China: The Shenzhen Test of Intraparty Democracy

The Shenzhen municipal government published tentative plans for democratic reform on its Web site May 22 for the public to comment upon until May 26. The guidelines include the hosting of mayoral elections when "conditions allow." By conducting China’s "intraparty democracy" experiment in Shenzhen, Chinese President Hu Jintao is paying homage to the legacy of Deng Xiaoping — and signaling that if the test proves successful, intraparty democracy will spread to the rest of China. Any version that takes root, however, will be kept strictly under the control of the Communist Party elite.