China's Experiment With Villages
2
EDITORIAL TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2007 8 THE HINDU TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2007 CHENNAI I n predicting a GDP growth rate of 9 per cent for this year, the Prime Minister’s Economic Ad- visory Council headed by C. Rangarajan, is more optimistic than other institutions. On inflation too, the recently released Economic Outlook 2007-08 is upbeat: it expects the Wholesale Price Index to be contained at below 4 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India in its annual credit policy review had forecast a growth rate of 8.5 per cent and inflation at 5 per cent. The National Council of Applied Economic Research’s growth estimate is even lower at 8.3 per cent. The Economic Advisory Council has based its optimism on the behaviour of the South West monsoon so far and the generally favourable global environment. If its forecast comes true, the economy would have grown by 9 per cent for three years in a row. But, both industry and services, the main growth drivers, are expected to slow down marginally to 10.6 per cent and 10.4 per cent respectively and agriculture is expected to register a 2.5 per cent growth. There are uncertainties however. The report card on the monsoon is not complete. The final picture will not be available with regard to its quantum or the spatial distribution until much later. It is not clear whether the inflation estimates would hold in the context of the recent surge in global oil prices. The rising rupee has forced the government to grant expor- ters a package of sops costing Rs.1,400 crore. Almost certainly the merchandise export target of $160 billion set by the Commerce Ministry will have to be scaled down. Software companies too are feeling the impact of the strong rupee on their gross margins. The Economic Outlook reckons that the government will not be able to achieve the targets set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act by 2008-09. The release of the Sixth Pay Commission report would add to the fiscal worries. In what is bound to become the framework for future policy debate on capital inflows, the report has recommended curbs on external commercial borrowings that rose sharply to over $16 billion last year from just $2.72 billion in 2005-06.While non-resident Indian deposits too are to be discouraged, the Economic Outlook would leave the equity flows, whether as portfolio or as direct invest- ment, untouched. The RBI could mop up to $25 billion out of an estimated $57 billion and add to reserves without breaching the domestic money supply target of 17.5 per cent. Although it might be possible to contain the current account deficit within 1.5 per cent of the GDP, the widening trade deficit and the consequences of certain types of debt flows are major areas of concern. An upbeat note on the economy E ven 11 years after the Supreme Court’s land- mark judgment ruling out professional blood donation, the malaise continues to thrive in India. If anything, the judicial pronounce- ment has led to its taking on the new garb of replace- ment donation. Unlike voluntary donation that is purely altruistic in nature, replacement donation is born out of compulsion. Forced by many private hospi- tals and blood banks to find donors to meet the blood requirements of patients, relatives often turn to pro- fessional donors. It is a pity that the illegal practice continues, though the national blood policy of 2001 stated: “Institutions who prescribe blood for trans- fusion shall be made responsible for procurement of blood for their patients through their affiliation with licensed blood centres.” While the policy has under- lined the need to phase out replacement donation within a set deadline, no sincere effort has been made to translate the intent into reality. Some States claim a high percentage of voluntary donation but how much of it is genuine is not clear. It is disconcerting that professional donors go scot-free even when detected and no significant initiative has been taken to compel hospitals to source blood directly from licensed blood banks. Paid donation in the garb of replacement donation can be put an end to only when blood supply through voluntary donation matched the demand. Educating and motivating more people to donate blood and re- taining such donors will be a sure way to stamp out paid donation. With blood camps as one of the effective ways of augmenting availability, there is a pressing need to promote such camps. The youth being one of the most forthcoming segments of the population in donating blood, more concerted efforts have to be made to conduct regular blood camps in educational institutions. While increasing supply through a larger number of donors is important, there should be a more rational use of blood and blood components. Vigorous efforts will be required to change the current practice of using whole blood instead of components. Blood separated into components can help meet the demand of a larger number of people in need. Also, when sep- Improving access to safe blood D eep in the countryside, away from skyscraper-filled boom towns such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, millions of villagers in China’s 700,000 villages have been involved in an ongoing experiment with democracy that grabs few headlines outside of the country but has, some experts say, been responsible for fundamentally changing Chinese politi- cal culture. Over the last decade or so, direct elections to village councils have gradually been made mandatory across China so that for the first time in the 5000-year history of this former empire, villagers are learning about filing nominations and secret ballots. In China, peasants have for centuries borne the burden of the actions of capricious rulers at the centre. The ability to elect their own leaders is thus revolutionary. The broader significance of village elec- tions for China’s political culture, however, remains contested. Are they simply a limited experiment aimed at ensuring better com- pliance with Central government directives in the potentially restive countryside, or do they hold within them the seeds of genuine political change across the system? Direct elections to village councils date back to ex- periments carried out in the late 1980s, but it was only in 1998 that these were formalised into law and made mandatory. Following the collapse of the village com- mune system after the economic liberalisa- tion initiated in 1978, certain leaders within the Communist Party began pushing for vil- lage self-governance as a means to counter political apathy and violent rebellion by cre- ating mechanisms of participation and con- flict resolution. Moreover, it was felt that leaders elected by villagers themselves would find it easier to implement central government policies regarding taxes and family planning. Since 1998 elections to village councils, which comprise between three and seven members, have been institutionalised and are now carried out every three years. The council’s main responsibilities lie in decid- ing the allocation and use of communal land, the running of village enterprises, and the implementation of family planning direc- tives. Councils can also decide local matters like village subscription to newspapers, the renovation of a school building, or the in- stallation of cable television. Jing Yue Jin, a leading political scientist at the People’s University in Beijing, says the success of these elections has been variable. Key to the village council’s ability to effect discernable change in the lives of villagers is finance. In wealthier provinces where villag- es have significant assets, usually comprising collectively owned enterprises, the village committee has greater power. The stakes are thus high in elections to these committees with the consequence that they are often fiercely contested. In contrast, in poor areas where villages lack an independent source of funding, the village committees are largely toothless leading to political apathy and dis- interest in the electoral process. Other than the monies derived from vil- lage enterprises, the councils are financially wholly dependent upon the township go- vernment, the lowest official tier of rural government. “For most cadres at the town- ship level, village elections are simply a source of trouble,” says Dr. Jing. Indeed, for township officials the elec- tions represent somewhat of a loss of author- ity. Used to untrammelled power they now have to contend with elected and hence pop- ular village chiefs with agendas that may conflict with their own. There have thus been several instances over the years where township leaders have subverted the elec- tion process, ensuring that their own yes- men are “elected.” A further complication is the legally am- biguous relationship between the council and the village Communist Party secretary. Prior to the introduction of elections, the village party chief used to be the clear and sole authority in the village. With the imple- mentation of the new system, however, fric- tion between the party secretary and the head of the village council has become com- monplace. Dr. Jing adds the rise of gangster- ism, vote-rigging, and return of clan-based loyalties as other challenges confronting the election process. However, the biggest obstacle to the suc- cess of the electoral experiment, he says, is the lack of a post-election management mechanism. “The villagers can now partici- pate in electing their leaders but once elect- ed these leaders often return to acting in traditional, non-accountable, non-transpar- ent ways,” he explains. Jian Yi, an independent filmmaker who recently made a documentary on the history of village democracy, agrees that “democrat- ic management and monitoring of the village committee elected fails in most places since they are easily manipulated by party com- mittees and township officials.” Nonetheless, he remains guardedly opti- mistic regarding the broader impact of the electoral experience. “In places where vil- lage elections are better conducted, people actually do learn the rules of democracy; how to negotiate and compromise rather than to start yet another violent revolution,” he concludes. Yawei Lu, Associate Director of the China Elections Project, a programme run by an American NGO that works with the Chinese government in monitoring elections, elab- orates: “In the past the legitimacy of the government was thought to flow from the ‘barrel of the gun.’ But, in today’s China the legitimacy of the government, at least theo- retically, comes from the people. Democracy at the village-level has been crucial for this.” From the very beginning, village elections have been seen by democratic reformers within China as a starting rather than end- point. The hope has been that the electoral process would eventually be extended verti- cally, to higher levels of township and county government, as well as horizontally, to local- level party officials. Although this hope remains largely un- fulfilled, there have been some signs of the spread of elections beyond the confines of the village. Thus, for example, local party secretaries are now often appointed by a “two-ballot” process, wherein the first ballot involves a popular vote on potential candi- dates with the second ballot restricted to party members. The importance of popular- ity even for party officials is thus gradually being recognised. Moreover, some experiments in direct elections at the township level have also tak- en place. However, these elections have been held without the formal consent of the cen- tre and, although Beijing has on occasion chosen to ignore them, technically they re- main illegal. Dr. Yawei is of the opinion that if China were to seriously attempt to expand elec- tions across the political system, the experi- ence of village democracy would prove to have been “an excellent learning ground.” “All the challenges facing the electoral proc- ess at the village level will also exist at other levels and so they [village elections] would be very valuable.” But Dr. Jing says that despite 20-odd years of experimenting with elections most schol- ars in the field are disappointed with the results. “The village councils have not been as responsive to the needs of the people as we had once hoped so that the link between elected leaders and improved life for villag- ers is difficult to establish,” he asserts. Electoral democracy in China, Dr. Jing continues, has never been an unquestioned, a priori goal. It has rather been looked upon as a practical tool. “The Chinese government today has a problem solving attitude. Their main concern is thus whether or not so- mething works. Elections in villages have not been shown to directly increase the liv- ing standards of villagers. Thus the leader- ship has gone from being optimistic to less optimistic about these elections,” he says. Dr. Lu agrees that Beijing is showing signs of giving up on grassroots participatory mechanisms as a way of developing rural areas and focussing instead on top-down funding for projects pre-determined by the Centre as necessary to create what is being called a “new socialist countryside.” Ultimately it is clear that the real signif- icance of village elections will turn on the outcome of elite contestations over the di- rection of political reform in China. According to Dr. Jing, these contestations have begun to heat up of late. There are two main contending frameworks for political reform within the party, he says. The more traditional of the two follows the line of thinking espoused by Deng Xiaop- ing and argues that democracy is a linear but gradual process, so when the time is ripe direct elections should be extended upwards until they reach all the way till the central government. Thus Deng had predicted that China could expect to hold general elections by 2050. The other competing framework for re- form focusses less on elections and more on non-electoral means of participation. “Some scholars believe China does not need to copy the west for a political model but can forge its own way, creating a ‘deliberative democ- racy’ that stresses dialogue rather competi- tion,” says Dr. Jing. While the details of how this ‘deliberative democracy’ would function remain hazy, it is a concept that meshes well with the current Chinese leadership’s em- phasis on “harmony” and is accordingly find- ing favour in Beijing. The ultimate course that China’s political reform will take is still far from obvious. Dr. Jing predicts that it may become clearer after an important twice-a-decade party congress is held later this year. “In the run up to the congress, stability is paramount and no leader is willing to experiment boldly with reform. Afterwards, we hope the sit- uation will become more flexible,” he smiles, concluding, “In China it is not only econom- ics that’s cyclic, but also politics.” China’s experiment with village elections Pallavi Aiyar Are they simply a limited experiment aimed at ensuring better compliance with central government directives in the potentially restive countryside or do they hold within them the seeds of genuine political change across the system? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected]must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials. CARTOONSCAPE Madam President It is heartening to see a woman at the helm of constitutional affairs. One hopes Pratibha Patil will function according to the Constitution, and not as a rubber stamp. And that she will prove to be the people’s President, not a particular party’s President. G.V.P. Pavan Kumar, Hyderabad Ms. Patil’s election as the first woman President is indeed a proud moment for us women. One thing that I would like to point out in particular is that Ms. Patil was ex- tremely graceful and dignified through the phase when a lot was written and said about her and her family. This, in itself, speaks vol- umes about her maturity and sa- gacity. Ms. Patil is stepping into the shoes of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. She has the responsibility of carrying forward the legacy of her predecessor, whose wisdom, honesty, and self- lessness are unquestionable. One can only hope she does this with aplomb and does not end up being a rubber stamp President. Vani Venkat, Lucknow The smear campaign in which the NDA indulged has boomeranged against it. Ms. Patil’s victory is an important step towards establish- ing gender equality in India. Dis- crimination is linked to the age-old traditions of a patriarchal social or- der. Ms. Patil’s election should make a difference. Azeem Qasmi, New Delhi Debate or denial Hasan Suroor in the article “Debate or denial: the Muslim dilemma” (July 17) would like Muslims to stop blaming the west for the violence caused by the jihadists. He feels Muslims are in a state of denial. George Bush will agree with the author. While I strongly oppose Al-Qaeda, I cannot overlook the role of the west in the havoc caused in Muslim lands. Wise western leaders such as President Jimmy Carter had opposed any regime change in Muslim countries. The example of Iran is too obvious where, in 1953, a duly elected Prime Minister, Mossadegh, was overthrown and later killed in a CIA coup. His crime: he opposed the Anglo Iran Oil Company paying so disturb Mr. Suroor. Muslims do not need the west to run their own affairs. In particular, they must stop patronising autocratic Muslim rulers. Our true path is independent of both Osama bin Laden and George Bush. J.S. Bandukwala, Vadodara I agree that the real challenge to Islamic society comes from the despotic regimes of most Muslim countries that are aided and abet- ted by the west. Any sensitive person should be an- gered by the U.S. foreign policy, particularly in Iraq. Everyone can- not be expected to be a mute spec- tator while a handful of business interests orchestrate war and butchery under false pretexts. It is amply clear from Dr. Mohammed Haneef’s ordeal that the west has a fairly clear cut agenda — if you aren’t in the Salman Rushdie frame of mind you may as well be a terro- rist. Terrorism is a natural by- product of the top heavy world or- der that doesn’t lend an ear to the weak and despairing. Sanjay Ghosh, New Delhi The article says there are verses in the holy Koran that justify vio- vour and not “legitimate violence” as mentioned in the article. Such legitimate struggle was resorted to by Islam in its infancy. Similarly, the Mahabharata is a narration of legitimate struggle (not legitimate violence) against the forces of evil. The killing of innocent people by some ill-advised Muslim youth is against the Koranic dictates and Islamic traditions. There are, therefore, no pernicious roots in Islamist ideology that propagate terrorism. Mohd. Masood Ali, Chennai It is unfortunate that a Muslim has called some of the verses in the Holy Koran irrelevant in today’s times. Such statements lead right- wing Muslims-bashers to demand that the verses be deleted. Agreed, Muslims should condemn acts of terror more vociferously. But is the author unaware of the conditions of Muslims in Afghan- istan, Iraq, and Palestine? Zaki Mohammed Sameer, Hyderabad Potter mania The Harry Potter series has gripped us youngsters for 10 years now. Not only the books but also the universal axiom that good finally prevails over evil. Amritha Ramji, Chennai The Harry Potter books have a mesmerising effect on all those who read them. Ms. Rowling has created a piece of art that appeals to the young and the old alike. Hats off to the brilliant author who has captured the hearts of billions around the world! Abhinaya Ganesh , New Delhi What is alluring about the Harry Potter books is although the char- acters have grown up and are in their teens, their focus has not de- viated from their mission which is to fight the world of dark arts and its lord. Ms. Rowling has retained the childhood innocence of the main characters. This clean image is most striking and welcome. Myrtle Maxwell, Kollam What is it in the Harry Po tter books that keeps young readers hooked to them? While the racy plot and tight narrative have added to the fun, it cannot be denied that Ms. Row- ling’s books treat adolescents as adults — the thick book with no pictures, no moral story to hammer
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CH-X
EDITORIAL
TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2007
8 T HE HIN D U T U E S DA Y, JU L Y 24, 20 0 7
CHENNAI
In predicting a GDP growth rate of 9 per cent for
this year, the Prime Minister’s Economic Ad-
visory Council headed by C. Rangarajan, is more
optimistic than other institutions. On inflation
too, the recently released Economic Outlook 2007-08
is upbeat: it expects the Wholesale Price Index to be
contained at below 4 per cent. The Reserve Bank of
India in its annual credit policy review had forecast a
growth rate of 8.5 per cent and inflation at 5 per cent.
The National Council of Applied Economic Research’s
growth estimate is even lower at 8.3 per cent. The
Economic Advisory Council has based its optimism on
the behaviour of the South West monsoon so far and
the generally favourable global environment. If its
forecast comes true, the economy would have grown by
9 per cent for three years in a row. But, both industry
and services, the main growth drivers, are expected to
slow down marginally to 10.6 per cent and 10.4 per cent
respectively and agriculture is expected to register a 2.5
per cent growth. There are uncertainties however. The
report card on the monsoon is not complete. The finalpicture will not be available with regard to its quantum
or the spatial distribution until much later. It is not
clear whether the inflation estimates would hold in the
context of the recent surge in global oil prices. The
rising rupee has forced the government to grant expor-
ters a package of sops costing Rs.1,400 crore. Almost
certainly the merchandise export target of $160 billion
set by the Commerce Ministry will have to be scaled
down. Software companies too are feeling the impact of
the strong rupee on their gross margins.
The Economic Outlook reckons that the government
will not be able to achieve the targets set under the
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act by
2008-09. The release of the Sixth Pay Commission
report would add to the fiscal worries. In what is bound
to become the framework for future policy debate on
capital inflows, the report has recommended curbs on
external commercial borrowings that rose sharply to
over $16 billion last year from just $2.72 billion in
2005-06.While non-resident Indian deposits too are to
be discouraged, the Economic Outlook would leave the
equity flows, whether as portfolio or as direct invest-ment, untouched. The RBI could mop up to $25 billion
out of an estimated $57 billion and add to reserves
without breaching the domestic money supply target of
17.5 per cent. Although it might be possible to contain
the current account deficit within 1.5 per cent of the
GDP, the widening trade deficit and the consequences
of certain types of debt flows are major areas of
concern.
An upbeat note on
the economy
E ven 11 years after the Supreme Court’s land-
mark judgment ruling out professional blood
donation, the malaise continues to thrive in
India. If anything, the judicial pronounce-
ment has led to its taking on the new garb of replace-ment donation. Unlike voluntary donation that is
purely altruistic in nature, replacement donation is
born out of compulsion. Forced by many private hospi-
tals and blood banks to find donors to meet the blood
requirements of patients, relatives often turn to pro-
fessional donors. It is a pity that the illegal practice
continues, though the national blood policy of 2001
stated: “Institutions who prescribe blood for trans-
fusion shall be made responsible for procurement of
blood for their patients through their affiliation with
licensed blood centres.” While the policy has under-
lined the need to phase out replacement donation
within a set deadline, no sincere effort has been made
to translate the intent into reality. Some States claim a
high percentage of voluntary donation but how much
of it is genuine is not clear. It is disconcerting that
professional donors go scot-free even when detected
and no significant initiative has been taken to compel
hospitals to source blood directly from licensed blood
banks.
Paid donation in the garb of replacement donation
can be put an end to only when blood supply through voluntary donation matched the demand. Educating
and motivating more people to donate blood and re-
taining such donors will be a sure way to stamp out paid
donation. With blood camps as one of the effective
ways of augmenting availability, there is a pressing
need to promote such camps. The youth being one of
the most forthcoming segments of the population in
donating blood, more concerted efforts have to be
made to conduct regular blood camps in educational
institutions. While increasing supply through a larger
number of donors is important, there should be a more
rational use of blood and blood components. Vigorous
efforts will be required to change the current practice
of using whole blood instead of components. Blood
separated into components can help meet the demand
of a larger number of people in need. Also, when sep-
arated, the shelf life of certain blood components is
increased. Initiating steps to increase availability with-
out having in place the necessary infrastructure to
store the collected blood will be to put the cart before
the horse. In this context, a recent decision of the Tamil
Nadu government to create more blood storage centresin areas with no blood banks is a welcome step towards
improving access to safe blood.
Improving accessto safe blood
Deep in the countryside, away fromskyscraper-filled boom townssuch as Shenzhen and Shanghai,millions of villagers in China’s
700,000 villages have been involved in anongoing experiment with democracy thatgrabs few headlines outside of the country but has, some experts say, been responsiblefor fundamentally changing Chinese politi-cal culture. Over the last decade or so, directelections to village councils have gradually
been made mandatory across China so thatfor the first time in the 5000-year history of this former empire, villagers are learningabout filing nominations and secret ballots.In China, peasants have for centuries bornethe burden of the actions of capricious rulersat the centre. The ability to elect their ownleaders is thus revolutionary.
The broader significance of village elec-tions for China’s political culture, however,remains contested. Are they simply a limitedexperiment aimed at ensuring better com-pliance with Central government directivesin the potentially restive countryside, or dothey hold within them the seeds of genuinepolitical change across the system? Directelections to village councils date back to ex-periments carried out in the late 1980s, but itwas only in 1998 that these were formalisedinto law and made mandatory.
Following the collapse of the village com-mune system after the economic liberalisa-tion initiated in 1978, certain leaders withinthe Communist Party began pushing for vil-lage self-governance as a means to counterpolitical apathy and violent rebellion by cre-
ating mechanisms of participation and con-flict resolution. Moreover, it was felt thatleaders elected by villagers themselveswould find it easier to implement centralgovernment policies regarding taxes andfamily planning.
Since 1998 elections to village councils,which comprise between three and sevenmembers, have been institutionalised andare now carried out every three years. Thecouncil’s main responsibilities lie in decid-ing the allocation and use of communal land,the running of village enterprises, and theimplementation of family planning direc-tives. Councils can also decide local matterslike village subscription to newspapers, therenovation of a school building, or the in-
stallation of cable television.Jing Yue Jin, a leading political scientist at
the People’s University in Beijing, says thesuccess of these elections has been variable.Key to the village council’s ability to effectdiscernable change in the lives of villagers isfinance. In wealthier provinces where villag-es have significant assets, usually comprisingcollectively owned enterprises, the villagecommittee has greater power. The stakes arethus high in elections to these committeeswith the consequence that they are oftenfiercely contested. In contrast, in poor areaswhere villages lack an independent source of funding, the village committees are largely toothless leading to political apathy and dis-interest in the electoral process.
Other than the monies derived from vil-lage enterprises, the councils are financially wholly dependent upon the township go- vernment, the lowest official tier of ruralgovernment. “For most cadres at the town-ship level, village elections are simply asource of trouble,” says Dr. Jing.
Indeed, for township officials the elec-tions represent somewhat of a loss of author-
ity. Used to untrammelled power they now have to contend with elected and hence pop-ular village chiefs with agendas that may conflict with their own. There have thusbeen several instances over the years wheretownship leaders have subverted the elec-tion process, ensuring that their own yes-men are “elected.”
A further complication is the legally am-biguous relationship between the counciland the village Communist Party secretary.Prior to the introduction of elections, the village party chief used to be the clear andsole authority in the village. With the imple-mentation of the new system, however, fric-tion between the party secretary and thehead of the village council has become com-
monplace. Dr. Jing adds the rise of gangster-ism, vote-rigging, and return of clan-basedloyalties as other challenges confronting theelection process.
However, the biggest obstacle to the suc-cess of the electoral experiment, he says, isthe lack of a post-election managementmechanism. “The villagers can now partici-pate in electing their leaders but once elect-ed these leaders often return to acting intraditional, non-accountable, non-transpar-ent ways,” he explains.
Jian Yi, an independent filmmaker whorecently made a documentary on the history of village democracy, agrees that “democrat-ic management and monitoring of the villagecommittee elected fails in most places sincethey are easily manipulated by party com-mittees and township officials.”
Nonetheless, he remains guardedly opti-mistic regarding the broader impact of theelectoral experience. “In places where vil-lage elections are better conducted, peopleactually do learn the rules of democracy;how to negotiate and compromise ratherthan to start yet another violent revolution,”
he concludes.Yawei Lu, Associate Director of the ChinaElections Project, a programme run by an American NGO that works with the Chinesegovernment in monitoring elections, elab-orates: “In the past the legitimacy of thegovernment was thought to flow from the‘barrel of the gun.’ But, in today’s China thelegitimacy of the government, at least theo-retically, comes from the people. Democracy at the village-level has been crucial for this.”
From the very beginning, village electionshave been seen by democratic reformerswithin China as a starting rather than end-point. The hope has been that the electoralprocess would eventually be extended verti-cally, to higher levels of township and county
government, as well as horizontally, to local-level party officials.
Although this hope remains largely un-fulfilled, there have been some signs of thespread of elections beyond the confines of the village. Thus, for example, local party secretaries are now often appointed by a“two-ballot” process, wherein the first ballotinvolves a popular vote on potential candi-dates with the second ballot restricted toparty members. The importance of popular-ity even for party officials is thus gradually being recognised.
Moreover, some experiments in directelections at the township level have also tak-en place. However, these elections have beenheld without the formal consent of the cen-tre and, although Beijing has on occasionchosen to ignore them, technically they re-main illegal.
Dr. Yawei is of the opinion that if Chinawere to seriously attempt to expand elec-tions across the political system, the experi-ence of village democracy would prove tohave been “an excellent learning ground.”“All the challenges facing the electoral proc-ess at the village level will also exist at otherlevels and so they [village elections] wouldbe very valuable.”
But Dr. Jing says that despite 20-odd yearsof experimenting with elections most schol-ars in the field are disappointed with theresults. “The village councils have not beenas responsive to the needs of the people aswe had once hoped so that the link betweenelected leaders and improved life for villag-ers is difficult to establish,” he asserts.
Electoral democracy in China, Dr. Jingcontinues, has never been an unquestioned,
a priori goal. It has rather been looked uponas a practical tool. “The Chinese governmenttoday has a problem solving attitude. Theirmain concern is thus whether or not so-mething works. Elections in villages havenot been shown to directly increase the liv-ing standards of villagers. Thus the leader-ship has gone from being optimistic to lessoptimistic about these elections,” he says.
Dr. Lu agrees that Beijing is showing signsof giving up on grassroots participatory mechanisms as a way of developing ruralareas and focussing instead on top-downfunding for projects pre-determined by theCentre as necessary to create what is beingcalled a “new socialist countryside.”
Ultimately it is clear that the real signif-icance of village elections will turn on theoutcome of elite contestations over the di-rection of political reform in China.
According to Dr. Jing, these contestationshave begun to heat up of late. There are twomain contending frameworks for politicalreform within the party, he says.
The more traditional of the two followsthe line of thinking espoused by Deng Xiaop-ing and argues that democracy is a linear butgradual process, so when the time is ripedirect elections should be extended upwardsuntil they reach all the way till the centralgovernment. Thus Deng had predicted thatChina could expect to hold general electionsby 2050.
The other competing framework for re-form focusses less on elections and more onnon-electoral means of participation. “Somescholars believe China does not need to copy the west for a political model but can forgeits own way, creating a ‘deliberative democ-racy’ that stresses dialogue rather competi-tion,” says Dr. Jing. While the details of how this ‘deliberative democracy’ would functionremain hazy, it is a concept that meshes wellwith the current Chinese leadership’s em-phasis on “harmony” and is accordingly find-ing favour in Beijing.
The ultimate course that China’s politicalreform will take is still far from obvious. Dr.Jing predicts that it may become clearerafter an important twice-a-decade party congress is held later this year. “In the runup to the congress, stability is paramountand no leader is willing to experiment boldly with reform. Afterwards, we hope the sit-uation will become more flexible,” he smiles,concluding, “In China it is not only econom-ics that’s cyclic, but also politics.”
China’s experiment with village electionsPallavi Aiyar Are they simply a limited experiment aimed
at ensuring better compliance with centralgovernment directives in the potentially restive countryside or do they hold withinthem the seeds of genuine political changeacross the system?
LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters emailed to [email protected] carry the fullpostal address and the full name or the name with initials.
CARTOONSCAPE
Madam President
It is heartening to see a woman atthe helm of constitutional affairs.One hopes Pratibha Patil willfunction according to theConstitution, and not as a rubberstamp. And that she will prove to bethe people’s President, not aparticular party’s President.
G.V.P. Pavan Kumar, Hyderabad
Ms. Patil’s election as the firstwoman President is indeed a proudmoment for us women. One thing
that I would like to point out inparticular is that Ms. Patil was ex-tremely graceful and dignifiedthrough the phase when a lot waswritten and said about her and herfamily. This, in itself, speaks vol-umes about her maturity and sa-gacity.Ms. Patil is stepping into the shoesof A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. She has theresponsibility of carrying forwardthe legacy of her predecessor,whose wisdom, honesty, and self-lessness are unquestionable. Onecan only hope she does this withaplomb and does not end up being arubber stamp President.
Vani Venkat, Lucknow
As a woman, I take pride in the factthat we have a woman as the firstcitizen. Unfortunately, the presi-dential election, which should havebeen conducted with dignity,turned out to be a mudslingingmatch, with some parties even ab-
staining from the poll. V. Parvathy,
New Delhi
The smear campaign in which theNDA indulged has boomerangedagainst it. Ms. Patil’s victory is animportant step towards establish-ing gender equality in India. Dis-crimination is linked to the age-oldtraditions of a patriarchal social or-der. Ms. Patil’s election shouldmake a difference.
Azeem Qasmi, New Delhi
Debate or denialHasan Suroor in the article“Debate or denial: the Muslim
dilemma” (July 17) would likeMuslims to stop blaming the westfor the violence caused by the jihadists. He feels Muslims are in astate of denial. George Bush willagree with the author. While Istrongly oppose Al-Qaeda, I cannotoverlook the role of the west in thehavoc caused in Muslim lands. Wise western leaders such asPresident Jimmy Carter hadopposed any regime change inMuslim countries.The example of Iran is too obviouswhere, in 1953, a duly electedPrime Minister, Mossadegh, wasoverthrown and later killed in aCIA coup. His crime: he opposedthe Anglo Iran Oil Company payingmore taxes in Britain, and muchless royalty to Iran. The reactioneventually led to the theocraticrevolution of Khomeini. Similarly Iraq was invaded in spite of worldwide protests and over 6 lakhcivilians have died in the war so far.
Yet there is hardly any reference tothese horrors today. But anunexploded bomb in Glasgow can
so disturb Mr. Suroor. Muslims donot need the west to run their ownaffairs. In particular, they muststop patronising autocraticMuslim rulers. Our true path isindependent of both Osama binLaden and George Bush.
J.S. Bandukwala,Vadodara
I agree that the real challenge toIslamic society comes from thedespotic regimes of most Muslimcountries that are aided and abet-ted by the west. Any sensitive person should be an-
gered by the U.S. foreign policy,particularly in Iraq. Everyone can-not be expected to be a mute spec-tator while a handful of businessinterests orchestrate war andbutchery under false pretexts. It isamply clear from Dr. MohammedHaneef’s ordeal that the west has afairly clear cut agenda — if youaren’t in the Salman Rushdie frameof mind you may as well be a terro-rist. Terrorism is a natural by-product of the top heavy world or-der that doesn’t lend an ear to theweak and despairing.
Sanjay Ghosh, New Delhi
The article says there are verses inthe holy Koran that justify vio-lence. Islam and violence are twoextremes. The ultimate jihad in Is-lam is jihad against oneself or the jihad-e-akbar — the struggle of atrue believer against his or her own vile instincts.
Syed Abbas Haider,
New Delhi Struggle against aggression andpersecution is a legitimate endea-
vour and not “legitimate violence”as mentioned in the article. Suchlegitimate struggle was resorted toby Islam in its infancy. Similarly,the Mahabharata is a narration of legitimate struggle (not legitimate violence) against the forces of evil.The killing of innocent people by some ill-advised Muslim youth isagainst the Koranic dictates andIslamic traditions.There are, therefore, no perniciousroots in Islamist ideology thatpropagate terrorism.
Mohd. Masood Ali,
Chennai It is unfortunate that a Muslim hascalled some of the verses in theHoly Koran irrelevant in today’stimes. Such statements lead right-wing Muslims-bashers to demandthat the verses be deleted. Agreed, Muslims should condemnacts of terror more vociferously.But is the author unaware of theconditions of Muslims in Afghan-istan, Iraq, and Palestine?
Zaki Mohammed Sameer, Hyderabad
Potter maniaThe Harry Potter series hasgripped us youngsters for 10 yearsnow. Not only the books but alsothe movies have kept us glued tothe narrations. Although thestories deal mainly with magic andwizardry, they also have normalcharacterisations.This intertwining realism hashelped in attracting the elders too.
It is no surprise that J.K. Rowlinghas let Harry live (in her latestbook) as she cannot but support
the universal axiom that goodfinally prevails over evil.
Amritha Ramji,Chennai
The Harry Potter books have amesmerising effect on all thosewho read them. Ms. Rowling hascreated a piece of art that appealsto the young and the old alike. Hatsoff to the brilliant author who hascaptured the hearts of billionsaround the world!
Abhinaya Ganesh, New Delhi
What is alluring about the Harry
Potter books is although the char-acters have grown up and are intheir teens, their focus has not de- viated from their mission which isto fight the world of dark arts andits lord. Ms. Rowling has retainedthe childhood innocence of themain characters. This clean imageis most striking and welcome.
Myrtle Maxwell, Kollam
What is it in the Harry Potter booksthat keeps young readers hooked tothem? While the racy plot and tightnarrative have added to the fun, itcannot be denied that Ms. Row-ling’s books treat adolescents asadults — the thick book with nopictures, no moral story to hammerinto the mind of the readers, nobending backwards to explain indetail, and a language that is fit foradults. In this respect, it is very similar to J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye , which treatedthe emotions of the young as real
and serious.Jims Varkey,
Kochi
