Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.11, 2014

 

The Role of Consultative Democracy in a Constitutional System and the Rule of Law in China

(Abstract)

 

Ma Yide

 

The rule of law in China should be advanced under a systems framework. The systems framework on which the Chinese rule of law relies is shaped by the socialist democratic system. Socialist consultative democracy, which responds to the core themes of prescription, Party leadership, the democratic tradition of New China, and native resources for constructing the rule of law in China, is an important resource for constructing the rule of law in China. In a constitutional system of “governing party—political power—the people” that takes sovereignty of the people as its starting point, Governing democracy plays the role of functional coupling. Popular sovereignty gains political legitimacy on the basis of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, thus translating the will of the governing party into the will of the state. Consultative democracy constitutes the essential process of national decision-making, on which we can construct the inherent logical sequence of “Governing Party—Consultative Conference—People’s Congress.” The democratic supervision exercised by the Consultative Conference is an extension of political consultation, thus unfolds the systems framework of the rule of law in China.