IRI Co-Hosts First-Ever Conference on Political Parties

October 31, 2002

On October 11and 12, more than 50 scholars and researchers from China, Australia, Europe and the United States gathered in Beijing for a landmark conference on political parties. IRI and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) cosponsored the event.

The conference was the first of its kind in China, according to CASS' Political Science Institute director. For the Chinese participants, the conference provided a unique opportunity to discuss political party evolution throughout the world and the relevance of party politics to China's political future.

Participants from China and other countries noted the need for China to reform its political party system on a number of levels. Those include separating the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from legislative and executive government affairs, instituting a supervisory body ensuring that the CCP is not above the law, encouraging the CCP to be more responsive and accountable to Chinese citizens, allowing input from other political parties and enforcing democracy through elections with multi-party candidates.

A number of the papers presented highlighted various models for political party reform, including case studies on Taiwan, Mexico, Singapore and Western and Eastern Europe.

An edited compilation of the conference papers will be circulated in academic and policy-making circles throughout China.

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