The Self-Government System by Grassroot Level Masses

In accordance with the Constitution and laws, urban residents’ committees, villagers’ committees, and workers’ congresses are composed of members elected by residents, villagers, and enterprise employees to implement self-management, self-service, self-education, and self-supervision, and democratic supervision of cadres. This is the most direct, the most extensive and the most vivid practice for developing socialist democracy in China, and an important part of the socialist democratic system with Chinese characteristics. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee, the household contract responsibility system initiated by rural areas quickly swept across the country. Farmers have gained autonomy in production and operation, and become relatively independent business entities and stakeholders. They are concerned about their vital interests and the management of village affairs, and eager to use political democratic rights to protect their economic autonomy. Villagers in some villages spontaneously elected and established villagers’ committees. In June 1981, the “Resolution on Certain Historical Issues of the Party Since the Founding of the New China” passed by the 6th Plenary Session of the Eleventh CPC Central Committee clearly stated that, “the gradual realization of the people’s direct democracy in grassroots political power and grassroots social life” should be included into the process of gradually building a high-level democratic socialist political system. In September 1982, the 12th CPC National Congress further pointed out: “to extend the socialist democracy to all aspects of political life, economic life, cultural life, and social life, develop democratic administration of various enterprises and public institutions, and develop mass autonomy in basic social life.” In December 1982, the National People’s Congress wrote the villagers’ committees and urban residents’ committees into the Constitution for the first time.

The 13th CPC National Congress proposed to promote “the institutionalization of democratic life at the grassroots level”. The 14th CPC National Congress proposed to “strengthen the construction of grassroots democracy, and earnestly give play to the role of the workers' councils, urban residents' committees and villagers' committees”. The 15th CPC National Congress proposed to improve the grassroots democratic election system, implement administrative affairs and financial disclosure, and allow the masses to participate in discussions and decisions on grassroots public affairs and public welfare. The 16th CPC National Congress clearly summarized grassroots democracy into three aspects: rural villagers’ autonomy, urban residents’ autonomy, and democratic administration of enterprises and public institutions. The 17th CPC National Congress considered the grassroots mass autonomy system as one of the four important systems for the construction of socialist democracy in China, and further proposed that the development of grassroots democracy should be promoted as one of the fundamental work priorities for developing socialist democracy, so as to ensure that the people enjoy more and practical democratic rights.

The 18th CPC National Congress further proposed to “improve the grassroots democratic system”. The “four democracies”: democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic administration, and democratic supervision, are the brilliant extraction and summary of the Party's democratic practice to the people. Among them, democratic elections are the prerequisite for grassroots mass autonomy. It has realized the transition of the villagers’ committee cadres from past organizational appointments to democratic elections by the masses, and has gradually embarked on a standardized, institutionalized, and procedural track. Democratic decision-making is the key to grassroots mass autonomy. It has realized that matters that involve the interests of all villagers (residents) will be discussed collectively by villagers (residents) based on certain procedures, and decisions made shall be followed by all people. Democratic administration is the foundation of grassroots mass autonomy. It refers to mobilize and rely on the villagers (residents) to jointly manage the affairs of the village (community), realize self-management and self-discipline, and achieve the purpose of autonomy. Democratic supervision is the guarantee for grassroots mass autonomy. It refers to that the villagers (residents) supervise major affairs in the village (community) and supervise the work of the villagers' (residents') committee and village (community) cadres’ behaviors through the disclosure of village (community) affairs, democratic appraisal of village (community) cadres and regular work reports of the villagers' (residents') committee, etc. The focus of democratic supervision is the disclosure of village (community) affairs. All major affairs in the village (community) and issues commonly concerned by the villages (residents) should be disclosed to the masses. The autonomy of the urban and rural grassroots masses has become a basic political system of China’s urban and rural grassroots society, and played an increasingly important role in the process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The formation and improvement of the grassroots mass autonomy system has developed direct democracy at the grassroots level and ensured that the people directly exercise democratic rights in accordance with the law. This is conducive to the improvement of the people’s ability to manage their own affairs in accordance with the law and the improvement of their civic awareness and democratic quality, thus maintaining the great vitality and lasting power of the urban and rural grassroots democracy in China, and also providing successful experience for the development of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.