Experts illustrate China's whole-process democracy in pursuit of modernization

BEIJING -- The theory and practice of whole-process democracy play a significant role in China's overarching agenda of pursuing socialist modernization in all aspects, according to political science experts.

As a hallmark of what distinguishes socialist democracy from Western political systems, China's whole-process democracy runs through all processes including elections, decision-making, administration and supervision.

"Advancing political development is a common task faced by many countries, though they pursue different development paths," said Sang Yucheng, a professor at Fudan University.

For China, political development has been realized through the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and it is of great importance to fully build a modern socialist country, Sang added.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, the political development of socialism with Chinese characteristics has made notable progress, Sang noted.

In March 2021, "whole-process democracy" was written into the revised Organic Law of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, which consolidated the institutional foundation for its practice.

On a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country, Sang believed advancing whole-process democracy is essential to better meet people's increasing demand for a better life and remedy imbalances and inadequacies in development.

"Developing whole-process democracy speaks volume about the underlying feature of socialist democracy that ensures the people run the country," said Shang Hongri, a professor at the Shanghai Normal University.

Under the socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics, people can enjoy and exercise their statutory right to vote and can participate in decision-making, administration and supervision.

There are ample examples of democracy in China, from top-level design to grassroots wisdom.

In the formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035, the National Development and Reform Commission, tasked with drafting the outline, received over 37,000 comments through online solicitation along with more than 4,000 physical questionnaires handed out to specific groups.

"We should continue developing whole-process democracy to rally public support to the maximum extent and live up to people's expectations for a better life," said Shang.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of Qiushi Journal.