ABSTRACT
Western democracies can be divided into presidential, semi-presidential, and parliamentary systems. Differences in these reflect the differences in the power relations among legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. This chapter focuses on the Chinese government defined narrowly, which includes China's legislative, judicial, and executive institutions. In Western democracies, the power of the legislative branch originates from popular elections that are free, competitive, and fair. The election of People's Congress representatives at the municipal level and above is done indirectly. People's Congresses above the county level are made up of the Congress itself and its Standing Committee. Each congress elects a standing committee to preside over legislative affairs when the congress is not in session. According to the current legislative rules, the central government and the NPC may propose legislative bills. In Western democracies, opposition parties often take advantage of their seats in the legislature to monitor or mount criticisms of the government.
