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National Congress Main article: National Congress of the Communist Party of China The National Congress is the party's supreme organ, and is held every fifth year (in the past there were long intervals between congresses, but since the 9th National Congress in 1969, congresses have been held regularly).[48] According to the party's constitution, a congress may not be postponed except "under extraordinary circumstances".[49] A congress may be held before the given date if the Central Committee so decides, or if "one third of the party organizations at the provincial level so request".[49] Under Mao, the delegates to congresses were appointed; however, since 1982 the congress delegates have been elected, due to the decision that there must be more candidates than seats.[50] At the 15th National Congress in 1997, for instance, several princelings (the sons or daughters of powerful CPC officials) failed to be elected to the 15th Central Committee; among them were Chen Yuan, Wang Jun and Bo Xilai.[51] The elections are carried out through secret ballots.[49] Despite this, certain seats are not subject to elections; instead, the outgoing Central Committee "recommends" certain choices to the party electorate.[52] These figures are mostly high-ranking members of the party leadership or special guests.[52] For instance, at the 15th National Congress, 60 seats were given to members who had joined the CPC before 1927, and some were given to the outgoing members of the 15th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and the 15th Central Committee.[52] The party constitution gives the National Congress six responsibilities: (1) electing the party's executive and legislative branches, represented by the Central Committee; (2) electing the judicial branch, represented by the CCDI; (3) to examining the report of the outgoing Central Committee; (4) examining the report of the outgoing CCDI; (5) discussing and enacting party policies; and (6) revising the party's constitution.[52] However, the delegates rarely discuss issues in length at the National Congresses; most discussion takes place before the congress, in the preparation period.[52] Constitution Main article: Constitution of the Communist Party of China According to the CPC-published book Concise History of the Communist Party of China, the party's first constitution was adopted at the 1st National Congress.[53] Since then several constitutions have been written, such as the second constitution, adopted at the 7th National Congress.[53] The constitution regulates party life, and the CCDI is responsible for supervising the party to ensure that it is followed.[54] The constitution currently in force was adopted at the 12th National Congress.[55] It has many affinities with the state constitution, and they are generally amended either at party congresses or shortly thereafter.[56] The preamble of the state constitution is largely copied from the "General Program" (the preamble) of the party constitution.[57] Central Committee Main article: Central Committee of the Communist Party of China The Central Committee is empowered by the party constitution to enact policies in the periods between party congresses.[58] A Central Committee is de jure elected by a party Congress, but in reality its membership is chosen by the central party leadership.[58] The authority of the Central Committee has increased in recent years, with the leaders rarely, if ever, going against Central Committee, which often occurred during the early years of the People's Republic.[49] The Central Committee is required to meet at least once every year;[59] however, in the early years of the People's Republic there were several years when it did not convene at all; 1951–53, 1960, 1963–65, 1967, 1971, 1974 and 1976.[60] While the Central Committee is the highest organ in the periods between party congresses, few resolutions cite its name. Instead, the majority of party resolutions refer to the "Communist Party Centre", an indirect way of protecting the powers of, and resolutions produced by, the Politburo, the Politburo Standing Committee and the General Secretary.[59] This method shields the central party leadership from lower-level bodies, reducing accountability, as lower levels can never be sure which body produced which resolution.[59] In contrast to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the CPC Central Committee does not have the power to remove general secretaries or other leading officials, despite the fact that the party constitution grants it those rights.[61] When the CPV dismissed its General Secretary Do Muoi, it convened a special session of its Central Committee, and when it chose its new general secretary, it convened another Central Committee plenum.[61] In contrast, in China, when the CPC dismissed Hu Yaobang (in 1987) and Zhao Ziyang in 1989, the Politburo, not the Central Committee, convened a special session.[59] Not only did the meeting itself break constitutional practices, since the CPC constitution clearly states that a Central Committee session must be called, but the meeting included several party veterans who were neither formal members of the Politburo nor of the Central Committee.[61] In short, the CPC Central Committee, in contrast to the CPV Central Committee, is responsible to the higher bodies of the party (the Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee), while in Vietnam the higher bodies are accountable to the Central Committee.[62] Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Main article: Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is responsible for monitoring and punishing CPC cadres who abuse power, are corrupt or in general commit wrongdoing.[63] CCDI organs exist at every level of the party hierarchy.[63] The CCDI is the successor to the Control Commission, abolished in 1968 at the height of the Cultural Revolution.[64] Although the CCDI was originally designed to restore party morale and discipline, it has taken over many of the functions of the former Control Commission.[65] The CCDI is elected by the National Congress, held every fifth year.[65] Bodies of the Central Committee Party leader Main articles: Chairman of the Communist Party of China and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China At the party's founding in 1921, Chen Duxiu was elected as the party leader, holding the position of Secretary of the Central Bureau. As the party expanded, the title changed several times over the next 3 years, until in 1925 the title General Secretary was introduced.[66] The term General Secretary continued in general use until 1943, when Mao Zedong was elected as Chairman of the Politburo. In 1945, Mao was elected Chairman of the CPC Central Committee, the title he held for the rest of his life.[66] The office of General Secretary was revived in 1956 at the 8th National Congress, but it functioned as a lesser office, responsible to the office of the CPC Chairman.[67] At a party meeting in 1959, Mao explained the relationship between the CPC Chairman and the CPC General Secretary as follows: "As Chairman, I am the commander; as General Secretary, Deng Xiaoping is deputy commander."[68] The office of Chairman of the Communist Party was abolished in 1982, and replaced with that of General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee.[69] According to the party constitution, the General Secretary must be a member of the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), and is responsible for convening meetings of the PSC and the Politburo, while also presiding over the work of the Secretariat.[70] The party's leader holds the offices of General Secretary (responsible for civilian party duties), Chairman of the Central Military Commission (responsible for military affairs) and state president (a largely ceremonial position). Through these posts the party leader is the country's paramount leader. Politburo Main article: Politburo of the Communist Party of China The Politburo of the Central Committee "exercises the functions and powers of the Central Committee when a plenum is not in session".[71] It is formally elected at the first plenary meeting of each newly elected Central Committee.[71] In reality, however, Politburo membership is decided by the central party leadership.[71] During his rule, Mao controlled the composition of the Politburo himself.[71] The Politburo was de facto the highest organ of power until the 8th National Congress, when the PSC was established.[67] The powers given to the PSC came at the expense of the Politburo.[67] The Politburo meets at least once a month.[72] The CPC General Secretary is responsible for convening the Politburo.[70] From 2003 onwards, the Politburo has been delivering a work report to every Central Committee plenum, further cementing the Politburo's status as accountable to the Central Committee.[73] Also, from the 16th National Congress onwards, the CPC has been reporting on meetings of the Politburo, the PSC and its study sessions.[74] However, the reports do not contain all the information discussed at the meetings; the end of the reports usually notes that "other matters" were also discussed at the meeting.[74] In the Politburo, decisions are reached through consensus, not votes.[75] In certain cases, straw votes are used to see how many members support or oppose a certain case (these straw votes do not necessarily affect the ultimate decision).[75] Every member has the right to participate in the collective discussion.[75] It is the CPC General Secretary who convenes the Politburo and sets the agenda for the meeting.[75] Each Politburo member is told of the agenda beforehand, and is given materials by the General Secretary on the subject so as to be prepared for the discussions.[75] The first person to speak at the meeting is the member who proposed the agenda.[75] After that, those who know about the subject, or whose work is directly related to it, may speak.[75] Then those who doubt or oppose the agenda speak.[75] Lastly, the General Secretary speaks, and he usually supports the agenda, as he supported discussing it in the first place.[75] When the General Secretary is finished speaking, he calls for a vote.[75] If the vote is unanimous or nearly so, it may be accepted; if the vote is nearly unanimous, but members who directly work in the area discussed oppose it, the issue will be postponed.[76] When the Politburo enacts a decision without all the members' agreement, the other members usually try to convince their opponents.[76] In many ways, the CPC Politburo's policy decision-making is very similar to that of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union after Nikita Khrushchev's removal.[77] Politburo Standing Committee Main article: Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) is the highest organ of the Communist Party when neither the Politburo, the Central Committee and the National Congress are in session.[78] It convenes at least once a week.[72] It was established at the 8th National Congress, in 1958, to take over the policy-making role formerly assumed by the Secretariat.[67] The PSC is "the primary decision-making body, though there is growing evidence of its being made more responsive to the collective agreements of the entire Politburo."[79] Despite formal rules stating that a PSC member must serve a term in the Politburo before advancing to the PSC, this rule has been breached twice, first in 1992 when Hu Jintao was appointed to PSC, and again in 2007 when Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang were appointed to it.[80] In reality, however, the PSC is not accountable to the Central Committee and has never been.[81] |
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