CHINESE DEMOCRACY IN THE MAKING: IS IT A WAY FORWARD IN DEMOCRACY PROMOTION?

This article scrutinises the proposition that China’s evolving governance practices—limited electoral experiments, intra-party consultation, transparency drives and rule-by-law initiatives—constitute a distinctive pathway toward democratisation and whether such a pathway offers lessons for democracy promotion elsewhere. It distinguishes procedural openings from substantive pluralism, and explores how economic growth, social media emergence and urbanisation created pressures for accountability while the Party retained organisational dominance. The paper reviews village-level elections, local deliberation forums and administrative law reforms, evaluating their breadth, depth and durability. It argues that while incremental innovations can improve responsiveness and curb some local abuses, they do not on their own imply a linear transition to liberal democracy; external democracy-promotion strategies should therefore prioritise norms, institutions and rights protections over replicating forms without context.

The body begins with a typology of political reforms since the late 1970s, highlighting cadre evaluation reforms, petition systems and transparency initiatives such as government information disclosure. Section One evaluates village committee elections and experiments with township-level selection, focusing on candidate choice, party oversight and accountability outcomes. Section Two analyses consultative mechanisms—people’s congress hearings, budgeting transparency and online feedback portals—assessing their capacity to influence policy. Section Three discusses rule-by-law advances and limits: administrative litigation, procuratorate oversight and the boundaries imposed by party leadership. Section Four considers societal drivers—middle-class expectations, inequality, and digital mobilisation—alongside risk management and stability maintenance. The conclusion contrasts instrumental reforms that boost performance legitimacy with rights-based democratization, suggesting that external actors should emphasise universal civil liberties, judicial independence and civic space while engaging pragmatically on governance improvements that tangibly benefit citizens.