| ||||||||||
1,643 seats in all Provincial Assemblies | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registered | ~1,700,000 | |||||||||
Turnout | 10–20% | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
Elections held No election |
The 1909 Chinese provincial elections were held to elect the members of the Provincial Assemblies (or Consultative Bureau) of China. The election was held between April and June 1909 in the 22 provinces of China as part of the New Policies as a move toward constitutional monarchy. The Provincial Assemblies were convened on 14 October 1909 and were responsible for electing half of the members of the imperial Advisory Council convened subsequently in 1910. These provincial assemblies survived even after the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that founded the Republic of China and replaced the Qing Empire. They were ordered to dissolve by the President Yuan Shikai.
About 1.7 million men, or 0.42 percent of a population of 410 million, were registered as eligible voters. It was marked as one of the most important episodes of Chinese democracy as "it [was] the first day in Chinese history that people can elect their representative," as promoted by newspaper Shi Pao, although a county council election in Tianjin had been held earlier in 1907. [1] The Constitutionalists gained grounds in the election and became more active in the constitutional movement pushing for the establishment of constitutional monarchy.
The Qing Empire in the early 20th century was undergoing a series of New Policies, including the proposal for a constitutional monarchy. In 1907, the Imperial Government promulgated the Constitutional Preparation Program that aimed to establish a National Assembly and 21 Provincial Assemblies on a provisional basis. [2] In July 1908, the 115-clause "Regulations for Provincial Assembly Elections" was promulgated to lay out the property and education requirements for the candidates. [1]
The minimum age of candidate in the elections were 30 years old and the minimum age of voter was 25. Middle-school education background and property worthy of 5,000 yuan were required for the electorate, while seventh rank for the civil office or fifth rank of military office, shengyuan level of Imperial Civil Examination degree and three year experience in public affairs or school administration were also required for candidate or electorate. Illiterate and women were excluded from standing or voting. [2]
The elections adopted the double voting system which was borrowed from Japan, in which the preliminary voting was to choose the electors who cast the second ballot to elect the fixed number of assembly members. [2]
Province | Population | Voters | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|---|
Zhili | 29,932,000 | 163,000 | 0.62 | 140 |
Fengtian | 12,133,000 | 53,000 | 0.43 | 50 |
Jilin | 5,580,000 | 15,000 | 0.27 | 30 |
Heilongjiang | 2,029,000 | 5,000 | 0.23 | 30 |
Shandong | 30,988,000 | 119,000 | 0.38 | 100 |
Henan | 35,900,000 | – | – | 96 |
Shanxi | 12,269,000 | 54,000 | 0.43 | 86 |
Jiangsu | 32,283,000 | 162,000 | 0.50 | 121 |
Anhui | 16,229,000 | 78,000 | 0.48 | 83 |
Jiangxi | 23,987,000 | – | – | 93 |
Fujian | 15,849,000 | 50,000 | 0.39 | 72 |
Zhejiang | 21,440,000 | 90,070 | 0.42 | 114 |
Hubei | 25,590,000 | 113,000 | 0.38 | 80 |
Hunan | 27,390,000 | 100,000 | 0.36 | 82 |
Shaanxi | 10,271,096 | 29,000 | 0.29 | 63 |
Gansu | 4,990,000 | 9,000 | 0.19 | 43 |
Xinjiang | — | — | — | — |
Sichuan | 48,130,000 | 191,000 | 0.39 | 105 |
Guangdong | 28,010,000 | 142,000 | 0.49 | 91 |
Guangxi | 8,747,000 | 40,000 | 0.46 | 57 |
Yunnan | 9,467,000 | – | – | 68 |
Guizhou | 9,665,000 | 42,000 | 0.42 | 39 |
Total | 410,879,096 | 1,700,000 | 0.42 | 1,643 |
The turnout of the election was only around 10 to 20 percent. Candidates in Northeastern China faced nearly no competition and was described as "handpicked" by the officials. [3]
90 percent of the gentry who had a traditional civil examination degree, in which the examination system was abolished in 1905, were elected. The average age of the elected members was 40. The Constitutionalists campaigned for the election and they were divided into different small factions by background and political beliefs. Among those elected who later became famous were Zhang Jian in Jiangsu, Tan Yankai in Hunan and Tang Hualong in Hubei who were all elected speakers for their respective assemblies and leaders of the constitutional movement. [4] Due to the double round system of voting which led to instances of bribery, corruption incidents were observed. [2]
The elected member of the provincial assemblies elected the 98 members, consisting of half of the seats, in the imperial Advisory Council. As the Constitutionalists gained grounds in the assemblies, they began to form different political groups and further pushed for the implementation of constitutional monarchy.
The Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, is governed in a framework of a representative democratic republic under a five-power system first envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in 1906, whereby under the constitutional amendments, the President is head of state and the Premier is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested primarily in the parliament and limited by government. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. In addition, the civil service's powers is being in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants and the supervision auditory power inspects, reviews, and audits the policies and operations of the government. The party system is dominated by two parties, the Kuomintang, which broadly favors closer links to mainland China, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which broadly favors the status quo and independent governance.
Yuan Shikai was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president of the Republic of China and head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916. A major political figure during the late Qing dynasty, he spearheaded a number of major modernisation programs and reforms and played a decisive role in securing the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in 1912, which marked the collapse of the Qing monarchy and the end of imperial rule in China.
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a parallel voting system.
The National Assembly was the authoritative legislative body of the Republic of China, from 1947 to 2005. Along with the Control Yuan and the Legislative Yuan, the National Assembly formed the tricameral parliament of China.
The Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanjing, and adopted on 25 December 1947. The constitution, along with its Additional Articles, remains effective in ROC-controlled territories.
The history of the Republic of China begins after the Qing dynasty in 1912, when the Xinhai Revolution and the formation of the Republic of China put an end to 2,000 years of imperial rule. The Republic experienced many trials and tribulations after its founding which included being dominated by elements as disparate as warlord generals and foreign powers.
The Control Yuan is the supervisory and auditory branch of the government of Taiwan.
The debate over democracy in China has been a major ideological battleground in Chinese politics since the 19th century. China is not a liberal or representative democracy. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese government state that China is a "socialist democracy" and a "people's democratic dictatorship." Under Xi Jinping, China is also termed a "whole-process people's democracy." Many foreign and some domestic observers categorize China as an authoritarian one-party state, with some saying it has shifted to neoauthoritarianism. Some characterize it as a dictatorship.
The 1st Legislative Yuan election was held in China between 21 and 23 January 1948. This election, and the preceding 1947 National Assembly election are the first elections of under the newly ratified 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China. Under this constitution, the Legislative Yuan is a standing legislature when the National Assembly is not in session. At the time most of Chinese territory was under the control of the government of the Republic of China, using a direct voting system elected 759 Legislative Representatives. Using the Republic's then 461 million population to calculate, on average 600,000 people elected one representative in the Legislative Yuan. The election along with the one held for the National Assembly also made China the largest democracy at the time.
The Government of the Republic of China, commonly known as the Government of Taiwan, is the central government of Taiwan, whose actual-controlled territory consists of main island of Taiwan (Formosa), Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other island groups, collectively known as Taiwan Area or Free Area. Currently governed by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since 2016. The government of Taiwan is run by a Semi-presidential system, consists of the presidency and five branches (Yuan): the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Examination Yuan, and Control Yuan. The president is the head of state, with the premier as the head of central government. Since 2005, the Legislative Yuan has been the unicameral parliamentary body of the country.
The Progressive Party was a political party in the Republic of China from 1913 to 1916.
The 1912 Chinese National Assembly elections, held in December 1912 to January 1913, were the first nation-wide elections for the newly founded National Assembly of the Republic of China, which was a bicameral parliament with a Senate and a House of Representatives. This assembly was called by the Chinese the Old Congress (laoguohui) to differentiate it from the future assemblies.
The Provisional Government of the Republic of China was a provisional government established during the Xinhai Revolution by the revolutionaries in 1912. After the success of the Wuchang Uprising, revolutionary provincial assembly representatives held a conference in the district of Wuchang, China, which framed the organizational outline of the Provisional Government.
The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China. The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the State Council to the Supreme People's Court (SPC) are subservient to it. With 2,977 members in 2023, it is the largest legislative body in the world. The NPC is elected for a term of five years. It holds annual sessions every spring, usually lasting from 10 to 14 days, in the Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Late Qing reforms, commonly known as New Policies of the late Qing dynasty, or New Deal of the late Qing dynasty, simply referred to as New Policies, were a series of cultural, economic, educational, military, diplomatic, and political reforms implemented in the last decade of the Qing dynasty to keep the dynasty in power after the invasions of the great powers of the Eight Nation Alliance in league with the ten provinces of the Southeast Mutual Protection during the Boxer Rebellion.
The Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet was a position created on 8 May 1911 during the late Qing dynasty, as part of the imperial government's unsuccessful attempts at creating a constitutional monarchy in China.
The Legislatures of British India included legislative bodies in the presidencies and provinces of British India, the Imperial Legislative Council, the Chamber of Princes and the Central Legislative Assembly. The legislatures were created under Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom. Initially serving as small advisory councils, the legislatures evolved into partially elected bodies, but were never elected through suffrage. Provincial legislatures saw boycotts during the period of dyarchy between 1919 and 1935. After reforms and elections in 1937, the largest parties in provincial legislatures formed governments headed by a prime minister. A few British Indian subjects were elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which had superior powers than colonial legislatures. British Indian legislatures did not include Burma's legislative assembly after 1937, the State Council of Ceylon nor the legislative bodies of princely states.
The Advisory Council, also known as the Government Advisory Council, Political Advisory Council, or Political Advisory Board, was a preparatory body for the parliament established in 1910. It was part of the New Policies in the late Qing dynasty, of which the Qing court was moving toward the implementation of a constitution. In September 1907, the Guangxu Emperor promulgated a decree on the setting up of the Advisory Council, following by the provincial Consultative Bureaus in October.
The 1909 Chinese parliamentary election was an indirect election to the first imperial Advisory Council, a preparatory body of the parliament created under the constitutional reform bought by the late Qing dynasty. It was seen as the first popular election in Chinese history.
The National Assembly was the legislative branch of the Beiyang government during the Republican era of Chinese history. The National Assembly was first founded in 1913, following the overthrow of the previous Qing dynasty, as the first free democratic legislature in Chinese history. It was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed dictatorial power and declared himself the Emperor of China. During the Warlord Era, the National Assembly was resurrected and disbanded more than once as different warlords vied for power and legitimacy.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help){{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)