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Change Of Constitutional Regimes In Central Asia:A Legal Perspective

Posted on:2016-01-21Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:H P DongFull Text:PDF
GTID:1316330461453141Subject:Constitution and Administrative Law
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The Central Asian countries have seen their independence and transition of constitutional regimessince the 1990s when they separated themselves from the Soviet Union as constituent Republics. Given the complexity of races, the fusion of different religions, the pluralism of traditions, the uniqueness of political systems as well asthe violent clashes brought about by the Eastern-Western politics, democratic conceptions and different system designs during their social transition, these countries have attracted scholars'attentionto the study of constitutional transition and governance. Although the study of the constitutional change of these States has become a theoretical focal point in academia of comparative constitutional law elsewhere, there has been a vacuum in research in China until now.Considering that the Central Asian States and China maintainclose connection in geography, history, people, culture, economy and politics,that both China and them share direct common influence from the former Soviet regime and some commonality in State governance, and that now both are facing similar political and social problems, the study of the constitutional changes and constitutional governance of these States appear to be extremely geopoliticallysignificant. These are the main reasons why I have chosenthis study as my Ph.D. research topic.This thesis focuses on the transition of constitutional regimes in the Central Asian States. I have developed the study along with the following thread:first of all, though the rediscovery of the history of political changes and constitutional governance of the five Central Asian States, the thesis aims at sorting out their common track of the development of constitutional conceptions and constitutional systems. Secondly, it mainly analyses the different constitutional systems, their characteristics of system design and system operation, in order to elaborate the democratic effectiveness and social cost of the current systems, and to put forward suggestions for further system reform and amelioration. Thirdly, in connection with the problems of constitutional governance and social management China is facing today, the thesis continues its further in-depth theoretical analysis and reflection based on the experiences and lessons the Central Asian States have accumulated in the course of system change, and recommends some constructive suggestions for China's reference and consideration.As far as the common historical track of the constitutional transition in Central Asian States is concerned, this thesis basically focuses on the study of developmental process, basic features and influential factors. This transition can be described as this process:from the integration of the Party and the State, and highly centralized constitutional governance under the former Soviet Union model to a Western style representative regime with checks and balances and the separation of the State and the church embedded in it. The study shows that the history is full of the struggles of the different political forces, and the contests of Eastern and Western constitutional conceptions from the East and the West. Frequent constitutional amendments and the balancing and re-balancing around the presidential power are direct manifestations of such situations. In the meanwhile, the thesis discovers the complex roles played by the nations, religions, and Russian factor, the contradiction between the Western democratic concepts and systems and the national situations and actual needs of these countries, and the features of constitution-making which lies in such a process from blind and fanatic obedience to practical rationality.After the completion of constitutional transition, the Central Asian states, on the basis of the Western constitutional regime of the separation of powers, have all established such basic structures in which the President, the Parliament and the Judiciary each play their respective role in state governance according to law, and generally adopted multiparty system and universal suffrage, including, particularly, referendum. The democratic progress of the system is apparent. All the systems of these States have their own characteristics, and the common one in constitutional design is their system combining strong president, weak parliament and small government. However, these new constitutional systems have encountered the obvious variations, inability of adaptation to local situations, and the co-existence of dictatorship, Party autocracy, and chaos of multiple parties. The shortcomings of modern democracy, the tradition of the dictatorship of the past, and the actual need of power centralization have all contributed to the reduced effectiveness of democracy, and this makes the democracy not up to the expectation. Of course, this may be regarded as normal phenomenon since this happens in the historical process of the new regime substituting the old.Good constitutional governance would be possible should there be the high degree of political wisdom together with appropriate patience to operate the system.The revelations to China's constitutional governance this thesis has been able to discover through the comparative study of the constitutional transition in the Central Asian States are multi-fold:first of all, the choice of a particular constitutional system must suit a country's national conditions and reality. It is neither advisable to just pursue democratic progress in the theory, nor to blindly copy pursue theoretical democracy or to simply copy foreign practices. Secondly, political transformation must follow gradual and orderly progress, combining holistic design and specific consideration, and must strive to avoid the assimilation and misuse of democratic form by negative national traditions and the taking of the reverse direction of democratic constitution. Thirdly, it is necessary to maintain relative degree of authority of the central government in the process of establishing constitutional governance, in order to safeguard the effective implementation of democratic system under the complicated political, social, national, and religious circumstances.Fourthly, while establishing good constitutional governance, necessary attention should be brought to the issue of nationality/ethnic minority, which requires not only institution building, but also cultural and international consideration. Lastly, the construction of constitutional system must be realized to showcase "China branding", and particularly, strive to the democratization, normalization and theorization of Chinese constitutional governance.
Keywords/Search Tags:Central Asian States, Constitutional Regime, ConstitutionalTransition, Regularity of Change, Revelation of Experiences
PDF Full Text Request
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