Democratization and the rise of China's civil society through homeowners' mobilization

Thèmes abordés

China, Democratization, Homeowners mobilization, transition to democracy

Résumé du document

Today, China is one of the greatest economical powers in the world; it has risen, in less than a century, from an underdeveloped country to a major player in the global order. Having achieved economical growth, China now faces many issues that will need sorting in order to ensure social peace inside its borders. Indeed, the political questions are more prone to come back now that the economy is back on tracks and with the influence of globalisation and the western values it brings along.

I believe that the question of democratization is quite crucial for China now that there is a quite a solid middle class, which is usually responsible for the transition towards democracy in authoritarian countries. The meaning of democracy can be quickly summarized as: “a mode of decision making about collectively binding rules and policies over which the people exercise control, and the most democratic arrangements is that where all members of the collectivity enjoy effective equal rights to take part in such decision makings directly – one, that is to say, which realises to the greatest conceivable degree on the principles of popular control and equality in its exercise” (Beetham 1992). This is the very essence of the principle of grass rooting democracy, introducing local elections and direct decision making: making the people in charge of its own predicament.
This democratization is in a way already at work in the PRC thanks for instance to local elections, new laws about natural rights and the strong desire to clean the state apparatus of corruption. But there is still a long way to go and that is where the importance of a strong civil society comes in handy, indeed, it is a key factor to the evolution of the regime. Without a strong will of the people to take charge of its predicament and influence the evolution of the government, the transition to democracy will be much slower.

To resume, I will ask myself in this paper two main questions: What is the prospect on china's democratization and how does the rise of a civil society play a part in this process? And I will study this rise of the civil society through homeowners' resistance, a phenomenon that is growing in the PRC today and that reflects quite well this “new” involvement of the citizens

Extraits

[...] As Mr Wang pointed out, the emergence of a strong civil society is quite encouraging. The Internet was a breakthrough for the population: it allows a more direct access to all information, even though the government tries to retain some of it with the censorship process. But the people is able to find information, to discuss issues online on chats, to organize “demonstrations” I believe that the main argument in favour of china's prospective democratization is this rise of the civil society: the Chinese people is starting to develop its political involvement and the defence of their rights on a day to day basis is a new issue. [...]

[...] They become part of a community of involved citizens with a common cause. The results of these mobilizations are variable; homeowners can find success as they can face repression. But mostly, it seems that a good deal of local protest is tolerated and sometimes led to positive responses but as soon as it can become something bigger, the government immediately intervenes. Also, the involvement of the medias or the existence of casualties is an important factor in the decision of repression. [...]

[...] 314-332 SNYDER Richard and MAHONEY James, The Missing Variable: Institutions and the Study of Regime Change, in Comparative Politics, Vol No (Oct., 1999), pp. 103-122. THORNTON Patricia, “Framing Dissent in Contemporary China: Irony, Ambiguity and Metonymy”, The China Quarterly, Vol pp. 661-681 TOMBA Luigi, “Creating an Urban Middle Class: Social Engineering in Beijing”, The China Journal, Vol No pp. 1-26 TOMBA Luigi, “Residential Space and Collective Interest Formation in Beijing's Housing Disputes”, The China Quarterly, Vol pp. 934- 951 ZHANG Taisu, Xinfang Phenomenon: Why the Chinese Prefer Administrative Petitioning over Litigation”, Yale University Student Scholarship Papers ZHENG Yongnian, Will China become democratic ? [...]

[...] For example, private citizens could not keep their land if the government decide they should leave. In 1946, the CCP launched a vast land reform in China years before the creation of the PRC. This operation had the support of the poor and the middle peasantry in expropriating and redistributing the land. This reform led to the death of millions of landlords: estimations are from dead according to Chairman Mao to according to scholar RJ Rummel (In 1976, the US government estimated one million killed in the reform.) During the mid fifties, the second land reform was launched during the Great Leap Forward. [...]

[...] The central government also intervenes in some case, in legislation and direction. There are more or less three main categories of violations, first, the one concerning the housing per se (mostly poor quality of housing), then the housing demolitions (mostly because of the outrageously low compensations) and thirdly these concerning the management of the environment in a compound or residential community (mostly value altering changes to the building after the buyers have purchased their property). The methods of actions are multiple, usually, homeowners regroups to stage their protest, they can petition, address to the government, expose corruption cases, call for the media attention, they mobilize all their resources. [...]