February 17, 2000	atimes.com

China An election with Chinese characteristics By James A Robinson After years of observing democratic elections of various sorts in Asia, I have recently seen, for the first time, a village committee election with Chinese characteristics. Bei Taiping Zhuang is a village of 659 peasants in Hebei province. In the mid-19th century, this area was near the northernmost boundary of the Taiping Rebellion, an anti-imperial movement which began when a religious man from south China roused the loyalties of millions of peasants by claiming to be God's second son. Partially as a result of that legacy, the Catholic Church continues to have adherents here. Many worship in the so-called patriotic (ie, state-sanctioned) churches - some of whose priests recently were made bishops by the Chinese government, to the consternation of the Vatican. Other worshippers meet "underground", in homes or house churches. As a recent case elsewhere in Hebei demonstrated, worshippers that lack official approval can be arrested. Currently, however, in Bei Taiping Zhuang and elsewhere in the country, a different sort of ritual stirs public interest - and even offers at least some evidence of greater political openness. Millions of peasants in more than 800,000 villages can now go to the polls to elect the members of their local committees. These elections have been held since 1987, with some provinces having had as many as five rounds of voting, and a few even six. According to Zhan Chengfu, the coordinator of basic rural governance for the Ministry of Civil Affairs, all but a handful of villages have held at least one election. While reliable aggregate statistics are scarce (even the total number of villages is a matter of dispute among ministries), the use of open nominations and secret ballots seems to be on the rise. The increase stems in part from experience but also from the stipulations of the revised 1998 organic law on village committee elections, which was adopted by the National People's Congress, and from tutelage by Carter Center delegations during the last several years. Thanks to a large body of materials collected by journalists and political scientists, including Carter Center observers, it is now possible to answer, with some confidence, the question "How democratic are these elections?" Signs of change Among signs of democratic practices taking root is the right of any adult aged 18 or over not only to vote, but also to stand for office as one of the village chairs, vice chairs, or member of the village committee. Migrant workers, however, are ineligible. According to the 1998 election law, "Female members should take a proper portion in the village committee." In practice, this has meant that most villagers nominate one woman to the committee, and she frequently wins a seat. Each voter has the same voting power as all others, casting one vote for chair and one for vice chair and as many votes as there are committee seats to be filled. The Ministry of Civil Affairs has undertaken a massive effort to train election workers with an emphasis on secret ballots. In early elections, mobile ballot boxes roamed the village collecting voters' choices, but these are falling into disuse. Proxy voting, however, still is permitted by the 1998 law, although some provinces have added regulations limiting surrogate voting to two votes. Illiteracy, a common problem in small villages, presents further obstacles, but creative solutions have been found. In Bei Taiping Zhuang, teachers were brought in from outside the village to provide assistance with written ballots, thus increasing the likelihood that voters' preferences would be kept confidential. Mature democracy, unsurprisingly, still appears to be a long way off. One expectation of a democratic system is interaction between the electorate and the elected. In the several elections I observed, the voters were passive and docile. They congregated in a school or a village office and quietly received instructions about the election procedures from the chair of the village election committee. I observed no voters asking questions or showing any visible response. Even in one village where candidates held brief campaign speeches, the audience displayed little reaction, barely applauding one speaker and ignoring the rest. There was, in short, no "town meeting" spirit of engagement in the villages. It is possible, of course, that voters had conferred among themselves elsewhere during the five days between nominations and election. But heavy work burdens and the absence of a village center suggest rather that popular attention to politics is minimal. To be sure, one could observe couples in the same voting booth marking ballots, perhaps indicating some family discussion of politics. One of the most notable aspects of the village elections is the continued - but significantly altered - role of the Chinese Communist Party. In a number of villages, our delegation was told, the office of chair and the office of party secretary now are filled by the same person. Local politicians tout this as a cost-saving measure to benefit the poor peasants, since the village and the party split the chair's salary. Some candidates list party membership as a qualification for office, or join the party after winning a village office. Significantly, the party has had to cede its formerly complete control over the nomination process. Previously, party-dominated filtering committees would exclude popular nominees that were unacceptable to the party. Under the new "haxiuan" method of nomination, every villager may nominate a candidate for office and those getting the most recognition vie in the election. The balloting system has also introduced some obstacles to fair elections, because, despite the relative primitiveness of the paper ballots (compared to the high-tech features in Japan, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, for example), they can be confusing. Rules sometimes allow for write-in candidates, and permit a vote of either yes or no for each candidate, which means that some ballots are disqualified because too many names get marked. On the other hand, we saw no first-hand evidence of anything but honest counting. The next stage of democratization As desirable as administrative improvements in the elections are, democratization will only truly move forward if the scope of village self-government expands along with increased citizen participation in higher levels of political control. Above villages, the next division of administration is the township, where elections would take on a much greater significance because, for example, the police forces are organized at that level. One township in Sichuan Province, Buyun, did in fact elect its chief in December 1998, but the party and central government passed the word that such elections were not to be replicated. However, in government research bureaus and nongovernmental venues, alternative approaches to township democracy are being readied for the day when, their designers hope, the fourth generation of leaders brings in a different attitude toward local governance. It is intriguing that expectations for political reform are now being discussed in diverse circles. One well-placed rising star was asked whether he anticipates township elections in the near future. He replied optimistically, "Of course." Asked to be more specific, he responded, "Within five years." Another well-informed, former participant from the days of the second generation leadership thinks higher-level elections will arise "not soon". But when pressed, he guessed "about five years". Considerable latitude has been tolerated in commerce and other social sectors since the opening to reform 20 years ago, but far less in politics. Ultimately, further democratic reforms will depend on calculations of the party leaders' self-interest. China's electoral theorists are preparing themselves for an opening they cannot create. *James Robinson, a political scientist, is President Emeritus and Regents Professor at the University of West Florida. He recently observed village elections in China's Hebei Province as a member of a Carter Center delegation. (FPRI, 1528 Walnut Street, Suite 610, Philadelphia, PA 19102-3684. For membership information, contact Alan Luxenberg at 215-732-3774, ext 105 or fpri@fpri.org)

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