Jingyao Wang: A Preliminary Exploration of People's Democracy in the Whole Process: the CPC's Practice of Building Democratic Power in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas

Jingyao Wang discusses A Preliminary Exploration of People's Democracy in the Whole Process: the CPC's Practice of Building Democratic Power in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas

…In learning from the experience of the Soviet Union in building a democratic regime, the CPC emphasized that the Chinese Party should learn from the successful experience of Soviet construction in the Soviet Union and apply it widely among its party members and the general public, so as to prepare cadres and talents in advance and to construct the regime structure in an agile manner. The CPC's practical experience in the construction of Soviet power in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas was an initial exploration of regime building, with its main measures imitating the Soviet model of democracy in the USSR, but at the same time incorporating the unique elements of the Chinese Revolution and embedding the innovative spirit of the CPC. At the spiritual level of democracy building, the CPC actively promoted the theory of soviets, elaborated in depth its connotation and concrete practice, spread the consciousness of soviet democracy, and consciously strengthened the construction of democratic ideology among workers, peasants, and soldiers; at the organizational level, it chose the meeting of the people's deputies and sent representatives to interface with the grassroots masses before seizing power, to ensure that the organization of the regime was tightly organized in terms of democracy and that the CPC had an influential role to play. …(p.80)

Emphasis Mine

Wang argues that the growth of democracy in China is an iterative process under the guidance of the CPC starting from the Soviet model expressed in the October revolution. The divergence from the Soviet model is based upon experiences in China. The impetus for democratic evolution in China comes from the CPC.

In the course of promoting the construction of base areas, the CPC has carried out continuous practice and exploration with regard to the construction of democratic regimes. First of all, in-depth studies were conducted on how to effectively solve the problem of peasants' survival on the land. The low level of agricultural production and the poverty of peasants at that time seriously affected the Party's ruling base and mass foundation. The CPC attached great importance to the issue of peasants and land, and promulgated a series of central documents and laws to clarify the connotation of land policy. [T]he 1931 Land Law of the Chinese Soviet Republic stipulated that "the confiscation of the land of landlords and the land of other large private owners is authorized," and that it "stands in the interests of the basic peasantry and the future development of the revolution. "on the basis of the basic interests of the masses and the future development of the revolution", the land decree was adopted "as the best guarantee for the solution of the land problem" . The distribution of land benefits based on the material basis of the people's livelihood and the interest of the people as one of the fundamental goals of the process of democracy building, thus completely destroyed the economic basis of rural feudalism and at the same time stimulated the political awakening of the peasant masses. The distribution of land to the masses of peasants greatly liberated the productive forces and touched upon the material issues that were of greatest concern to the peasants, which also led to a high degree of enthusiasm for participation in the democratic revolution, and they responded positively to the call of the Revolutionary War by enthusiastically enlisting in the army and the war, pushing forward the development of production, and taking an active part in the governance of the soviet state and in the building of the Soviet regime. (p.81)

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Wang contends that economic liberation and growth precedes development of democracy in China.

In the Central Revolutionary Base Areas, under the system of "soviets", the Party led the establishment of democratic power for workers and peasants at all levels. Democracy in the Chinese soviets was characterized by a broad range of participating subjects, a full range of coverage, with the soviets striving to respond truthfully to the views of the people in every aspect, from the political and economic to the social life of society and from the central to the grass-roots levels; and a full range of processes, with the soviets emphasizing not only mass participation during the period of the democratic elections, but also post-democratic governance, in order to safeguard the nature of a regime where the people are the masters of their own affairs. (p.82)

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This post-democratic governance extends to review of any proposed legislation by the populace as Wang writes below:

Secondly, the democratic decision-making process is "complete". The Party's exploration of democratic decision-making under the leadership of the people is mainly reflected in the process of building the rule of law in the Chinese Soviet Republic. In the process of legislative proposals, legislative research, the writing of draft legislation, the discussion and revision of legislative documents, and the implementation of legal documents, emphasis is placed on listening to the views of the masses and strengthening the people's participation in the entire chain of legislative work. When drafting laws, the opinions and needs of all strata of the population are fully heeded and legal provisions are formulated. (p.82)

Emphasis Mine

My understanding is the Whole Process People's Democracy consists of the following elements:

1. The central and guiding role of the CPC: Western media would contend that this is the basis of authoritarianism in China as there is no way to replace the CPC with another party, say the KMT.
2. Continual evolution: democracy in China started in the base areas from the ideal of the Soviets and has evolved since.
3. Necessity of Economic Liberation: Without peasant control of the land, a democratic society could not be built. Without economic growth and those benefits flowing to the peasants, the peasants could not participate in the democratic process. Notice that State and Private Capitalism is not being challenged at this time.
4. Post-democratic Governance: Democratic participation does not stop at the ballot box but continue with the involvement in the development of legislation directly by the people.

References

Wang, J. (2023). A Preliminary Exploration of People's Democracy in the Whole Process: the CPC's Practice of Building Democratic Power in the Central Revolutionary Base Areas. Transactions on Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 1, 79-86.