When today you think of China you think of apolitical country run by colorless men who are quite obsessed and confident talking about detailed technical and economical data than attending a public rallies and handling large crowds, yet very few countries have experienced mass politics and all its ills like China. Palace intrigues and succession battles, political assassinations and purges, the great leap forwards and cultural revolutions.
The founding father of the Chinese republic, Mao Zedong was a master politician, great orator, a true revolutionary who surrounded himself with men and women of similar prowess in the top echelons of the Communist Part. Politics and grand ideals were rife and opponents and commoners suffers the negative effects of this mass politics.
Entered Deng Xiaoping to many the founding father of modern China, and a man solely credited with the economic revolution of the Chinese state. In late 1970's Deng started reforms of replacing the high drama of Chinese mass politics and focus on economic development. He wanted to turn the communist party into aings professional organization run by technocrats.
He famously said in one of the party meetings "if you dont have anything to say, save your breath, the only reason to hold meetings and to speak at them is to solve problems". He discouraged long ideological speeches and told his party members to concentrate on problems and how to solve them. By the 1980's the CP was dominated by young technocrats and promotions within the party and to the central govt were given to top performers mostly engineers, economists, management experts and discouraged anyone with grass roots political skills.
By the time of his death in 1997, Deng had helped to uplift millions and millions of Chinese from poverty and turning China into a genuine global economic superpower.
Though there are negatives in this Chinese system, we are forced to look at it more closely in more than one angle as economic recession in Europe and North America has exposed the weaknesses in mass politics (partisan politics, ideological differences, long time to make a decision, and other useless political fights)that something called democracy favors.
The founding father of the Chinese republic, Mao Zedong was a master politician, great orator, a true revolutionary who surrounded himself with men and women of similar prowess in the top echelons of the Communist Part. Politics and grand ideals were rife and opponents and commoners suffers the negative effects of this mass politics.
Entered Deng Xiaoping to many the founding father of modern China, and a man solely credited with the economic revolution of the Chinese state. In late 1970's Deng started reforms of replacing the high drama of Chinese mass politics and focus on economic development. He wanted to turn the communist party into aings professional organization run by technocrats.
He famously said in one of the party meetings "if you dont have anything to say, save your breath, the only reason to hold meetings and to speak at them is to solve problems". He discouraged long ideological speeches and told his party members to concentrate on problems and how to solve them. By the 1980's the CP was dominated by young technocrats and promotions within the party and to the central govt were given to top performers mostly engineers, economists, management experts and discouraged anyone with grass roots political skills.
By the time of his death in 1997, Deng had helped to uplift millions and millions of Chinese from poverty and turning China into a genuine global economic superpower.
Though there are negatives in this Chinese system, we are forced to look at it more closely in more than one angle as economic recession in Europe and North America has exposed the weaknesses in mass politics (partisan politics, ideological differences, long time to make a decision, and other useless political fights)that something called democracy favors.