Chinese Concept of “Governing the Country According to Law” and Its Soviet Predecessor: A Comparative Law Analysis

Maintaining stability of the constitutional order often requires political and legal reforms. In China, due to some historical and ideological reasons legal reforms under the guideline “Governing the Country According to Law” became an alternative to political reform. Adhering to the leadership of the China’s Communist Party is a significant part in this concept. The problem of the role of ruling party in one-party “rule of law” system is so specific that the CPC has only one predecessor on this path—the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. However, by treating the party leadership as the core concept of value CPC will put itself in a vulnerable position if the reform fails. The study focuses on a specific problem of the role of ruling party in one-party “rule of law” system in China and its origins from the Soviet Union model. In Part 2 of this article, we discuss contemporary Chinese ideology of “governing the country according to law.” Part 3 outlines the Soviet experience of building “socialist rule of law state” in 1987–1991. In Part 4, the relationships between CPC and Chinese method of rule of law are discussed. Finally, the concluding part provides a summary of observations.