China Is a democracy

High Approval Rating CountsIn a country without elections such as an absolute monarchy obviously even a high approval rating wouldn't make it a democracy. However, a country which has elections such as China having a high approval rating suggests that people feel they are represented appropriately and so is good reason to consider such a regime to be a democracy. Confirmation BiasCon claims that just because the articles would be more likely to be skewed to the left-wing means that they would be more pro-China. Even though China is a left-wing country these articles are still written primarily from a left-wing perspective from within Western society. This is different. The left is Western societies tends to be biased towards seeing China as not respecting human rights because of such things as capital punishment, censorship, and since China has at times applied hooliganism laws to homosexuality. While I don't necessarily agree with any of those things when such policies are decided upon within a democracy it does not negate its being a democracy. Nevertheless if you have already judged that a foreign country's policies are not to your liking it can only help that narrative if you can convince others and yourself that the foreign country's government is a form of government you and most others in your society don't like (such as convincing them and yourself that the government is not a democracy). This can also be a form of wishful thinking. If you convince yourself that a government with policies you disapprove of isn't really a democracy you might convince yourself that if the people were in charge then it would set different policies. That way you can think of the people of that country as victims who would do away with the policies you don't like if the government were to change into something which according to your biased point of view would constitute a democracy.The Western right-wing of course has strong reasons to be biased against China as well. They disapprove of China's socialist economic system.Hence there are plenty of reasons for Western people whether on the left or the right to convince themselves that China is not a real democracy. That makes any source from the West, particularly any source written in English liable to being biased into seeing China unfavorably. Recall In China Extends to the Local Levels As Wellhttp://www.politicalsciencenotes.com...This political science website mentions that recall elections can happen at the local level in China. Since the people have the ability to recall those officials who represent them directly this gives the people a lot of power. If higher level officials became unpopular enough that could create real pressure on those officials at lower levels to recall them in order to win reelection or even to avoid being recalled themselves.Still Relatively Easy to Run for OfficeBeing able to run with the support of just four people is a rare thing in this world. In the United States anyone who wants to run for office typically needs thousands of signatures. While it may be the case that the Communist Party and other mass organizations may have their opinion on these elections and may endeavor to influence the outcome the same is true in any country. In the United States corporations donate thousands or sometimes millions of dollars to influence elections. It has gotten so bad that it is arguable that it is an oligarchy, which I pointed out in a source in a previous round.There is one thing which makes it harder for the Communist Party to manipulate elections, small constituencies. Since direct elections are only held at the local level the number of voters is relatively small. This means they are more likely to all know each other. If the best candidate is really an independent candidate the people will figure this out in their daily conversations and will elect him. Granted the election committee still has to approve the candidates, but they are composed of educated people and if the trust people have of the candidate is well-founded he will be allowed to run.That the people usually vote for the Communist Party just shows that people in China trust the Communist Party. That Communist Party members would be suspicious of a non-member wanting to attain office is reasonable. Why does he want to be elected? Considering that not being a party member he did not have to educate himself as extensively about Marxist theory and about the current issues facing China one could reasonably wonder that he may have more selfish intentions. But that doesn't mean someone running as an independent can't get elected, he just has to win the trust of the people in the district he is running in, and the Communist Party is just making sure the voters judge these things carefully.Independent Candidate ExampleYao Lifa is an example of an independent candidate who successfully was elected to office even against the wishes of the Communist Party. If China was not a democracy how could that happen?https://en.wikipedia.org...Telephone is a bad analogyIn the game of telephone you can't go back and say "excuse me, can you please clarify?" But people can and do do that in governements if something is misunderstood.Larger constituencies are bad for much the same reason as larger classrooms are bad. There are more people and so the politician's attention is more divided. The politician will also be more likely to be distracted by campaign contributions and pleading from special interest groups. When a politician only has to campaign for a small group of voters it is easier for the politician to be aware of what his voters want and respond appropriately. China is SocialistCon says that those enterprises in China are state-owned enterprises. This is true, but the state is elected by the people, so a state-owned enterprise in China is a people-owned enterprise. That China is socialist, that the economy is run by the state also amplifies the power of the Chinese people since through their representatives they exercise power over the commanding heights of the economy.ConclusionJust look at all the evidence. They have recall elections, multiple parties and independents are allowed to run. All the claims against China being considered a democracy are unfounded. Any restrictions on political participation are just the result of a decision made by a democratically-elected government, and at any rate since it allows some independents and other-party candidates to run (and sometimes they win even without support from the Communist Party) it's not that restrictive. Certainly it is more democratic than countries where money in politics determines the outcomes of elections.Vote Pro!Sources:1. Right of Recall Includes Direct local elections http://www.politicalsciencenotes.com...2. Yao Lifa, Independent who won https://en.wikipedia.org...