China's Governance Puzzle
Enabling Transparency and Participation in a Single-Party State

The first examination of the impact of reforms intended to promote government transparency and increase public participation in China.

Jonathan R. Stromseth (Author), Edmund J. Malesky (Author), Dimitar D. Gueorguiev (Author), Lai Hairong (With), Wang Xixin (With), Carl Brinton (With)

9781107122635, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 March 2017

343 pages, 33 b/w illus. 1 map 14 tables
23.4 x 15.8 x 0.9 cm, 0.67 kg

'The authors skillfully blend the latest statistics on corruption with illuminating case studies to argue that enlisting the Chinese public to monitor the bureaucracy would yield better results than continuing the current heavy-handed crackdown that targets corrupt individuals one at a time.' Yuen Yuen Ang, Foreign Affairs

China is widely viewed as a global powerhouse that has achieved a remarkable economic transformation with little political change. Less well known is that China's leaders have also implemented far?reaching governance reforms designed to promote government transparency and increase public participation in official policymaking. What are the motivations behind these reforms and, more importantly, what impact are they having? This puzzle lies at the heart of Chinese politics and could dictate China's political trajectory for years to come. This extensive collaborative study not only documents the origins and scope of these reforms across China, but offers the first systematic assessment by quantitatively and qualitatively analyzing the impact of participation and transparency on important governance outcomes. Comparing across provinces and over time, the authors argue that the reforms are resulting in lower corruption and enhanced legal compliance, but these outcomes also depend on a broader societal ecosystem that includes an active media and robust civil society.

Preface
1. China's approach to governance reform
2. Concept, chronology, and drivers of transparency reform
3. Transparency and corruption: analysis of variation within China and hypothesis testing
4. Comparing approaches to combatting corruption: the Guangdong and Chongqing models
5. Concept, chronology, and drivers of participation reform
6. Participation and compliance: analysis of variation and hypothesis testing
7. Making policy in public: a comparison of three Chinese provinces
8. The road ahead
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Constitution: government & the state [JPHC], Comparative politics [JPB]