section_path: Government and politics
section_name: Government and politics
paragraph_text: Government and politics
  
  The People's Republic of China is a one-party state governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP describes itself as guided by socialism with Chinese characteristics, which is Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances. The Chinese constitution states that the PRC "is a socialist state governed by a people's democratic dictatorship that is led by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants"; that the state institutions "shall practice the principle of democratic centralism "; and that "the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party."
  
  The PRC officially characterizes itself as a democracy —more specifically, a whole-process people's democracy. However, the country is commonly described as an authoritarian one-party state and a dictatorship, with some of the world's heaviest restrictions in many civil areas, most notably against freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, free formation of social organizations, freedom of religion and free access to the Internet. China has consistently been ranked amongst the lowest as an "authoritarian regime" by the Economist Intelligence Unit 's Democracy Index, ranking at 145th out of 167 countries in 2024. Other sources suggest that terming China as "authoritarian" does not sufficiently account for the multiple consultation mechanisms that exist in the Chinese governmental system.