Citizenry participation: a critical perspective

At the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, socialist democracy and harmony was defined as part of China's national modernisation goal to be accomplished within the first two decades of the 21st century. China has since developed a series of new regulations and initiatives aiming at increasing governance transparency and encouraging citizenry participation. This article discusses citizenry participation under the backdrop of the contemporary Chinese society. Drawing on recent internet development and application data, the article discusses opportunities and challenges of using internet as a platform to promote political democracy in China. Strategies to deal with the perceived challenge are articulated based on critiques on Habermas's ideal of public sphere and Paulo Freire's theory of participatory communication. The proposition this article argues for is that participation is not a gift bestowed by the government to its citizenry. It is a societal action performed by the citizen. The perception of participation as a societal action implies two crucial aspects of constructive participation, namely responsibility and capability of participation.