Publisher Description

This book on China's constitution and its tradition of constitutionalism is one of the first in the English language, and as such provides a much needed overview of China's constitutional history and present arrangements. The nine chapters are divided into three parts. The first part (Chapters 1 & 2) deals with China's constitutional history, its indigenous and Confucian antecedents, as well as the turbulent century which led up to the 1982 Constitution and the new order which this ushered in. The second chapter deals with the distinctive features of its current constitution. The second part (Chapters 3-6) introduces the institutional structure defined in the current constitution - the relationship between the Centre and the Regions, the role of the party and the role of the People's Congress, the meaning of the socialist rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary. The third part (Chapters 7-9) discusses the major developments in human rights and their deficiencies - the protection offered to life, liberty, property and equality, and at the same time the currently dormant areas of political and religious freedom. The book concludes with a chapter looking forward to the future of the People's Congress and Chinese constitutionalism. In sum, the book offers a readable account of the salient features of Chinese constitutional developments in all major areas.

Notes

Written by an expert in the field, this is one of the first English language studies of China's constitution.

Author Biography

Qianfan Zhang is a Professor in the School of Law at Peking University.

Table of Contents

1 A Century of Turmoil: An Overview of China's Constitutional Reform and RevolutionsI. Introduction: The Dawn of a Constitutional MomentII. Constitutional Elements in the Ancient Regime and Their LimitationsIII. The First Republic: The Nationalist Revolution of 1911IV. Why Revolutions Fail to Bring about ConstitutionalismFurther Reading2 The New Constitutional Order of the People's RepublicI. The Second Republic: The Communist Revolution of 1949II. The 1982 ConstitutionIII. Constitutional AmendmentsIV. Constitutional TransformationsFurther Reading3 Governing the Goliath: China's Central and Local RelationsI. Introduction: The Sun Zhigang TragedyII. The Constitutional LandscapeIII. Keeping Laws in OrderIV. Bottom-Up or Top-Down? Rule of the Party ReinforcedV. Pluralism within a Unitary SystemFurther Reading4 Democracy with Chinese Characteristics? The Role of the People's CongressesI. Introduction: Supremacy by Rubber Stamp?II. The National People's Congress (NPC)III. The NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC)IV. Local People's Congresses (LPCs)V. How to Make Democracy WorkFurther Reading5 Administration of the State According to LawI. The Central GovernmentII. Local GovernmentIII. Toward Administrative Rule of Law?Further Reading6 De-politicising the JudiciaryI. Introduction: Establishing Judicial Review?II. Judicial Structure and FunctionsIII. Judicial Reform: Necessities, Possibilities, LimitsFurther Reading7 The Contemporary Rights Revolution: Life, Liberty, Property and EqualityI. Introduction: Back to the Sun Zhigang ModelII. EqualityIII LibertyIV. PropertyFurther Reading8 Still Dormant: Political and Religious RightsI. Introduction: What the Sun Zhigang Model Cannot DoII. Freedom of SpeechIII. Freedom of ReligionIV The Right to ElectionFurther Reading9 Conclusion: The Future of China's ConstitutionalismI. Back to 1911? The On-going Saga of China's Constitutional JourneyII. Toward the Third Republic? The Future of China's ConstitutionalismFurther Reading

Review

[An] intriguing and insightful volume [that is] highly recommended. -- S. K. Ma * CHOICE (Current Reviews for Academic Libraries) *
...a clear, concise, and accurate account of China's constitution....a good and brave book. It cannot have been an easy book to commission, and those at Hart Publishing deserve credit for its production... Anyone interested in China should read it – but the book merits a readership beyond these specialists. All of those interested in constitutions will find the book of considerable value, even if they would not normally read a volume on China. The challenges and debates that are found in the Chinese constitution have much to teach us about our own constitutional order, and about the significance of constitutions more generally. -- N. W. Barber * Law Quarterly Review, Volume 129 *

Review Quote

[An] intriguing and insightful volume [that is] highly recommended.S. K. MaCHOICE (Current Reviews for Academic Libraries)July 2013...a clear, concise, and accurate account of China's constitution....a good and brave book. It cannot have been an easy book to commission, and those at Hart Publishing deserve credit for its production... Anyone interested in China should read it but the book merits a readership beyond these specialists. All of those interested in constitutions will find the book of considerable value, even if they would not normally read a volume on China. The challenges and debates that are found in the Chinese constitution have much to teach us about our own constitutional order, and about the significance of constitutions more generally.N. W. BarberLaw Quarterly ReviewVolume 129

Description for Reader

This book offers a critical perspective for the evaluation of the nature and role of the constitution and of constitutional reform in China. China now represents a highly unusual combination of socio-historical circumstances in which a socialist legal system, headed by a communist party, is with apparent success abandoning many key features of the socialist tradition in the pursuit of a market economy and private rights in property. A particularly interesting feature of the Chinese case is that the constitutional basis for China's apparently highly-successful programme of economic reform is one developed for the Soviet Union some seventy years ago. It is thus an early case of a socialist legal transplant, and one that has outlived its progenitor by many decades. Even amongst socialist systems the Chinese case is especially interesting. China has remained fairly true to the original template: not only did the People's Republic of China ('PRC') in its 1982 Constitution retain the Stalinist model (albeit with an essentially Presidential constitutional form), it did so with a strong emphasis on ideology and a continuing commitment to communist party leadership.

Feature

This book offers a critical perspective for the evaluation of the nature and role of the constitution and of constitutional reform in China.Written by an expert in the field, this is one of the first English Language studies of China's constitution.The book provides a much needed overview of China's constitutional history and present arrangements.In-keeping with other books in the series, the book offers a clearly-structured introduction to China's constitution and a contextual analysis of how the constitution has been formed. A useful tool for scholars and students of constitutional law as well as anyone looking for an accessible guide to China's constitution.

Details