The Organizational Formation and System Logic of China’s Legislative System

The legislative system is an integral part of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and the institutional support for the modernization of the country’s governance system and governance capabilities. From the Representatives of All Walks of Life, People’s Congresses, Government Committees to People’s Congresses, the organization of the legislative system has undergone complex historical evolution. Based on the large scale of jurisdiction and the unbalanced and inadequate regional development, China’s national governance presents a governance pattern of multi-level and gradual sinking. Therefore, although China is a unitary country in the constitutional system, what is being promoted in the legislative system is an operating structure in which central authority and local-level legislation coexist. On the one hand, the unity of legislative leadership, national legislative power’s command over local legislative power, and the subordination of local legislative power to national legislative power constitute the authoritative characteristics of the legislative system with Chinese characteristics. On the other hand, the national legislative power is divided into the legislative power of the highest authority, the legislative power of the highest administrative agency, the legislative power of the highest supervisory agency, the legislative power of the highest military agency, the legislative power of Ministries, the legislative power of the headquarters of the Central Military Commission, and the power of local legislative power is divided into provincial legislative power, legislative power of municipalities divided into districts, legislative power of military regions and various and arms, legislative power of Special Administrative Region, etc., constituting the hierarchical characteristics of the legislative system with Chinese characteristics. The “One-center and Multi-layer” legislative system has the function of giving consideration to both unity and flexibility. It is of positive significance for the realization of the party’s leadership of legislative work, the integration of the national governance system with the legislative system, and the interaction between legislative sovereignty and governance power.