Under Chinese Communist Party rule, village elections are the
only example of a one-person, one-vote democracy in China.
Launched in the mid-eighties, these elections were originally
introduced to replace the village communes that were dissolved
after the Cultural Revolution. At the time, few outside China
paid much attention and many still do not know this is
happening. In addition, according to the US Army in 1928, a
republic has a Constitution, and China has one, which provides
for all four points that were made in the US Army definition of
a republic. Another definition for a representative type of
government is that the constitution is changeable from its
original meaning by amendments and China’s 1954 Constitution was
amended in 1982, 1988, 1993, 1999, and 2004. Unlike the
parliamentary democratic system where the prime minister may
rule as long as his or her party holds the majority, China sets
a limit of two five-year terms for its President, and he or she
is elected by the National People’s Congress