for residents of that country to obtain the same information as to their relatives or friends in other countries. On the other hand, China’s policies make the local technology climate develop quite well. Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba, Weibo, and etc, have proven it.

Institutionally, western-style democracy does not exist in China. However, China argues that to become a developed country, it does not have to follow western standards. In China, the prevailing democratic system is a unique democracy.

As proof, the state respects and protects human rights, it is written in the state constitution. It’s a bit impossible to see any change in the political system in the future since about seven percent or more than 90 million people are members of the CCP (Brill, 2014).

In China, party membership and loyalty are critical to one’s success, whether as a politician, businessman, or even an artist. Billionaires like Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Huawei’s Ren Zhengfei or celebrity Fan Bingbing are all party members.

Although the CCP is quite elitist, the party is adaptive to new values. In 2017, Xi Jinping’s thoughts on Socialism Characterized by China for Welcoming a New Era were included in the CCP Constitution. He wants to make China a leading global political power, turn its military into a world-class power, and eradicate extreme poverty (Xi J, 2019).

Eventually, China has approved the removal of the two-term limit on the presidency, effectively allowing Xi Jinping to remain in power for life. Instead of being resistant to the implementation of this policy, the Chinese people are even more confident in the ruling regime, as evidence, public trust in the Chinese government has risen to 95 percent in 2020 (Edelman, 2020).

It asserts Xi Jinping’s complete control over the CCP and makes it almost impossible to challenge politically.

Conclusion

China has come a long way towards modernism and has become a new force in the global political economy, despite the many contradictions between China’s democratic system and Western-style democracy. Eventually, the best-crafted theories of political approach explain how China’s democracy still survives and continues to drive economic growth.

The CCP’s hegemony has proven to have guaranteed the stability of the regime despite external opposition, and the influence of the CCP will be difficult to successfully challenge.

However, nothing is impossible in politics, the longevity of the CCP in leading the status quo depends on how the CCP faces the crisis that will occur in the future.

For now, whether we agree or disagree, China has made significant contributions to human political civilization. Chinese-style democracy that has resulted in rapid economic growth may be a consideration for a country seeking to correct the previously existing western-style democratic system.

All roads lead to Rome. Why is China not permitted to carve out a path with its own characteristic?