Revolution, Reform & Constitutionalism: The Evolution of China's 1982 Constitution

Abstract

From the standpoint of political constitutionalism, this paper interprets the dual structure, the reformative nature, and the logic of evolution of the 1982 Constitution of the People's Republic of China. The 1982 Constitution was enacted and enforced both to bring order out of chaos for China and to provide a constitutional structure for the policy of Reform and Opening-up. Thus it takes on multiple and sometimes conflicting meanings, such as the duet of the themes of both revolution and de-revolution, as well as the three bodies of China's sovereignty. Therefore, the 1982 Constitution is in fact a constitution of reform with the meaning of de-revolution, whose four Amendments fully reveal its reformative nature and its evolutionary logic and internalize these as a new constitutional design—like putting new wine into old bottles.