There is no doubt power lies in the ability of A to exercise
control over B. However, power also relies in A's ability to protect B being
influenced by or controlled by any other actor. The over arching ability of A
to exert control on B and refraining from B being directed by any other force
is also power.
The Chinese government, exercises this kind of control over its
citizens. Highly criticized communist traditions and policies, introduced by
Mao Zedong, are the norms of the country. Overtime changes have happened and
the constitution has been edited and many
civil rights such as free speech, press, the right to trial, and the
right to own private property have been added. However, enforcement of these
laws have not been effective successfully.
China is known as the rising power of the world and that is
essentially because how it has managed to create a working centrally controlled
political system. The citizens have been indoctrinated through its thorough
management of instilling in beliefs and values consistent with communist
thought. Even, in the 21st century YouTube, a popular video-sharing website and
Facebook, the most widely used social networking site are banned in most of
China to "protect" the people, where, it is to be noted technology and mobile
networking are few of the biggest industries in the country.
2 comments:
Youtube has also been blocked in Pakistan which happens to be a democratic state as opposed to communist. This shows that the type of power implemented can be independent of the political structure in place.
Also, you could have taken a position on China's power dynamics.
Enforcement of the rule of law is an interesting issue and one that I think is often overlooked in both democratic and autocratic states. In Pakistan, a putative democracy, the legal system takes forever to impart "justice." But if it takes so long to impart "justice", what does this say about the rule of law in Pakistan? How important is justice and the rule of law to checking abuse of power?
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