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Of course, the West loves to castigate this Asian giant for the mystery and secrecy surrounding membership of the Chinese Communist Party, which is true to a large extent. But the fact remains that more than any other political system in the world, advancement in the Chinese Communist Party is largely based on merit. Big money and corporate entities have limited influence, as opposed to what obtains in Western democracies.

Two years prior to the 1976 U.S. election, a Gallup poll listing 31 candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination did not include a little-known governor of Georgia named Jimmy Carter. Even a year later and after he emerged from a crowded race to win his partys primary election and later the presidential election, with a narrow margin, Mr Carters support among Democrats was still abysmally low. But Jimmy Carter was a better presidential candidate than he was a president, and Ronald Reagan defeated him in a landslide election on January 20, 1981, winning 489 out of the 538 electoral votes and ending Carterscolourlessone-term presidency. Thereafter, Democrats felt that something needed to change in the structure and process of the primaries from where their partys future presidential candidates would emerge, if only to avoid the chances of throwing up another Jimmy Carter.

According to a New York Times article in 1981, Governor James B. Hunt Jr. of North Carolina was asked to head a new 29-member amorphous Democratic rule-changing group. The group was made up of both the young upcomers and the experienced, and charged with the task of writing rules that will help us choose a nominee who can win and who, having won, can govern effectively. That was howsuper delegateswere invented in the Democratic Party.

A New York Times editorial describedsuper delegates as party bigwigs of 712 Democratic leaders, legislators, governors and the like. They can vote for any candidate at the nominating convention, regardless of whether that candidate won the popular vote. These unpledged delegates make up 30 percent of the 2,382 delegates whose votes are needed to win the nomination, and could thus make all the difference.What that means, simply put, is that the Democratic Party has an establishment structure in place that equates a single establishment vote with thousands of citizens votes.

The Republican Partys primary too is anything but perfect, especially with its winner-takes-all state primaries. That was how Donald Trump won about 60 per cent of Republican delegates, but only about 44 per cent of the votes. If the Republicans had allocated delegates in proportion to their vote, they would have had a contested convention and Trump would not have proceeded to become the 45th president of the United States.

The two examples above of how American presidential candidates emerged from both parties are far from democratic, yet they remain integral parts of the processes in the worlds most celebrated democracy. The West love to brag that they have patented a certain liberal democratic process that is best for the world. But is that a goal already achieved or it remains at best an aspiration?

Comparing and contrasting the American democratic system with the Chinese communist model, there are a couple of other interesting facts that could be jarring. For the U.S. Congress, the turnover rate in any given election is around ten per cent or even lessThe turnover rate of the Central Committee, on the other hand, is roughly about 62 per cent, on the average, every five years. With this, the Chinese communist system tends to achieve that which American democracy promises.

In China, the Politburo Standing Committee is the countrys real decision-making body. This is how the system works: In mid-October every five years, delegates of the Communist Party of China (CPC) from across the country meet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The party has about 2,300 delegates but this is sometimes less, since delegates could be disqualified for a wide range of reasons.

Those CPC delegates go on to elect the powerful Central Committee, which has about 200 members. This Committee in turn elects the Politburo, and from that the Politburo Standing Committee is chosen. The Politburo currently has 24 members, while the Politburo Standing Committee usually has about seven members, although these numbers have varied over the years. The Central Committee also elects the Partys top leader, the general secretary who becomes the countrys president. The announcement of Chinas new leaders takes place at Beijings Great Hall of the People. The 13th National Peoples Congress of the Peoples Republic of China was elected from October 2017 to February 2018 and will be in session in the five-year period of 2018 to 2023.

Of course, the West loves to castigate this Asian giant for the mystery and secrecy surrounding membership of the Chinese Communist Party, which is true to a large extent. But the fact remains that more than any other political system in the world, advancement in the Chinese Communist Party is largely based on merit. Big money and corporate entities have limited influence, as opposed to what obtains in Western democracies.

To getinto the party and state official system, you must pass Chinas civil service exam, which is administered to individuals, irrespective of their social standing. To serve the Chinese government, everyone has to pass a five-hour test. Topics that folks get tested on include advanced verbal skills, logic, maths and world knowledge.

For those who pass, promotion is then based on an elaborate ten-tier ranking system.

Comparing and contrasting the American democratic system with the Chinese communist model, there are a couple of other interesting facts that could be jarring. For the U.S. Congress, the turnover rate in any given election is around ten per cent or even less. One congressman got elected 30 times and spent 60 years in the House. These politicians become too powerful in the game and the only way to replace them is if they resign their positions voluntarily. The turnover rate of the Central Committee, on the other hand, is roughly about 62 per cent, on the average, every five years. With this, the Chinese communist system tends to achieve that which American democracy promises. The Chinese also have term limits, which help to ensure that new leaders emerge, mostly on the basis of performance, rather than privilege.

Before the West and the rest of the world start preaching to China about theneed to embrace liberal democracy, let us work on getting the system right. Democracy, for sure, remains the best idea of governance but the way it is currently being practiced, leaves much to be desired.

This piece was inspired by the Sunday, May 1 segment of 90minutesafrica. It is a new talk show hosted on Sundays across several social media platforms and anchored by two of my friends, who are veteran journalists, Dr Chido Onuma and Mr Rudolf Okonkwo. In the audience in that particular episode were Nigerian media deities likes Azu Ishiekwene, Kadaria Ahmed and Simon Kolawole.

I was particularly struck by Kadarias narration of how her effort to shed a little light on the conduct of Nigerias hitherto opaque party primaries and infuse a more robust participation therein was rebuffed by the leadership of the two major political parties. As far as these parties are concerned, the methods of choosing who flies their flags in an election remain an internal affair that should not be subjected to the intrusive eyes of media practitioners and non-party members. Yet, Nigerians are expected to choose from the few who emerge through this less-than-ideal process, who ultimately will hold the key to their future.

Political parties have become all too powerful in most liberal democracies of the world, even when nowhere in the constitutions of many nations is this tremendous amount of power exercised even remotely alluded to. The party nominating process truncates democracy since it offers few of the protections associated with the grand idea of one man, one vote. In the United States of America, voters in early caucus states like Iowa and New Hampshire have far more influence than voters in later ones, even when they constitute less than one per cent of registered voters nationwide. In Nigeria, the delegate selection process cuts the voter out entirely. This is why during most presidential elections, voters are forced to choose between two terrible candidates.

In a recent article titled, Nigerias party-political season of philanthropyprimaries,the former chairman of Nigerias Human Rights Commission and now a professor in Human Rights Law at Tuft University, Chidi Odinkalu wrote:Political parties are supposed to chaperone competition for access to the mandate to superintend the public good. In Nigeria instead right now, they are to conduct auctions to buy and sell the country. I cant agree more, though this aberration is not unique to Nigeria. As it is in Nigeria, so is in America, though less crude and in your face.

Before the West and the rest of the world start preaching to China about theneed to embrace liberal democracy, let us work on getting the system right. Democracy, for sure, remains the best idea of governance but the way it is currently being practiced, leaves much to be desired.

Osmund Agbo, a public affairs analyst is the coordinator of African Center for Transparency and Convener of Save Nigeria Project.Email:Eagleosmund@yahoo.com

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Party primaries: If democracy is the goal, then the Chinese might be closer, By Osmund Agbo - Premium Times