Independent Candidates in China’s Local People’s Congress Elections

In the Chinese political system, according to the constitution, the people’s congresses at the primary level are the only institution which the voters can directly elect. However, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tightly controls the “direct elections” and takes every measure in the elections to prevent grassroots power from entering even the primary-level people’s congresses. In recent years, grassroots power has kept struggling for its legal rights in the “direct elections” held in a few localities. The conflicts between the grassroots power and the authoritarian party in the “direct elections” have become an interesting political phenomenon, a subject deserves close observation and research. This paper studies the background of the independent candidates, their motivations and behaviour in elections. The paper also examines the party’s control in the elections and thus exposes the true nature of China’s people’s congress “direct” elections. The paper argues that independent candidates can have little impacts on China’s political structure at the current stage because of the party’s tight control, but their political participation has the most democratic value, compared with the “reforms” instigated and carried out by the CCP.     

"后农业税时代"农村公共产品供给问题的研究综述

我国农村已进入“后农业税时代”,在这一背景下农村公共产品供给体制发生了较大变化。我国学者从不同角度对“后农业税时代”农村公共产品供给这一课题给予了多方面的研究。本文主要从农村公共产品的界定与特征;“后农业税时代”农村公共产品供给的现状;“后农业税时代”农村公共产品供给不足的原因分析;“后农业税时代”农村公共产品供给机制的选择等四个方面作了一个文献综述。