Chinese Government 1980s Institutional Reforms
The Chinese government has implemented a series of institutional reforms in the process of rationalizing the Chinese political system. The Tiananmen Square protest of the 1989 in China was contributed by political, and various socio-economic problems causes by the Chinese leadership structure. During the Tiananmen student-led demonstrations, a large number of the civilians died, and the Chinese government implemented several institutional reforms to prevent the socio-economic problems that led to the Tiananmen tragedy. One party political system in 1980s was a major political problem that faced China. Institutional reforms including party and economic reforms helped in tackling of political, social, and economic problems in China in the 1980s.
Implementing leadership transition reform by Chinese government was one of the party efforts used in solving political instability in China in 1980s. Before establishing the power transition policy, there was only two political power transitions in China that had took place in China since the establishment of People’s Republic of China in 1949 (Wang, 26). The one party leadership in China was a major challenge in the country that led the students to organize the Tiananmen protests. The one party leadership for many years in China restricted citizens from practicing their political rights, which contributed to the protests. Advocates for the political justice, and protests in China in the 1980s saw the Chinese government implement the succession policy that allowed power succession from one political party to another. The reform allowed the transition of power from Deng Xiaoping to Jiang Zemin in 1989. Allowing power transition from one individual to another and from one political party to another ensured that fresh ideas were implemented by the government. The power transition reform also allowed the citizens to participate in electing the preferred leaders, which helped to end protests that had caused many deaths in China in 1989. Power transition to Jiang in 1989 allowed Jiang to concentrate in programs in promoting more educated corps in the country, which enhanced security of the country, and led to political stability in China. Economic reforms in China assisted in poverty reduction in the country in 1980s.
Regionally decentralized authoritarian economic reforms in China resulted in spectacular growth and poverty reduction in the country. Before the economic reforms of the 1980s, the China national government was the only body that was involved in development strategies of the entire country. The local citizens were not allowed to participate in making decisions on the kind of development projects to be implemented. The introduction of regionally decentralized authoritarian system in China led to the establishment of the sub-national governments (Chenggang, 525). The sub-national governments introduced were more close to the native citizens, which allowed the citizens to participate in deciding the type of development projects to be implemented. Allowing citizens to participate in deciding on type of development projects to be implemented ensured that the most relevant and critical development projects were implemented, which led to the economic growth and reduction of poverty in China.
In sum, the Chinese government has implemented a series of institutional reforms since the 1980s to rationalize the Chinese political system. Political and socio-economic problems in China led to fierce demonstrations in China including the Tiananmen protests. The protests led to mass killings causing the Chinese government to implement various institutional reforms to solve the political, social, and the economic problems in the country. Power transition political reform allowed citizens to participate in electing the leader of their choice, which led to political stability in China. Regionally decentralized authoritarian economic reform led to establishment of sub-national governments, which allowed citizens to decide on development projects they required resulting in economic development.
Works Cited
Wang, Zhengxu, and Anastas Vangeli. “The rules and norms of leadership succession in China: From Deng Xiaoping to xi Jinping and beyond.” The China Journal 76.1 (2016): 24-40.
Xu, Chenggang. “China’s political-economic institutions and development.” Cato J. 35 (2015): 525.