China needs serious political reforms: more democracy, rule of law, transparency, checks on power and a decentralized power structure.
Communes created elaborate systems of checks on power that aimed to prevent dominance by any single faction.
The era's anti-hierarchical critical spirit, its self-conscious checks on power have no part in Pialat's films.
They also worry that without opposition involvement, Burundi could become more of a lopsided state, with few checks on power.
"Their rule imposed no checks on power and allowed governments to ignore environmental protection laws and regulations," the Post wrote in the article.
In part, liberals advocating constitutional checks on power have been energized by the party's takedown of Bo Xilai, the polarizing former Politburo member who is expected to be prosecuted soon on charges of corruption and subverting the law.
Leadership involves boldness, decisiveness and action, even a willingness to go it alone; constitutions work in the opposite direction, imposing forms and rules, checks on power and limits on executive initiative.
To keep checks on power, it is crucial that we have legitimate, effective regulation of competition and antitrust, that consumers are protected, that multinationals don't evade tax, and that fundamental rights are respected and protected.
After the crackdown ends, without new checks on power and greed, corruption is likely to resurface, says Li Chengpeng, a journalist and coauthor of Chinese Soccer: The Inside Story.
