agan Pavlićević - Böcker

This book explores non-electoral means of public participation in contemporaryChina, both as an outcome of and a key contributor to the party-state’sefforts to improve its governing capacity.Examining consultative meetings, public hearings, and the use of surveysand questionnaires in Zhejiang province, on an empirical level, the studyevaluates the historical development and institutional backgrounds of thesemechanisms, as well as provides a critical assessment of their achievementsand failures. At the same time, on a theoretical level, this book contributesto the broader scholarship on contemporary Chinese politics and politicaldevelopment within one-party regimes, as well as debates about state buildingand democratisation. Relying on the distinction between access to andexercise of power, it concludes that non-electoral public participation is infact a function of state building. Developing a state capable of producingeffective solutions to governing challenges, it is argued, requires public participationin the governing process.With analysis informed by interviews with local-level policy-makers andofficials, academics, and citizens’ representatives and activists, Public Participationand State Building in China will be a valuable research resource forstudents and scholars of Chinese politics, political science, and civil society.

As China enters its proclaimed ‘New Era’ under President Xi Jinping, this book examines changes and continuity in social relations and political development, investigating new developments against the backdrop of continuations of long-term trends and previous policies.What has remained outside many scholarly discussions is a larger backdrop of continuity, into which the policies of Xi Jinping’s administration are inserted to further shape social, economic and political trajectories in contemporary China. Presented as a volume of methodologically diverse studies exploring some of the key aspects of social and political development in contemporary China, its authors examine the structural factors that continue to exert influence on China’s trajectory – in the ‘New Era’, as before – at the deeper and subtler levels. This is the first publication of its kind to focus on how continuity and change interplay under Xi; it enables readers to appreciate both genuine novelties and the enduring, long-term trends, as well as to estimate future trends in the proclaimed ‘New Era’ and beyond.Social Relations and Political Development in China will be of significant interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, political science and sociology.

As China enters its proclaimed ‘New Era’ under President Xi Jinping, this book examines changes and continuity in social relations and political development, investigating new developments against the backdrop of continuations of long-term trends and previous policies.What has remained outside many scholarly discussions is a larger backdrop of continuity, into which the policies of Xi Jinping’s administration are inserted to further shape social, economic and political trajectories in contemporary China. Presented as a volume of methodologically diverse studies exploring some of the key aspects of social and political development in contemporary China, its authors examine the structural factors that continue to exert influence on China’s trajectory – in the ‘New Era’, as before – at the deeper and subtler levels. This is the first publication of its kind to focus on how continuity and change interplay under Xi; it enables readers to appreciate both genuine novelties and the enduring, long-term trends, as well as to estimate future trends in the proclaimed ‘New Era’ and beyond.Social Relations and Political Development in China will be of significant interest to students and scholars of Chinese studies, political science and sociology.

This book explores non-electoral means of public participation in contemporaryChina, both as an outcome of and a key contributor to the party-state’sefforts to improve its governing capacity.Examining consultative meetings, public hearings, and the use of surveysand questionnaires in Zhejiang province, on an empirical level, the studyevaluates the historical development and institutional backgrounds of thesemechanisms, as well as provides a critical assessment of their achievementsand failures. At the same time, on a theoretical level, this book contributesto the broader scholarship on contemporary Chinese politics and politicaldevelopment within one-party regimes, as well as debates about state buildingand democratisation. Relying on the distinction between access to andexercise of power, it concludes that non-electoral public participation is infact a function of state building. Developing a state capable of producingeffective solutions to governing challenges, it is argued, requires public participationin the governing process.With analysis informed by interviews with local-level policy-makers andofficials, academics, and citizens’ representatives and activists, Public Participationand State Building in China will be a valuable research resource forstudents and scholars of Chinese politics, political science, and civil society.