I begin the text of my master’s thesis with a breakdown of the political and economic circumstances, that contributed to the formation of the existing system of government in China. In the third chapter, I present some diverse conceptions of the ideal of the rule of law, which I primarily divide into formal and substantive ones. Within the fourth chapter, I create an overview of the various power structures that formed at the top of the Chinese state during the twentieth century and their relationship to democratic values. In the second half of the chapter, I dedicate my attention to the theory of the partial rule of law, which tries to explain the interest of autocratic regimes in accepting the concept of the rule of law. In the fifth and most extensive chapter, I thoroughly examine a document called the Decision, adopted at the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, which for the first time in history addressed the topic of the rule of law. In the second half of the chapter, I also assess in detail the internal party Document no. 9, which largely contradicts the content of the Decision. During the last, sixth chapter, I discuss the Confucian philosophy of the rule of virtue and the technocratic system of government in China. In conclusion, based on the facts presented, I sum up that the communist party in China has devised its own version of the ideal of the rule of law, which has little in common with the western liberal-democratic understanding of the concept, either formal or substantive. The authorities in China have no interest in establishing the substantive rule of law, a necessary component of which is respect for fundamental human rights, since the introduction of democratic elections could threaten the stability of the current communist regime.
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