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Developing paper topics #1. http://faculty.washington.edu/swhiting/pols442/442spr12papertopics.pdf China ,leadership, succession. Civil Society in China. Rapid increase of social organizations. Civil Society in China. Facilitating factors Economic reform Work unit society market society
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Developing paper topics #1 • http://faculty.washington.edu/swhiting/pols442/442spr12papertopics.pdf • China ,leadership, succession
Civil Society in China • Rapid increase of social organizations
Civil Society in China • Facilitating factors • Economic reform • Work unit society market society • Emergence of privately controlled wealth
Civil society in China in comparative context Social organizations per 10,000 population China 2.5 USA 52.0 France 110.0 Argentina 25.0 *Lu Xueyi 2008 Note also: uneven distribution within China East vs. West Rural vs. Urban
Civil Society in China • Significance of civil society in theories of democracy • What are the key assumptions?
Civil society—conceptualization • Civil society • Larry Diamond (1999; cited in Tang &Zhan p. 429) • A sphere of independent group activity • Autonomous from the state • Able to make demands on the state
Civil society and pluralism • Pluralism • A system of interest representation in which • Any group can freely form • To express interests autonomous from state control
Civil society—corporatist limitations • Corporatism • A system of interest representation in which • Only certain groups are licensed by the state • In exchange for limitations on their expression of interests
Civil Society—corporatist limitations • The authoritarian state uses a corporatist approach to • Pre-empt the formation of unapproved interest groups • Coopt the interests expressed by approved groups • Repress the expression of interests outside the control of the state • “Regulations on the Registration and Management of Social Organizations” • Implemented by Ministry of Civil Affairs 1998
Regulations Concerning the Registration and Administration of Social Organizations, 1998 • Article 10 (barriers to entry) • > 50 individual members or > 30 unit members. • standardized name and corresponding organizations • NO duplicates allowed (state occupies existing “space”) • permanent address • staffed with full-time personnel to carry out relevant activities • legal assets and source of funds • national social organization • RMB100,000 (U.S.$12,195) • local social organization • RMB30,000 (U.S.$3,659)
Regulations Concerning the Registration and Administration of Social Organizations, 1998 • Article 11 • approval document issued by the authorities concerned. • identification of the initiators and designated responsible persons
Dual Management System双重管理体系 The ‘Regulation on Registration and Administration of Social Organizations’ (1998) requires: • Sponsoring unit in charge of social organization’s operation (yewu zhuguan danwei 业务主管单位) • The unit of registration, which is the Department of Civil Affairs at different level (dengji guanli jiguan登记管理机关) Effects • Limits the number (if not the development) of registered SOs. • Encourages registration under different systems • profit-oriented companies paying taxes, but this raises other barriers • Unregistered • Political risk
Probability of Effective Policy advocacy for Social organizations (Logit regression results, based on 3 province survey by CCSS, PKU 2003) necessity of “embeddedness”
Civil society or corporatism?Case 1: Tiananmen 1989 Wang Dan, Autonomous Students’ Union
Civil society or corporatism?Case 1: Tiananmen 1989 16 • http://www.tsquare.tv/film/gateExcerpts.php
Civil society or corporatism?Case 1: Tiananmen 1989 • Autonomous student union • Suppressed; no multiple organizations allowed • Organizers arrested, sentenced to prison • Wang Dan sentenced to 4 years, paroled early
Civil society or corporatism?Case 1: Tiananmen 1989 • Beijing Workers’ Autonomous Union • Han Dongfang • the promise he had made to the leaders of the Beijing Workers' Autonomous Union before being appointed their leader. • "If the time comes for me to go to prison, I will not wait for them to catch me, but will turn myself in." • Han rode his bicycle back to Beijing, where he reported to police headquarters -- and was sent to prison for the next 22 months.
Civil society or corporatism?Case 1: Tiananmen 1989 • Where is Han Dongfang today? • Impact of Tiananmen experience • Founded China Labour Bulletin, established 1994 • NGO • Dedicated to fighting for workers’ rights in China • Where is CLB located?
Civil society or corporatism?Case 1: Tiananmen 1989 20 • http://www.clb.org.hk/en/
Civil society or corporatism?Case 2: China Democracy Party • Note impact of Tiananmen experience among founders • Wang Youcai, Tiananmen veteran • Graduate Student in Physics, Peking University • Sentenced for counter-revolutionary activity • Detained, imprisoned (1990), paroled (1991)
Civil society or corporatism?Case 2: China Democracy Party 22 • Wang Youcai • 1998 founder of China Democracy Party • Attempt formal, legal registration of opposition political party • Through provincial civil affairs bureau with responsibility for “social organizations” • Invoked Chinese constitution and regulations on social organizations • Invoked signing of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Civil society or corporatism?Case 2: China Democracy Party • Declared an “illegal organization.” • Wang Youcai sentenced in December 1998 to 11 years' imprisonment for subversion by the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court. • Paroled for medical reasons 2004 • Co-founder Qin Yongmin served a 12-year sentence for endangering state security in Hubei Province.
Civil society or corporatism?Case 2: China Democracy Party • Criminalization of civil society activists • PRC Constitution • Article 28. The state maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it penalizes actions that endanger public security and disrupt the socialist economy and other criminal activities, and punishes and reforms criminals. • PRC Criminal Code (1997) • Article 105(2): Use of rumor mongering or defamation or other means to incite subversion of the national regime or the overthrow of the socialist system shall be punished…
Civil society or corporatism?Case 3: Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims Jingjing Zhang, Litigation Director
Civil society or corporatism?Case 3: Center for Legal Assistance • Impact of Tiananmen experience motivated Zhang Jingjing to join • Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution victims • Affiliated with China University of Political Science and Law • University provides a kind of umbrella • Couldn’t function outside of university cover • Funded by Ford Foundation • Dependent on international funding • Represents pollution victims in lawsuits • Helps communities organize public hearings on environmental rights and licensing processes. • Has won and lost milestone cases in the Chinese courts • first successful environmental class action suit in China, against a chemical company that discharged toxic substances in Fujian Province. • landmark (but unsuccessful) suit against the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning and the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau
Civil society or corporatism?Case 3: Center for Legal Assistance 28 • Jingjing Zhang • Recently left CLAPV for PILI Public Interest Law Initiative (international ngo)
Civil society or corporatism?Case 4: Charter ‘08 29 Who is Liu Xiaobo?
Civil society or corporatism?Case 4: Charter ‘08 • Impact of Tiananmen experience, e.g. Liu Xiaobo (literary critic, video) • Also inspired by Charter 77 in Czechoslovakia(1977) • 200+ intellectuals formed a loose, informal, and open association of people...united by the will to strive individually and collectively for respect for human and civil rights in our country and throughout the world. • Charter ’08 • 300+ intellectuals, elites • freedom of expression • freedom of association • free elections. • coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Dec’08 • Police harassment of signers • Liu Xiaobo formally charged with inciting subversion June 09
Case 5: Open Constitution Initiative 31 • Founder: Xu Zhiyong • Volunteered to be the defense lawyer for Sun Dawu • Founder of Dawu Group—businessman critical of gov: arrested • Elected twice as a People’s Representative at Haidian District of Beijing • Conducted research on petitioners in Beijing, etc. • In March 2009, OCI prepared to file a collective lawsuit for victims of the milk power poisoning incident, seeking compensation for those who could not afford to hire a lawyer.
Case 5: Open Constitution Initiative 32 • Significant international financial support • In substance, a non-profit NGO • But technically a company, • since organizing as a non-profit NGO is extremely difficult in China • July 2009 slapped with a gigantic 1.42 million yuan fine by the tax authorities for alleged tax violations • Result of international financial support • OCI's leader Xu Zhiyong did not deny the possibility of minor violations. Is more is going on here that just tax problems?
Case 5: Open Constitution Initiative 33 • Xu Zhiyong • Summer 2009 charged with tax evasion; appealed • July 29, 2009 arrested; prompted campaign • Released August 2009
Totalitarianism Authoritarianism • Single charismatic leader No charismatic leader • Single dominant party Single dominant party • Utopian, forward-looking ideology Nationalist and performance-based ideology • State control over all organized activity Emergence of non-political private sphere • Mobilized participation Apathy okay • Popular fear instilled by arbitrary terror end of fear and arbitrary terror no organized opposition allowed