Is China a Dictatorship?

11-20-10 1:47PM

Today Wenjun asked me "Is China a dictatorship?"

How am I supposed to answer that? With a comparison, only. China is a republic the way America is a democracy.

America is not a democracy. If you thought it was, I'm sorry to burst your bubble. We are a republic. In a democracy, all citizens have equal votes and equal voice. You might think we do, but that would be immensely unpractical. It was possible in Athens, because in a city, there are fewer citizens to deal with. In a republic, we have equal votes to elect our representatives. Because of our two-house system and the electoral college, we are a republic.

But what about China? Is China a Republic? The People's Republic of China?

Well, I really can't say. I left before I had any political sense (after all, what 5-year old cares about politics,) so I don't have any personal experience as to if the people have representatives in the government and whether that's effective. In a dictatorship, the government relies on one person, and whatever that person says, goes. I'm thinking China isn't, because there's more than one top person, and I'm pretty sure the country isn't at the mercy of his whim, and also because China came into it's present government by revolt, and not by one person seizing power. Just because decisions in China are made so much more quickly than here, because there's no opposing party, doesn't make it a dictatorship. There may be less freedom there, but that doesn't mean that the government isn't effective.

The primary goal of government is to keep the citizens alive. China's certainly does that. Next comes happiness, and I feel like China's is working towards that. Just give it some time.