County and Township Cadres as a Strategic Group: “Building a New Socialist Countryside” in Three Provinces

Schubert, Gunter; Ahlers, Anna L.

doi:10.1086/665740

Cited by 45 publications

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“…In some regions, they assigned bureaus and offices to “tutor” villages. See Schubert and Ahlers 2012b. Various checks were employed to keep cadres under control, including monitoring by villagers.…”

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confidence: 99%

How Has the Abolition of Agricultural Taxes Transformed Village Governance in China? Evidence from Agricultural Regions

Chen

2014

The China Quarterly

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The abolition of agricultural taxes (AAT) (2005)(2006) significantly changed the workload, finance, authority and functions of village governments. In agricultural regions, village cadres had their agendas reset, with the top priority switching to the search for new revenues through "attracting investment" (zhaoshang yinzi). This new agenda fits perfectly with the demands of township governments. Facing an even worse fiscal crisis, township governments attempted to cover up their deficits using village revenues. The shared stake in increasing revenue has resulted in the convergence of the functions of township and village authorities. However, the change in the function of village governments has increased the disengagement between cadres and villagers.

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confidence: 99%

How Has the Abolition of Agricultural Taxes Transformed Village Governance in China? Evidence from Agricultural Regions

Chen

2014

The China Quarterly

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“…Hence, effective policy implementation is not measured against “objective” benchmarks of what would be the best (or most efficient) solutions for the Chinese countryside. See Schubert and Ahlers 2012.…”

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Strategic Modelling: “Building a New Socialist Countryside” in Three Chinese Counties

Ahlers¹,

Schubert²

2013

The China Quarterly

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Models, pilots and experiments are considered distinctive features of the Chinese policy process. However, empirical studies on local modelling practices are rare. This article analyses the ways in which three rural counties in three different provinces engage in strategies of modelling and piloting to implement the central government's "Building a New Socialist Countryside" (shehuizhuyi xinnongcun jianshe) programme. It explains how county and township governments apply these strategies and to what effect. It also highlights the scope and limitations of local models and pilots as useful mechanisms for spurring national development. The authors plead for a fresh look at local modelling practices, arguing that these can tell us much about the realities of governance in rural China today.The Chinese countryside has always been subject to extensive campaigning, experimenting and modelling. The larger experimentation projects and piloting in the run-up to the rural tax-for-fee reform (RTFR), new rural cooperative medical insurance and new modes of land rights management (for example, tudi liuzhuan 土地流转) have been extensively investigated. However, perhaps owing to the well-founded scepticism that is shown towards models of any kind in the Chinese countryside, 1 the everyday, small-scale piloting and modelling practices that comprise distinctive local government tasks in rural China have not, up to now, drawn much scholarly attention.* We would like to thank are various terms that can be translated as "model," such as shifan, shidian, mofan and yangban. These terms are basically used interchangeably but may bear different meanings in different localities, or at different levels of government. Based on our field experience, we distinguish between test, pilot or experimental sites (shidian), demonstration villages (shifancun) and emulation villages ( yangbancun, mofancun). We further distinguish between "modelling" as a specific strategy of local policy implementation, and "models" as showcases of best practice solutions. 7 By effectiveness, we mean 1) that cadres take local development blueprints seriously, and 2) that policy implementation creates win-win situations for all parties concerned: county and township cadres, upper government levels and villagers. Hence, effective policy implementation is not measured against "objective" benchmarks of what would be the best (or most efficient) solutions for the Chinese countryside. See Schubert and Ahlers 2012.

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“…It falls upon the local state, as the lowest echelon of the state apparatus, to defend national and state interest. At the same time, it must serve local demands, because it is subject to the scrutiny of local residents, whose economic and social rights have been increasingly recognized (Hillman, ; Schubert and Ahlers, ). This study argues that the idea of an ambivalent local state is important for understanding local land politics in urbanizing China, given that land requisitions force local governments to become directly involved in the provision of social welfare for farmers.…”

Section: Conceptual Framework and Research Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The government having realized that soaring social tensions associated with deep economic disparities between cities and the countryside might eventually evolve into a political crisis, it switched from its dualist approach to rural–urban development to policy seeking rural–urban integration from the early 2000s. These policy and ideological changes have led to a new stage of governance transformation, which requires local governments at all levels to honour the basic needs of farmers for social security services in the urbanization process (Klotzbücher et al ., ; Schubert and Ahlers, ).…”

Section: Conciliatory and Regulatory State Buildingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urbanization as A Process of State Building: Local Governance Reforms in China

Wong

2015

Int J Urban Regional Res

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Existing scholarship suggests that local transformation in reform-era China has been a process of decentralization of state power driving extractive local governments to pursue economic growth through rapacious land appropriation and producing many miserable landless villagers. This study puts forward an alternative perspective by arguing that local governance reforms in China to advance urban development should also be interpreted as a process of state building, whereby local government reshaped its governance strategy so as to mitigate potential social unrest and strengthen its political legitimacy in governing rapidly urbanizing areas. Based on intensive fieldwork in a periurban district in southern China, this research examines how the local state has heightened its control over urbanizing villages through its day-to-day governance practices and the pur suit of a complex policy agenda comprising social welfare provision, shareholding reforms and intervention in grassroots politics. The findings of this study shed new light on understanding local state transformation in periurban China and on explaining why the country still maintains tremendous urban growth despite incessant land disputes and numerous social tensions at different localities.

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County and Township Cadres as a Strategic Group: “Building a New Socialist Countryside” in Three Provinces

Cited by 45 publications

References 0 publications

How Has the Abolition of Agricultural Taxes Transformed Village Governance in China? Evidence from Agricultural Regions

How Has the Abolition of Agricultural Taxes Transformed Village Governance in China? Evidence from Agricultural Regions

Strategic Modelling: “Building a New Socialist Countryside” in Three Chinese Counties

Urbanization as A Process of State Building: Local Governance Reforms in China

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