Thanks, interesting to read. What is there in the Chinese political system that ensures the CPC is itself accountable to the Chinese people? As far as I can tell, it seems to be rely heavily on an internal commitment to serve the people, but very little external constraint other than (perhaps) the threat of public outrage and protest (which I understand is a right protected under China's constitution).
It's not clear to me that Western political systems do in fact ensure accountability to the people either, as elections are invariably dominated by a "duopoly" of two established parties, although this is not guaranteed. (There are examples of established parties becoming irrelevant - e.g., the Liberals in the UK, but this is a slow process.)
Perhaps a useful rule would be a requirement that every member of the Politburo must be a member of one of the local People's Congress, so every Politburo member is directly accountable in some direct election. (Just as how every Minister in the Westminster system has to be an Member of Parliament accountable to a local electorate.)
the most common sense answer I can come up with is "choose whatever political system that works for your country". At least for China the current system is working and delivering.
Thanks, interesting to read. What is there in the Chinese political system that ensures the CPC is itself accountable to the Chinese people? As far as I can tell, it seems to be rely heavily on an internal commitment to serve the people, but very little external constraint other than (perhaps) the threat of public outrage and protest (which I understand is a right protected under China's constitution).
It's not clear to me that Western political systems do in fact ensure accountability to the people either, as elections are invariably dominated by a "duopoly" of two established parties, although this is not guaranteed. (There are examples of established parties becoming irrelevant - e.g., the Liberals in the UK, but this is a slow process.)
Perhaps a useful rule would be a requirement that every member of the Politburo must be a member of one of the local People's Congress, so every Politburo member is directly accountable in some direct election. (Just as how every Minister in the Westminster system has to be an Member of Parliament accountable to a local electorate.)
the most common sense answer I can come up with is "choose whatever political system that works for your country". At least for China the current system is working and delivering.