The Role of Consultative Democracy under the Constitutional Framework and the Associated Rule of Law

The logical sequence of China＇s state governance is ＂governing party--consultative conferences--people＇s congresses--the people.＂ The ＂governing party--consultative conferences＂ link in the chain involves political consultation through people＇s consultative conferences. The ＂governing party--consultative conferences--people＇s congresses＂ link involves a process of obtaining legitimacy for the Party＇s views based on political consultations which are then translated into the national will by the system of people＇s congresses. The ＂people＇s congresses--the people＂ link involves the two-pronged logic of elections and governing the country according to law. The ＂governing party--the people＂ link is an illustration of the party＇s mass line, which essentially involves social consultation. Consultative democracy usually includes the political consultation in the ＂governing party---consultative conferences＂ link and the social consultation in the ＂governing party-- the people＂ link in the chain, both of which are connected through the system of people＇s congresses. This logically determines the inner relations between the Party＇s leadership, consultative democracy and the people＇s congress form of representative democracy and shapes the institutionalization of consultative democracy. That is, in the process of democratic decision-making, a circular system consisting of ＂political consultation-- legislative consultation--social consultation＂ is created to guide development of the actual system.

中国国家治理的逻辑链条表现为：执政党一政协～人大～人民。执政党一政协，是以人民政协为载体的政治协商；执政党—政协一人大，是基于政治协商获得现实合法性的党的主张通过人大制度转为国家意志的过程；人大一人民，是双向的选举与依法治国；执政党一人民，是实质为社会协商的党的群众路线的展现。协商民主主要包含“执政党一政协”中的政治协商，以及“执政党～人民”的社会协商，二者经由人大制度加以勾连。这在逻辑上决定了党的领导、协商民主与人大代议民主的内在关联，型塑了协商民主制度化的路径，即在民主决策过程中，塑造“政治协商一立法协商一社会协商”的制度循环，以此指引现实制度的发展。