Popular Sovereignty and Constitutional Development in China.

In 2018, the Fifth Amendment to China’s Constitution changed the name of the Law Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) to the ‘Constitution and Law Committee’. This involved more than a name change; rather, faced with a legitimacy crisis, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) has a strong interest in augmenting the existing basis of legitimacy and creating a new source of power resting on popular sovereignty. The idea of popular sovereignty in the Chinese context is defined as the combination of sovereignty of the people and leadership of the CPC. As the central institutional device to guarantee people’s sovereignty, the people’s congress system has its own difficulties. Although it is the highest authority endowed by the Constitution, the NPC is actually a ‘strong on paper, weak in practice’ body. The creation of the Constitution and Law Committee, entrusted with the power of review by a decision issued subsequent to the Fifth Amendment, can contribute to enhancing the role of the NPC. This could be viewed as part of the CPC’s efforts to implement functionally the principle of popular sovereignty, which, in turn, can help uphold and safeguard regime legitimacy in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]