Political Culture and Participation in Rural China

Political Culture and Participation in Rural China PDF Author: Yang Zhong
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136515704
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
Despite China’s rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, most Chinese still live in the vast countryside or have rural household registration. Although there was significant economic improvement in rural areas in the 1980s, the rural economy has been stagnating or deteriorating since then, and the book argues that the rural-urban income gap is giving rise to the potential for political instability throughout China. This book, based on extensive original research including interview fieldwork in rural areas, examines the nature of political culture and participation in rural China, discussing issues such as the support, or lack of it, for democratic values; levels of political interest; the ways in which Chinese peasants interact with village and local officials; subjective factors that motivate them to vote, (or not to vote) in village elections; and rural people’s views on market-oriented economic reforms, local and national government, and the Communist Party. The book argues that although hitherto peasants’ riots, sit-ins and demonstrations have been localised and uncoordinated, they are frequent, and have the potential to cause serious political crises for China’s rulers. It concludes by considering the future political development of China’s vast countryside.

Political Culture and Participation in Rural China

Political Culture and Participation in Rural China PDF Author: Yang Zhong
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136515704
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book

Book Description
Despite China’s rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, most Chinese still live in the vast countryside or have rural household registration. Although there was significant economic improvement in rural areas in the 1980s, the rural economy has been stagnating or deteriorating since then, and the book argues that the rural-urban income gap is giving rise to the potential for political instability throughout China. This book, based on extensive original research including interview fieldwork in rural areas, examines the nature of political culture and participation in rural China, discussing issues such as the support, or lack of it, for democratic values; levels of political interest; the ways in which Chinese peasants interact with village and local officials; subjective factors that motivate them to vote, (or not to vote) in village elections; and rural people’s views on market-oriented economic reforms, local and national government, and the Communist Party. The book argues that although hitherto peasants’ riots, sit-ins and demonstrations have been localised and uncoordinated, they are frequent, and have the potential to cause serious political crises for China’s rulers. It concludes by considering the future political development of China’s vast countryside.

Political Culture and Participation in Rural China

Political Culture and Participation in Rural China PDF Author: Yang Zhong
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
Despite China's rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, most Chinese still live in the vast countryside or have rural household registration. Although there was significant economic improvement in rural areas in the 1980s, the rural economy has been stagnating or deteriorating since then, and the book argues that the rural-urban income gap is giving rise to the potential for political instability throughout China. This book, based on extensive original research including interview fieldwork in rural areas, examines the nature of political culture and participation in rural China, discussing issues such as the support, or lack of it, for democratic values; levels of political interest; the ways in which Chinese peasants interact with village and local officials; subjective factors that motivate them to vote, (or not to vote) in village elections; and rural people's views on market-oriented economic reforms, local and national government, and the Communist Party. The book argues that although hitherto peasants' riots, sit-ins and demonstrations have been localised and uncoordinated, they are frequent, and have the potential to cause serious political crises for China's rulers. It concludes by considering the future political development of China's vast countryside.

Political Participation in Beijing

Political Participation in Beijing PDF Author: Tianjian Shi
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674686403
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
In this first scientific survey of political participation in the People's Republic of China, Tianjian Shi identifies twenty-eight participatory acts and groups them into seven areas: voting, campaign activities, appeals, adversarial activities, cronyism, resistance, and boycotts. What he finds will surprise many observers. Political participation in a closed society is not necessarily characterized by passive citizens driven by regime mobilization aimed at carrying out predetermined goals. Beijing citizens acknowledge that they actively engage in various voluntary participatory acts to articulate their interests. In a society where communication channels are controlled by the government, Shi discovers, access to information from unofficial means becomes the single most important determinant for people's engaging in participatory acts. Government-sponsored channels of appeal are easily accessible to ordinary citizens, so socioeconomic resources are unimportant in determining who uses these channels. Instead, voter turnout is found to be associated with the type of work unit a person belongs to, subjective evaluations of one's own economic status, and party affiliation. Those most likely to engage in campaign activities, adversarial activities, cronyism, resistance, and boycotts are the more disadvantaged groups in Beijing. While political participation in the West fosters a sense of identification, the unconventional modes of participation in Beijing undermine the existing political order.

Rural Democracy in China

Rural Democracy in China PDF Author: Shi Tianjian
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814493201
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
Why does the Chinese government allow village elections? What implications do these grass-roots level popular elections have for the democratization of China? By tracing the history of village level governance reform, one of the premier authorities on electoral reforms in China tackles these fundamental questions in this volume. According to the author, there are two roots to the emergence of village elections in China: structural changes in the village economy and bureaucratic politics. The author also identifies old guard Peng Zhen, himself victimized by lawlessness during the Cultural Revolution, and officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs — an otherwise powerless bureaucracy that has jurisdiction over rural governance issues — as the driving force behind the reform in the government. The author believes that village elections have enormous political implications for China: they represent yet another aspect of “creeping democratization” of the country. Resistance from the status quo interests will be stiff, but democracy has a chance in the alliance between the disgruntled population and reform-minded elites in the leadership. Does economic prosperity increase the likelihood of political democracy? Using 1993 national survey data, the author examines the relationships between the level of economic development and the rate of semi-competitive village elections. Data analysis suggests that economic prosperity is positively associated with the occurrence of semi-competitive elections only to a certain point, above which the association turns negative. In other words, both the least and the most developed villages are less likely to hold semi-competitive elections for the chair of the village committee, which is officially defined as “an organization of self-governance of villagers”. The author also argues that rapid economic development may delay the process of political development because incumbent leaders can use newly acquired economic resources to consolidate their power. Contents:Electoral Reform in Rural China: The Critical First Step Toward DemocracyEconomic Development and Village Elections in Rural China Readership: General. Keywords:

Non-institutional Political Participation

Non-institutional Political Participation PDF Author: Jiangshan Fang
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9811000484
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 165

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Book Description
By examining social transformation and political participation theories, this book focuses on the core concept of non-institutional political participation, which is classified into two types: induced participation and imposed participation. This classification has changed the tradition of dichotomizing political participation as either legal or illegal and enriched the conceptualization of political participation. Based on an investigation of the characteristics of Chinese peasants and the relations between interests, authority and political participation, the book examines the changes in interest structures and modes of control in rural China during the transformation period, and proposes a political participation model built upon mutual benefits.​

Political Participation in Rural China

Political Participation in Rural China PDF Author: John P. Burns
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : China
Languages : en
Pages : 878

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Book Description


Populist Authoritarianism

Populist Authoritarianism PDF Author: Wenfang Tang
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190205784
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
In Populist Authoritarianism Wenfang Tang develops a theory of why Chinese citizens support an authoritarian regime, employing a wealth of data taken from more than two decades' worth of national and cross national surveys. Although China has changed considerably on the surface in the post-Mao era, Tang points to notable continuity from the Chinese Communist Party's revolutionary experiences to its current governing style. He proposes a theoretical framework of "populist authoritarianism" which is characterized by Mass Line ideology accumulation of social capital, public political activism and contentious politics, a paranoid and hyper-responsive government, weak political and civic institutions and a high level of regime trust. The CCP currently enjoys strong public support but such a system is inherently vulnerable. Because drastic changes in public opinion cannot be filtered through political institutions such as elections and the rule of law, these changes can result in system wide political earthquakes. How is it, then that the Communist Party once led by Mao-which still adheres to the Marxist-Leninist and nationalist rhetoric of yore-continues to rule with little serious dissent? Marshaling the best evidence that is currently available populist Authoritarianism will reshape our understanding of why the Chinese regime persists despite decades of predictions of its demise.

The Cultural Logic of Politics in Mainland China and Taiwan

The Cultural Logic of Politics in Mainland China and Taiwan PDF Author: Tianjian Shi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107011760
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
This book uses surveys, statistics, and case studies to explain why and how cultural norms affect political attitudes and behavior.

China's Provinces in Reform

China's Provinces in Reform PDF Author: David Goodman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134712707
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
China is a far larger and more diverse country than many people in the West realise. The provinces that make up the country are considerable social, economic and political systems in their own right. They are comparable in size and complexity to European states. China's Provinces in Reform is concerned with the impact of economic reform and social and politial change within the provinces at the immediate sub-central level of the People's Republic of China. One of the main aims of this book is to question over-generalizations about China's development in the reform era. However, the provincial analysis of social and political change in China also has the potential to reveal even more in a comparative perspective. This is the first volume of a series and covers Guangxi, Hainan, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanghai, Sichuan and Zhejiang. It is part of a project conducted by the Institute for International Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney, that will provide the most thorough and up to date analysis of China's provinces yet published.

China in the Twenty-First Century

China in the Twenty-First Century PDF Author: S. Hua
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230607373
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
In this edited volume, leading scholars from US and China analyze the challenges and opportunities for China in the 21st century, each emphasizing particular dimensions of politics, economics, political culture, and foreign policy. Issues examined include: social harmony and statecraft , media and political culture, and legality in foreign trade.