Introduction
In any political system, power, ideology and organizational structure are the most important content. They are significant in the manner that they affect the public in terms of opinion and even voter turn outs. Similarly, any political moves made by the representatives are also dependent on these three patterns of political development.
The identification of each of these concepts by the public in relation to their uniqueness is what leads to a greater or lesser impact of democracy by the people. China has achieved a lot of economic growth over the years due to the political development demonstrated over those years.
Political development patterns in China
The traditional ideology of China has long regarded China as both a country and a cultural setup. As a result, traditional China was a unified traditional and political society with a great deal of appreciation for culture. The most important role of social and political systems is to generate authority, especially in China. Traditionally, China believed in bureaucracy as the form of rule, while monarchy was seen as the source of power.
In the previous years, China had been ruled by emperors who were the sole rulers of the citizens. Despite the existence of the two instruments of power, they were never distinct. Despite the unity that existed between political and cultural grounds, local diversity always existed with a great increase over many years. However, despite all the changes in power, ideologies of political representatives and political organization, acquisition of bureaucracy involved the rise of status by political leaders.
These ruling status groups always had power and were the sole ideologists of the local political systems. The traditional China in terms of power, ideology and organization may be better described as the territory of China as an empire. Since the empire was very dominant, its power over the political and cultural domains can be said to have united the local status groups in China leading to the creation of the Chinese society.
In this regard, the Chinese society came into being as a result of the union between the local social systems rather than the ideology that the society created the different local systems. Therefore, the traditional China may be regarded to have two structures in regard to power, ideologies and organization.
The first structure is the national bureaucracy that was involved in all formal national responsibilities such as centralization and hierarchy of power and authority. The other structure may be referred as heterogeneous as it consists of several local systems emphasizing on moral values, especially the acceptance in the Confucian ideological system as well as the national bureaucracy and economy.
On the other hand, contemporary Chinese saw the establishment of the Republic of China, which transformed the political entity of China by changing the Chinese society on large scale terms. Contrary to traditional China where the society was ruled by Confucianism, contemporary China is now ruled by the ideologies of Marxism theory. In Chinese power, the political role of ideology goes hand in hand with organization which is the communist power in China.
The contemporary Chinese society has come to appreciate the importance of using ideology to create and use organization in achievement of goals. The contemporary Chinese communist ideology consists of two theories better known by Marxism and Leninism. The most significant characteristic of the modern communist China is the fact that their adherence to the Marxism-Leninism stresses the need to belong into the global environment.
This has led to modernization among the Chinese men who have realized that their future lies in the industrial sector which was not recognized in the traditional China. Basically, the different ideologies between Confucianism and communism are the ideal illustrations of the changes that occurred from traditional China to contemporary China.
Contrary to communism, Confucianism emphasized on the use of interpersonal relationships in political systems rather than organized power as in the case of organized power demonstrated in contemporary China. Similarly, Confucianism focused on adaptation to immediate situations instead of setting goals and working towards them for purpose of change. Confucianism had no regard for equality as it regarded authority based on personal relationships.
The value of Chinese society has been changed based on ideological values as well as political values, especially on organized power. Additionally, modernization on economic growth, social values and equality have contributed great change in the Chinese society.
Another very significant tool in the transition from traditional to contemporary China has been practice, which has proved its flexibility through experience by creating several methods of organization through actual action. The most important role of ideology in contemporary China is the psychological transition at an individual level.
Conclusion
China has grown extensively economically, politically and socially with clear transitions from the traditional aspect of the Chinese society to the contemporary China. From inequality to lack of modernization and other political concerns, contemporary China brought changes in the society with many modernized aspects of political systems, social life as well as economic aspects which have brought many benefits to the Chinese citizens.