China's Changing Constitution 805 indeed on the way.Yeh Chien-ying,chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC,stated in his report on the draft of the 1978 Government Constitution that the smashing of the "gang of four" marked the end of the Cultural Revolution and the beginning of a new period of development that required a new fundamental law to meet its needs.2 Although the adoption of the 1978 Constitution of 60 articles by the Fifth NPC did not stimulate an educational campaign comparable to that of 1954,the gradually unfolding nationwide effort to disseminate the new principles is proving to be considerably greater than that of 1975. Nevertheless,even among the leaders of the pragmatist camp there appear to be varying degrees of enthusiasm for,or at least preoccupation with,the 1978 Constitution,the enactment of which Yeh Chien-ying characterized as'a major event in the political life of our people."4 It is not possible here to scrutinize every provision of this most recent constitution and contrast it with its predecessors.It is feasible,however, to inquire briefly into three aspects of particular interest to students of law and government:property relations,institutional restraints upon the exercise of executive power and analogues to a bill of rights. 1978 Version:Property Property relationships alone could not have provided an important enough stimulus for enacting a new constitution,because in this respect the pragmatists had been surprisingly successful in the 1975 Constitution.Thus the 1978 version made relatively few changes. According to Marxist analysis,the essential features of every society are determined by its economic base,that is,its property relationships. Because the People's Republic had virtually completed the collectivization of the means of production in agriculture,industry and commerce by the end of 1960,China had left the "new democracy" stage of development and entered the socialist stage.Yet until 1975 the constitution,the most obvious manifestation of what Marxists call the superstructure,was not altered to reflect the major changes in the economic base.As Yeh Chien-ying's report on the 1978 draft Constitution noted:"This great victory [socialist transformation]was already recorded in the existing [1975]constitution."Its property provisions had belatedly confirmed the economic transformation. In 1975 there was no longer a need to retain the 1954 Constitution's limited protection of capitalist ownership,because capitalism was a thing of the past.Similarly,there was no need for further reference to the peasant's right to own the means of production.However,because some individual working people in non-agricultural pursuits-handicraftsmen 32.Yeh Chien-ying,"Report on the revision of the constitution,"1 March 1978,in Documents of the First Session of the Fifth NPC,pp.173,176-77. 33.See'Socialist legal system,"China News Analysis,No.1123(16 June 1978),p.7. 34.Yeh Chien-ying,"Report on the revision of the constitution,"p.212. 35.1bid.p.202.China's Changing Constitution 805 indeed on the way. Yeh Chien-ying, chairman of the Standing Committee of the NPC, stated in his report on the draft of the 1978 Government Constitution that the smashing of the " gang of four " marked the end of the Cultural Revolution and the beginning of a new period of development that required a new fundamentalaw to meet its needs. 3 2 Although the adoption of the 1978 Constitution of 60 articles by the Fifth NPC did not stimulate an educational campaign comparable to that of 1954, the gradually unfolding nationwide effort to disseminate the new principles is proving to be considerably greater than that of 1975. Nevertheless, even among the leaders of the pragmatist camp there appear to be varying degrees of enthusiasm for, or at least preoccupation with, the 1978 Constitution,33 the enactment of which Yeh Chien-ying characterized as " a major event in the political life of our people." 34 It is not possible here to scrutinize every provision of this most recent constitution and contrast it with its predecessors. It is feasible, however, to inquire briefly into three aspects of particular interest to students of law and government: property relations, institutional restraints upon the exercise of executive power and analogues to a bill of rights. 1978 Version: Property Property relationships alone could not have provided an important enough stimulus for enacting a new constitution, because in this respect the pragmatists had been surprisingly successful in the 1975 Constitution. Thus the 1978 version made relatively few changes. According to Marxist analysis, the essential features of every society are determined by its economic base, that is, its property relationships. Because the People's Republic had virtually completed the collectivization of the means of production in agriculture, industry and commerce by the end of 1960, China had left the " new democracy " stage of development and entered the socialist stage. Yet until 1975 the constitution, the most obvious manifestation of what Marxists call the superstructure, was not altered to reflect the major changes in the economic base. As Yeh Chien-ying's report on the 1978 draft Constitution noted: " This great victory [socialist transformation] was already recorded in the existing [1975] constitution."35 Its property provisions had belatedly confirmed the economic transformation. In 1975 there was no longer a need to retain the 1954 Constitution's limited protection of capitalist ownership, because capitalism was a thing of the past. Similarly, there was no need for further reference to the peasant's right to own the means of production. However, because some individual working people in non-agricultural pursuits - handicraftsmen 32. Yeh Chien-ying, " Report on the revision of the constitution," 1 March 1978, in Documents of the First Session of the Fifth NPC, pp. 173, 176-77. 33. See "Socialist legal system," ChinaNewsAnalysis, No. 1123 (16 June 1978), p. 7. 34. Yeh Chien-ying, " Report on the revision of the constitution," p. 212. 35 . Ibid . p . 202