ABSTRACT
Constitutional socialism has become a theory in China in recent years and has rallied support from influential scholars in political, legal, economic, and philosophical fields, such as Jiang Ping, Cai Dingjian, Wang Changjinag, Guo Daohui, Li Weiguang, and Hua Bingxiao. These scholars believe that Chinese socialism needs both market economy and constitutional politics. Convinced by China’s success as a socialist country with a thriving market economy, they insist that public ownership of productive means and wealth should be preserved; they propose to adapt constitutionalism into China’s political system to guarantee her further political, economic, cultural, and social developments. Scholars argue that constitutional socialism originates in civil society and is guided by public opinion; it enables citizens to claim their public power and to exercise their freedom and equality through orderly participation in constitutional politics. The scholars’ main concern is how to restrict the power of the ruling CCP and the state in order to guarantee citizens’ human rights. They argue that a good constitution respects people’s sovereignty, attends to public opinion, restricts the power of the government, and protects human rights and liberty. A good constitution in full practice can legitimize the CCP, check and balance the power of the government branches, and protect the people’s rights. They promote the supremacy of the constitution, the division of power, a democratic political life, the protection of people’s rights, and the inspection of unconstitutional activities.
