China and election are rarely ever heard in the same sentence. Chinese people today not yet understand what it feels like to vote for their own leader. But in March 2012, an election took place, of the people and by the people. Using real ballots, clean results, and real candidates, the Chinese were experiencing a change that has not been seen before. As the Chinese’s communist party bring in their new leadership, many Chinese and westerners will ask whether that leader will allow democratic reforms in China. The hopes of the United States stand strong if China were to become a democratic nation because it appears to be said that it will be better for the U.S., and the world. China should move towards a democratic nation because growth leads to liberty, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has become Marxist-Leninist in name only, and the rules of electoral democracies are better for stable development than those of dictatorships.

With a larger education rate and economic growth, civilized Chinese people will learn to resist the appeal of demagogues. The Chinese people would not want to continue living their lives being run by a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument. This could cause China to go corrupt because the leader can choose more “wants” over “needs”, while knowing the “wants” make people happy but doesn’t advance the nation. “China’s per-capita growth over the last decade has averaged a highly impressive 8.5 percent annually” (Rowen para 4). Growth like this could improve China politically. With an improved political point of view, China can soon realize that democracy will only help them as a nation, not hurt them. In September 2010, President Hu gave a speech in Hong Kong, taking a step towards Chinese democracy. “There is a need to … hold democratic elections according to the law; have democratic decision-making, democratic management, as well as democratic supervision; safeguard people’s right to know, to participate, to express and to supervise” (Hill para 2). President Hu’s observation regarding China’s growth helped him realize that democracy is a favorable political structure for the nation. “Education promotes growth, and might also independently promote political pluralization by reducing the costs of political action in support of relatively democratic regimes” (Rowen para 8). Schooling makes self-governing revolutions more probable, in opposition to dictatorships, more probable and flourishing antidemocratic soups less probable. Today, China’s freedom rating is well below the level that its economy would predict. “The more than one-sixth of the world’s people who live in China will by 2025 be citizens of a country correctly classed as belonging to the Free nations of the earth” (para 3). This is a decent amount of time for China to build itself towards democracy. China’s growth will eventually lead to the freedom of its people, and be run just as any other democratic nation. China significantly improved educationally and economically. Along with the projected year for China to become a part of the “Free nations of the Earth”, the current people of China would need to “sit tight” until the so called “Communist” nation becomes democratically run in order to be free citizens.

In a village in South-East China, Wukan, just a few hundred miles from Hong Kong, villagers protested against a “land grab”. China is a very strict communist nation. One goal of a Communist country is the abolition of property land. Party Secretary Wang Yang approved the villagers’ demands, disregarding one of the goals that would help prove how the Communist Party is still doing its job, that goal being the abolition of property land. This really shows how China is no longer trying to keep its view as a communist country. “On his call, the province returned some of the disputed farmland, released detained activists and allowed the villagers to hold their own elections” (Zakaria para 7). The Chinese Communist Party has become Marxist-Leninist in name only. Communism is no longer being treated as strictly as it was in the past. In the past, citizens would be killed for protesting against the government’s ideals. For example, the man who protested in Tiananmen Square and stood in front of the Chinese military tank would have instantly been killed. “The Communist Party, which has held unbroken power since 1949, is struggling to maintain its popular legitimacy in the face of rising inequality, corruption and environmental degradation, even as the economy continues to bound ahead” (Lim, Martina para 2). Even though the economy continues to rise, The Chinese Communist Party struggles to maintain a strong political view in China. “A decade has passed; the Communist Party is still in power. But don’t think I’m taking my prediction back” (Chang para 1). Clear evidence shows that the people of the United States think that the Chinese Communist Party will collapse. If the CCP collapses, China would more than likely turn towards a democratic standpoint when running their nation, which the United States and most of the world hopes for. The current Communist Party has basically given up. “In reality, it seeks to rule a system that might be called party-state capitalism, setting broad rules while leaving much authority to local Party figures and various private actors. Central authorities can intervene, but they ration their energies” (Rowen para 16). China calls itself a communist country but illustrates characteristics of democracy. About fifty percent of the Chinese are miserable with their living conditions. “As a result, almost two-thirds of middle-class and rich Chinese have already left the country, or are in the process of emigrating to the West. A reason for leaving the country is the desire for democracy by the people for the main reason of freedom. Democracy is better for stable, maintained growth of a country, while also appealing to the citizens.

Most people desire freedom in the country they reside, not have their lives run by a dictator. If rules are broken or even bent, serious consequences are put in place, such as being killed. “Democracies tend to foster governmental transparency and the production of public goods while placing some limits on what rulers can steal” (Rowen para 9). Disadvantages of dictatorships include the loss of freedom of choice. The people of China have no choice to choose who governs them, and cannot vote in elections. Absolute power lies within the government. The government, more interested in building up their country, may not think take into consideration the interests of the people. Democracies, however, provides change to a government without violence. The majority of people living under a democracy are happy with the government because they have a say towards the election of a leader. “Democracy is not about focusing on what the Congress is doing right now; it’s about what we, the citizens who vote for the members of Congress, are doing” (Barnhart para 1). The United States citizens cannot stand around and do nothing. The point of democracy is for the people to voice their opinions. Most people in the United States do not even vote. Congressmen are elected, put into office by a pre-existing government. Chinese citizens would be more than glad to vote for their leader, seeing as they never really had an option before. They desire for their voice of opinion to be heard. “Surveys show that confidence in the government is high, and people seem satisfied with the way that “democracy” is unfolding” (Rowen para 19). The Chinese people hope that democracy unfolds. People want to finally be free in their own country, and for their voice to be heard because currently, the government doesn’t allow it.

It is apparent that China will soon be moving towards democracy. Economic growth over the years has been the greatest factor that shaped China as a nation. China has overcome many obstacles on the road to democracy, despite being thought of as a developing country. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will soon diminish, needing a new political system to follow. However, if the Chinese Communist Party decides to take charge of China to prevent democratization, achieving Democracy will be much more difficult. Democracy is the step China will choose in order to achieve the interest of the people, including both the United States and China. China is still looking forward to embracing and continuing to improve their country as a soon to be superpower, regardless of their political system. Local elections along with media institutions are serving to enlarge personal liberties and may perhaps contain the potential to renovate the Chinese civilization. Very little could be done besides waiting to see whether Chinas leader decides to take the democratic standpoint.