The organizational form of the state power. Mao Zedong pointed out that “the system of government is a matter of how political power is organized, the form in which one social class or another chooses to arrange its apparatus of political power to oppose its enemies and protect itself”. It shows which organizational form the ruling class chooses and adopts to carry out its class rule and the administration of society under certain historical conditions according to its own needs. In a given society, there is a relation of dialectical unity between the state system and the system of government, which is a relation between content and form. On the one hand, the system of government is determined by the state system. State system is the content, fundamental, and embodies the class essence of the state. The system of government should correspond to the state system and serve it. The ruling class can adopt a system of government it deems most appropriate according to its political needs and the changing situation of the struggle. The state system, i.e., the class character of the state, is, in the last instance, the primary factor that determines the system of government. On the other hand, the system of government is the form, the system of government reflects the state system, and it must correspond to the requirements of the state system, obey and serve the will and interests of the ruling class, and embody the nature of the state system. The system of government has a relative independence and a reaction upon the state system, i.e., it can fortify or weaken the state system. An appropriate and sound system of government plays a very important role in maintaining and fortifying the ruling position of the ruling class and in realizing its will and interests. Conversely, an inappropriate system of government is not conducive to the fortification and development of the state system. Mao Zedong pointed out that there is no state which does not have an appropriate apparatus of political power to represent it. This means that without an appropriate and sound apparatus of the system of government, it is also impossible to fully reflect and realize the will and interests of the ruling class and to exercise the power of the state effectively on behalf of the state…
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