Chinese-Style Constitutionalism: On Backer's Chinese Party-State Constitutionalism

Currently, besides traditional national constitutionalism, there are three general approaches to constitutionalism in the world: transnational constitutionalism, theocratic constitutionalism, and party-state constitu-tionalism. The focus of this article is on Larry Backer's research concerning China's party-state system. Party-state constitutionalism is rooted in Marxism-Leninism, and was initially put into practice by the former Soviet Union. The People's Republic of China in its early years largely followed in the USSR's footsteps and developed its constitutional system under the traditional Soviet framework. However, since 1982, the Chinese party-state constitutional system has undergone several major reforms, and China has been gradually transforming into a single-party constitutional state. Grounded in the separation of powers between the party and the state, this new constitutional model serves to further the rule of law, reaffirm the paramount authority of the constitution, and dynamically balance the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) leadership position with the rule of law. The CCP, being an articulator of social norms and values, provides the substantive norms and values that form the basis of the rule-of-law constitution. The constitution, in turn, serves to limit the behavior of the party, so that the CCP will be subject to the constraints of the constitution and the rule of law.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000331279800003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Area StudiesSSCI2ARTICLEjiangsg@pku.edu.cn2,SI133-1674