Abstract
The pattern of governance in China today not only embodies certain characteristics of the authoritarian regimes but also contains governance methods of democratic politics. This dissertation summarizes such model of governance as “dual-track” governance with “Chinese characteristics”.Through observing the judicial adjudications in the period of “strike hard” (Yanda 严打), the author expects to explore the issue of “dual-track” governance system using empirical methods. The dissertation is divided into six chapters.
Chapter One introduces the reason and significance of this topic, and the methodology.
Chapter Two illustrates the tradition of governance in China. It begins looking for the mechanism of Chinese political tradition formation from a historical perspective. China is the birthplace of the largest typical agricultural civilization in the world. The living environment has a close relationship and even a decisive influence on the formation of cultural thoughts and political systems. Chinese civilization (whether it is the basis of origin or evolution) is incompatible with the modern rule of law in terms of its essential characteristics, and the two are entirely unharmonious. It determines the inevitability of governance according to orders in China’s political tradition.
Chapter Three discusses the governance of the party-state system and policies. This chapter explores the factors that led to the formation of the current Chinese party-state system from modern Chinese history. It analyzes the inevitability of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP’s) dependence on the governance by policies, and the concept and essence of the CCP’s policies from the history of the CCP. The CCP monopolizes its sovereignty. The essence of its policies is the extension of its power and its mandatory order. The CCP has adopted policies as the primary way of governing the country, which has taken place since the day of its foundation.
Chapter Four focused on the “dual track” governance system in contemporary China. It is the core part of the dissertation which contains the theory innovation. The “dual track” governance system, as this dissertation nominates, is a compromise after the interaction between the CCO’s development and the external pressures. How do the policies and laws reveal their strength and weakness, and empty and full? What are the drawbacks of such a governance system? How to improve it? This chapter will elaborate on these questions one by one.
Chapter Five carries out empirical evidence – the judicial adjudications under the policies. It verifies and supplements the theories mentioned in Chapter Three. This chapter takes the criminal judgments in Nanjiang District during the period of “strike hard” as a research sample and uses statistical methods and content analysis to show the influence and approaches of the Party’s policies on judicial decision-making processes. Based on the empirical evidence, this chapter will further a deeper demonstration of the relationship between governance by policy and the rule of law in China. Such a relationship is not dependent on mutual promotion as we usually think but filled with fundamental contradictions. This contradiction determines that the two governance system could not co-exist, therefore, a “dual rule” governance system raised.
Chapter Six is the conclusion chapter. The empirical findings let us rethink the reasons why the rule of law with Chinese characteristics is different from any other form of the rule of law in the world. The CCP’s reliance on unitary authority has made the construction of the Chinese legal system in a dilemma, and the “dual track” governance system has caused disorder of the society. The comprehensive analysis concludes that only the rule of law can build a truly stable and lasting order and achieve good governance of the state and the society. Therefore, when the conflict between governance by policy and the rule of law increases at a point, and we need to make the final decision, the rule of law is the best choice.
| Date of Award | 22 Oct 2019 |
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| Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Guobin ZHU (Supervisor) |
Keywords
- Governance
- Judicature
- Policy
- Strike Hard
- Dual Rule