Village Elections in Contemporary China

This article discusses the impact of direct village elections on regime legitimacy in China's local government. Applying a model based on David Easton's political systems theory, it is argued that village elections in Lishu county, Jilin province, have contributed significantly to increase...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChina perspectives no. 3; p. 12
Main Authors Schubert, Gunter, Xuelian, Chen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hong Kong CEFC 01.01.2007
Subjects
Economic development
Election results
Elections
Legitimacy
Local elections
Peasants
Political parties
Politics
Reforms
Success
System theory
Systems stability
Towns
Windfall profits
China
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Summary:This article discusses the impact of direct village elections on regime legitimacy in China's local government. Applying a model based on David Easton's political systems theory, it is argued that village elections in Lishu county, Jilin province, have contributed significantly to increased social stability and the quality of local governance, resulting in more regime legitimacy. "Rational trust" on the part of the peasants in their cadres may best explain the observation that the cadres' political supremacy has not been challenged by direct elections. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:2070-3449
1996-4617