This book explores non-electoral means of public participation in contemporary China, both as an outcome of and a key contributor to the party-state’s efforts to improve its governing capacity. Examining consultative meetings, public hearings, and the use of surveys and questionnaires in Zhejiang province, on an empirical level, the study evaluates the historical development and institutional backgrounds of these mechanisms, as well as provides a critical assessment of their achievements and failures. At the same time, on a theoretical level, this book contributes to the broader scholarship on contemporary Chinese politics and political development within one-party regimes, as well as debates about state building and democratisation. Relying on the distinction between access to and exercise of power, it concludes that non-electoral public participation is in fact a function of state building. Developing a state capable of producing effective solutions to governing challenges, it is argued, requires public participation in the governing process. With analysis informed by interviews with local-level policy-makers and officials, academics, and citizens’ representatives and activists, Public Participation and State Building in China will be a valuable research resource for students and scholars of Chinese politics, political science, and civil society.

This book explores non-electoral means of public participation in contemporary China, both as an outcome of and a key contributor to the party-state's efforts to improve its governing capacity. Examining consultative meetings, public hearings, and the use of surveys and questionnaires in Zhejiang province, on an empirical level, the study evaluates the historical development and institutional backgrounds of these mechanisms, as well as provides a critical assessment of their achievements and failures. At the same time, on a theoretical level, this book contributes to the broader scholarship on contemporary Chinese politics and political development within one-party regimes, as well as debates about state building and democratisation. Relying on the distinction between access to and exercise of power, it concludes that non-electoral public participation is in fact a function of state building. Developing a state capable of producing effective solutions to governing challenges, it is argued, requires public participation in the governing process. With analysis informed by interviews with local-level policy-makers and officials, academics, and citizens' representatives and activists, Public Participation and State Building in China will be a valuable research resource for students and scholars of Chinese politics, political science, and civil society.

This volume reviews China’s social conditions in 2018. The articles cover income and consumption, employment, social security, welfare assistance, education, public safety, social and political participation and others. University students and the urban poor received special attention.

This important volume provides a source of information on the key issues, including constraints and capacity building, necessary to implement participatory approaches in China today. A wealth of case studies are provided by principal Chinese academics and practitioners in forestry, natural resource management, rural development, irrigation and poverty alleviation. At the core, the book is about strengthening local government as a key player in the development of participatory initiatives. It is an invaluable text for development practitioners, donors, researchers and students seeking to understand the opportunities and constraints for participation in China, and for those working to institutionalize participatory processes in a complex rural context.

Public authorities from all levels of government increasingly turn to Citizens' Assemblies, Juries, Panels and other representative deliberative processes to tackle complex policy problems ranging from climate change to infrastructure investment decisions. They convene groups of people representing a wide cross-section of society for at least one full day – and often much longer – to learn, deliberate, and develop collective recommendations that consider the complexities and compromises required for solving multifaceted public issues.

This book provides a clear, systematic and up-to-date picture of the vast and dynamic industry of lobbying and Public Affairs in Europe, not only at EU level, but specifically in each of the 28 EU Member States. Using contributions from political scientists and lobbyists from each country, the volume offers a comprehensive review of the European lobbying industry, tackling elements such as the institutional framework and the political culture of each country, the perception of lobbyists by public opinion and politicians, the professionalization and the numbers of the industry in each country, the regulation of the sector (through dedicated laws, self-imposed ethical codes, etc.). This is a benchmark publication for all those studying or working in the field of Lobbying, Public Affairs, Communication and Business and Politics in or with EU countries.

What does the state do when public expectations exceed its governing capacity? The Performative State shows how the state can shape public perceptions and defuse crises through the theatrical deployment of language, symbols, and gestures of good governance—performative governance. Iza Ding unpacks the black box of street-level bureaucracy in China through ethnographic participation, in-depth interviews, and public opinion surveys. She demonstrates in vivid detail how China's environmental bureaucrats deal with intense public scrutiny over pollution when they lack the authority to actually improve the physical environment. They assuage public outrage by appearing responsive, benevolent, and humble. But performative governance is hard work. Environmental bureaucrats paradoxically work themselves to exhaustion even when they cannot effectively implement environmental policies. Instead of achieving "performance legitimacy" by delivering material improvements, the state can shape public opinion through the theatrical performance of goodwill and sincere effort. The Performative State also explains when performative governance fails at impressing its audience and when governance becomes less performative and more substantive. Ding focuses on Chinese evidence but her theory travels: comparisons with Vietnam and the United States show that all states, democratic and authoritarian alike, engage in performative governance.