East Asia Law Review News
What Happened to Democracy in China?
A Panel Discussion with Leading Chinese Experts on Electoral and Political Reform
In the 1990s, Chinese experiments with grassroots direct elections appeared to be laying a foundation for broader democratic reform. In 1998, Buyun Township in Sichuan Province held a landmark election for local magistrate, which was initially welcomed by the central leadership. Subsequently, the Buyun experiment was declared “unconstitutional” and, in the decade since, momentum for electoral reform has sputtered. Authorities have made it increasingly difficult for independent candidates to get elected and reformers have shifted their attention from direct elections to increasing transparency in governance, especially with regard to budgeting and public financing. Publicly, China’s leaders steadfastly reject “Western-style democracy.” Internally, however, the Communist Party’s elite thank tank, the Central Party School, recommended in 2008 that the Party pursue political liberalization over the next decade or face worsening corruption and growing protests. What has happened to democracy in China? What will happen to democracy in China? Please join four leading Chinese experts who will analyze recent developments in political reform and comment on the direction of reform over the next few years.
Participants:
Li Fan, Director, World and China Institute, Beijing
Jiang Shan, Independent Candidate for Shenzhen Local People’s Congress
Zhou Meiyan, Professional Staff Member, Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress
Qiu Jiajun, Researcher, Election and People’s Congress Study Center, Fudan University, Shanghai
Moderated by:
Jacques deLisle, Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law and Director, Asia Program, FPRI, and Amy E. Gadsden, Associate Dean for International Affairs, Penn Law
Date: May 6, 2009
Time: 4:30 pm to 6 pm
Place: Silverman Hall 240-A
University of Pennsylvania Law School
3400 Chestnut Street
Co-sponsored by Penn Law, the University of Pennsylvania Center for East Asian Studies, and the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI)
