Rural democracy in China : the role of village elections / Baogang He

Includes bibliographical references and index

Quiet revolution in rural China. Why study rural democracy. Objectives of this study. What is rural democracy? Explaining rural democracy. The local significance and insider's perspective. Methodology and sources of materials. Organization of chapters -- Development of democratic procedures. The development of laws. Administration. Nomination procedure. Voting procedure. Procedure to decide village committee profile. Recalling procedure. Path dependence and coherence of procedures -- Village citizenship. The concept of village citizenship. Village citizenship and eligibility. Politics of village citizenship. The meanings of village citizenship -- Competitiveness of village elections. Semi-competitive elections. Campaign. Vote-buying. The determinants of competitiveness -- Political participation and voting behavior. Survey study of political participation and village elections. Methodological considerations on the indicators of political participation. The trends of political participation. Patterns of voting behavior. Apathy in village elections. The determinants of participation -- Village representative assembly. The origin of villager representative assembly. The making of representatives. The nature and functions of the VRAs. The working of VRAs. Direct vs. indirect village democracy -- Village elections and village power structure. Changes in power distribution. Elections and the political behavior of village leaders. Electoral challenge to village party secretaries and limits. The elections of village party secretaries -- Women and village elections. Women's political participation in village elections. Have village elections promoted the political status of women? Affirmative action 1: law and legal regulations. Affirmative action 2: political intervention. Explanations -- Township authorities and village elections. The administrative roles of township authorities. Three attitudes towards elections. Control and manipulation by township authorities. The emergence of democratic Machiavellianism -- Political economy of village democracy. Economic development and the implementation of village election laws. Political economy of village citizenship. Collective versus private economy and village democracy. Family income, the type of village economy and participation. Economic conditions and the village committee. Political economy of the VRAs: mobilization vs. distribution models -- Kinship and village elections. Revival of kinship and its limits. Manifestations of kinship impact on village elections. Kinship and elected villager leadership. Explaining kinship influence -- From village to township elections. Impact of village elections on township authorities. From village to township elections. From open recommendation and selection to direct election. Spread and varieties of township elections. Utilitarian approach toward township elections. Forces for and against township elections -- Conclusion. Variations of village democracy. Explaining varieties : powers and interests. The limit of village democracy. The mixed regime. The prospects of China's democracy