In the Peoples Republic of China the
communist party literally owns the institutions of state and no
interference in the decision making of these institutions is accepted by
any group of interest. This is quite different from the West where
lobbies write the laws relating to their interests. What this means is
that the communist party has an absolute control over the way society
functions. Now this does not mean, as most Westerners believe, that
China is a dictatorship. Individuals and economic actors are
participating in the decision making process by giving their ideas and
opinions about what should be done. During this consultation phase civil
society debates with the representatives of the party and the state
about solutions and the media also relays these debates. Once the
consultation phase concludes civil society retreats and lets the party
and state institutions formalize the decisions and their implementation.
And once the rules of the game have been formalized everybody is
expected to participate in their implementation.