Single-candidate election
A single-candidate election refers to an election in which the number of candidates equals the number of positions to be filled. In some countries, single-candidate elections are used partially or entirely. In single-candidate elections, voters' power is limited to deciding whether to approve a candidate; therefore, compared to differential elections, voters have less power, their role being primarily limited to confirming the candidate.
China
In February 1953, the Election Law of the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses of the People's Republic of China was promulgated. Although the law did not explicitly stipulate the principle of single-candidate elections, the Directive of the Central Election Committee on Grassroots Election Work, which was promulgated on 3 April 1953, pointed out that "the number of candidates for delegates to the election meeting proposed by the election committee should generally be equal to the number of delegates elected, that is, the number of delegates to be elected in this electoral area should be the same as the number of delegates to be nominated".[1]
Although the Organization Law of the People's Congresses and Local People's Governments at All Levels of the People's Republic of China was promulgated in 1979, Article 16 of which stipulates that all local governments at all levels should conduct differential elections, in practice today, differential elections are only implemented at the grassroots level and among elected representatives and members. Leaders of governments at all levels are still elected by single-candidate elections, and enterprises and institutions are still appointed.[2]
In the past, the elections within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were generally conducted using an single-candidate election system. In 1980, the fifth plenary session of the 11th Central Committee adopted the Several Guidelines on Political Life within the CCP, which stipulated that, except for units with a small number of party members, the elections within the party were generally conducted using a differential election method to generate candidates for preliminary election, followed by a formal election, or a differential election.[3] However, in practice, the scope and level of differential elections within the CCP were small, the differential margin was small, and the competition in the elections was not strong.[4]
The current electoral system of China is a combination of differential elections and single-candidate elections.[5] In the context of the People's Republic of China, the trend toward differential elections towards democratic politics is to promote the scientific, standardized and institutionalized nature of differential elections. At present, the official development direction is to regulate differential nomination and differential elections in party elections to reflect the will of the voters.[6]
Under the CCP's political ideology of party leadership, the differential system is regarded as an important milestone in election history and is necessary to break out of the framework of single-candidate elections.[7]
Election by equal number of candidates
In practice, single-candidate elections are used in two different ways:[8]
- A one-time, single-candidate election. This means that without a preliminary election, a list of candidates equal to the number of positions to be filled is submitted directly to the meeting for voters to choose from during the election.
- After the preliminary election, an equal number of candidates are selected. In order to ensure the success of the election, a preliminary election is usually arranged within a certain scope before the formal election at the conference. The preliminary election adopts the form of differential election. After the preliminary election, the formal candidates with an equal number of seats to be elected are determined according to the results of the preliminary election and submitted to the conference for formal election.
Voting in an election with equal numbers
In the People's Republic of China, those currently subject to single-candidate elections mainly include the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, members of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries of the local committees and discipline inspection commissions at all levels, the chairman, Vice Chairmen, and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the President and Vice President of China, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, the President of the Supreme People's Court, and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.[9][10] In addition, in practice, the secretaries and deputy secretaries of the grassroots organizations of the CCP, and the heads of local people's congresses, as well as other principal leaders, are generally subject to single-candidate elections.[11]
Analysis
Zou Xueping and others believe that although "single-candidate election" has played a positive role in the construction of democracy and the rule of law in the People's Republic of China, differential election has greater and irreplaceable advantages. Single-candidate election is prone to becoming a formality, reducing or dampening the enthusiasm of voters or representatives to participate in politics, weakening the public servant consciousness, and fostering the abnormal mentality of elected officials who are only responsible to their superiors.[12] Tang Xiaoyang believes that the terms "equal number" and "election" in the term "equal number election" are contradictory concepts. He believes that if it is an "election", it cannot be "equal number", and if it is "equal number", it is not "election".[13]
Yuan Gang and others believe that the single-candidate election solves the problem of the legitimacy of power in terms of legal theory, which is conducive to the overall control of the CCP over the political life of the People's Republic of China.[14] Others believe that because there is no alternative plan, the single-candidate election does not have the principle of survival of the fittest. In the process of single-candidate election, the personal will of the leader usually plays a decisive role.[15] Voters have no choice and the participation of voters has almost no impact on the election results.[14]
Other countries
In socialist countries such as Vietnam and Cuba, single-candidate elections are now practiced. However, unlike China, the members or representatives of the National Assembly of Vietnam and Cuba are elected directly through single-candidate elections, while the representatives of the National People's Congress of China are elected indirectly.[citation needed]
During the National Assembly period of the Republic of China, from 1960 to 1990, the ruling Kuomintang nominated only one presidential candidate in the presidential elections.[16] The presidential elections for Chiang Kai-shek (since 1960), Chiang Ching-kuo, and Lee Teng-hui during their first terms were all single-candidate elections.[17]
In other countries, single-candidate elections sometimes occur for chief executive or other positions. For example, the President of Ireland has been elected without opposition five times: in 1952, 1974, 1976, 1983, and 2004.
See also
References
- ↑ Jin, Ziqiu (2014). "1953年选举法论析" [Analysis of the 1953 Electoral Law]. Journal of Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences (Social Sciences Edition). 1: 59–63. Archived from the original on 2015-05-01. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ Che, Keqin; Che, Jiang (2010). "关于我国民主选举的一些思考" [Some Reflections on Democratic Elections in my country]. Journal of Northwest A&F University (Social Sciences Edition). 10 (2): 112–114. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-9107.2010.02.022. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ Wang, Junfeng (1991). 党的知识手册 [Party Knowledge Handbook]. China Economic Publishing House. p. 86. ISBN 7-5017-1408-8. Search this book on
- ↑ Shu, Aixiang. "党内民主选举中存在的问题及其对策" [Problems and Countermeasures in Intra-Party Democratic Elections]. Chinese Communist Party News Network. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- ↑ 谢毅敏. (2005). 我国选举制度的历史, 现状和改革探析 (Master's thesis, 南京师范大学).
- ↑ 唐晓阳,陈家刚. 中国语境下的差额选举制度分析——发展历程与科学化方向[J]. 人民论坛·学术前沿. 2013(05) 「党的十八大在扩大差额选举、推进民主政治建设的理论和实践方面迈出了可喜的一步。十八大报告特别强调要健全党内民主制度体系,完善党内选举制度,规范差额提名、差额选举,形成充分体现选举人意志的程序和环境。从民主政治发展的角度来看,差额选举是大势所趋。然而,目前我国差额选举还存在不少问题,我们需要充分认识差额选举的重要意义,科学把握差额选举的发展方向,不断加强制度建设,推进差额选举的科学化规范化制度化。」
- ↑ Zhao, Jianmin (1997). 當代中共政治分析 [Contemporary Chinese Communist Party Political Analysis] (in 中文). Wunan Book Publishing. ISBN 978-957-11-1438-5.
差額制度被視爲中共選舉史上之重大里程,實則,選舉法中規定等額、差額都沒有道理, 選舉本來各憑本事,衹要被選舉之職位有 ... 但在當前中共以黨領政的政治思想指導下 ,若不規定差額,可能永遠跳不出同額競選的框框,...
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- ↑ Ge, Guangzhi (1993). 会议效率手册 [Meeting Efficiency Manual]. Beijing: Archives Publishing House. p. 185. ISBN 7-80019-382-9. Search this book on
- ↑ "在线答疑：党的选举制度与党委换届" [Online Q&A: The Party's Electoral System and the Re-election of Party Committees]. Chinese Communist Party News Network. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ Huo, Xiaoguang; Meng, Na (2013-03-10). "新一届国家机构领导人员将产生 详解选举和决定任命办法" [The new leadership of state institutions will be elected; detailed explanation of the election and appointment procedures.]. Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ Liang, Xiaoyan (2014). "我国差额选举制度存在的问题及其完善" [Problems and Improvements of my country's Differential Election System]. Kaneda (7): 340. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ Zou, Xueping; Jin, Zhilin. "差额选举和"党管干部"" [Competitive elections and "Party control over cadres"]. Sina Finance - China Business Journal. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ↑ Tang, Xiaoyang; Chen, Jiagang (March 2013). "中国语境下的差额选举制度分析——发展历程与科学化方向" [An Analysis of the Differential Election System in the Chinese Context: Its Development History and Scientific Direction]. People's Forum: Academic Frontiers: 63–71. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Yuan, Gang; Yu, Yanhong (January 2013). "中国语境下的差额选举及其问题" [Differential elections and their problems in the Chinese context]. People's Forum: Academic Frontiers: 65–72. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014.
- ↑ Wei, Shiping; Che, Jiang (2009). "目前我国差额选举问题评价" [Current evaluation of the issue of differential elections in my country]. Journal of Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities (Social Sciences Edition). 35 (1): 93–95. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1671-0215.2009.01.023. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
- ↑ 中國大陸月刊 [China Mainland Monthly] (in 中文). China Mainland Affairs Institute. 1991.
舉事實上二十人,實行等額選舉」,「提名委員人選一百四十四民主黨派 和各方提出的委員長、副委員長、秘書長人選會組成人員共一百五十五人,其中中共中央建議,經各目張膽的修改「選舉辦法草案」,明確主張「人大常委於變相的同額競選。
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- ↑ 中國大陸研究 [Mainland China Studies] (in 中文). National Chengchi University Center for International Relations Studies. 1988. p. 35.
十九個人大副委員長和國家軍委主席,都是用等額選舉方式産生的 沒有眞正實行差額選舉。... 大都探同額競選方式,抵要提名就可以當選。
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