Varieties of Governance in China examines the origins of the varying institutional foundations of rural China's decentralized governance, explains the performance and change of the formal and informal institutions that uphold rural China's governance, and documents the effects of rural-urban migration on institutional change and local governance in Chinese villages.
This study examines the origins of the variance in contemporary rural China's decentralized governance. It identifies the conditions under which different types of institutions are likely to perform effectively in sustaining Chinese villages' governance and the role of community structural features in transforming the institutional foundations of their governance. This book argues that any institution that can solve the problems of collective action and accountability is able to uphold quality governance in local communities.
This book provides an all-round analysis and exploration of the course, status quo and future of the Chinese Government's governance reform under the framework of government governance modernization. The authors bring their decades of experience in crafting policy in China to explain the relationship between China's government and market, between government and society, between the central government and local governments, functional transformation, organizational structure optimization, reform of public institutions, allocation of fiscally supported personnel, the building of a law-based government and other major issues, while also laying out a case for structural changes in the years to come.
Now available in a substantially revised 3rd edition covering the changes of the Seventeenth Party Congress and Eleventh National People's Congress and other recent developments, this major text by a leading academic authority provides a thorough introduction to all aspects of politics and governance in post-Mao China.
The People's Republic of China has experienced numerous challenges and undergone tremendous structural changes over the past four decades. The party-state faces a fundamental tension in its pursuit of social stability and regime durability. Repressive state strategies enable the Chinese Communist Party to maintain its monopoly on political power, which is consistent with the regime's authoritarian essence. Yet the quality of governance and regime legitimacy are enhanced when the state adopts more inclusive modes of engagement with society. How can the assertion of political power be reconciled with responsiveness to societal demands? This dilemma lies at the core of evolutionary governance under authoritarianism in China. Based on a dynamic typology of state-society relations, this volume adopts an evolutionary framework to examine how the Chinese state relates with non-state actors across several fields of governance: community, environment and public health, economy and labor, and society and religion. Drawing on original fieldwork, the authors identify areas in which state-society interactions have shifted over time, ranging from more constructive engagement to protracted conflict. This evolutionary approach provides nuanced insight into the circumstances wherein the party-state exerts its coercive power versus engaging in more flexible responses or policy adaptations.
This book provides an all-round analysis and exploration of the course, status quo and future of the Chinese Government's governance reform under the framework of government governance modernization. The authors bring their decades of experience in crafting policy in China to explain the relationship between China's government and market, between government and society, between the central government and local governments, functional transformation, organizational structure optimization, reform of public institutions, allocation of fiscally supported personnel, the building of a law-based government and other major issues, while also laying out a case for structural changes in the years to come.
Demonstrating the crucial importance of local governance in China’s development and international relations, this topical Handbook combines theoretical approaches with novel methodological tools to understand state–society relations at the local level.
Over the past two decades, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has paradoxically steered the development of a thriving capitalist economy. Unlike many faltering post-socialist states with fragile economies and weakly institutionalised democratic structures, China has witnessed a tide of economic entrepreneurialism that has raised living standards and the country's global economic stature. However, the strains of rapid economic change and the tensions between an increasingly liberalized economy and the partially reformed institutions of an authoritarian polity have become increasingly severe. Crucial to the success of further economic reform and development, good governance is the greatest challenge faced by the CCP. This groundbreaking book explores the key dimensions of governance in China. These include the prospects for political reform as a new generation of leaders comes to power and China enters the World Trade Organization; the processes of building institutions, such as developing a clean, competent, and meritocracy-based civil service, and improving the legislative framework; enhancing regime legitimacy through the sharing of power at lower levels and promoting citizen participation and voice; and finally the prevention and management of social discontent, with particular reference to worker unrest and the Falun Gong. Drawing on original fieldwork, the international group of authors provides a systematic analysis of the political, institutional, and economic causes underlying China's governance problems and considers the prospects for future social and political change.
The apparent contradiction between China's rapid economic reforms and political authoritarianism is much debated by scholars of comparative political economy. This is the first examination of this issue through the impact of a series of administrative reforms intended to promote government transparency and increase public participation in China.
