POLITICAL ECONOMY OF VILLAGE GOVERNANCE IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA Jianxun Wang Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science Indiana University April 2006 UMI Number: 3210048 Copyright 2006 by Wang, Jianxun All rights reserved. UMI Microform 3210048 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _____________________________ Elinor Ostrom, Ph.D., Chair _____________________________ Norman Furniss, Ph.D. Doctoral Committee ______________________________ Scott Kennedy, Ph.D. ______________________________ Vincent Ostrom, Ph.D. March 10, 2006 ______________________________ Amos Sawyer, Ph.D. ii © 2006 Jianxun Wang ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When I first read Tocqueville’s Democracy in America over ten years ago, I dreamed of coming to America to learn from the “great experiment.” Two distinguished scholars and mentors, Elinor and Vincent Ostrom, made my dream come true in 2000. My deepest appreciation goes to Lin and Vincent for their intellectual cultivation and enlightenment. Lin’s mentorship and guidance has been constant and invaluable during my graduate study in Bloomington. She has always been helpful in getting me through every stage of my program. As a hardworking, rigorous, and responsible scholar, Lin sets an outstanding example for me to follow. Vincent is an unparalleled teacher, and his thinking has the greatest influence on me during my doctoral study. He has taught me the meaning of democracy, the science of citizenship, the art of constitutional choice, and the wisdom of Confucian teachings. Innumerable discussions with Vincent in the past six years have been remarkable learning experiences for me. Vincent is not only an extraordinary mentor, but also a wonderful human being. Like a Confucian scholar, he is unfailingly kind, humble, lenient, and compassionate. It’s a great honor to work with him! I also would like to thank Amos Sawyer, Norman Furniss, and Scott Kennedy with all my heart for their excellent service on my dissertation committee. Amos is a marvelous teacher and colleague, and his encouragement has been indispensable for me in the past iv several years. Norm has always read the drafts of my dissertation carefully and given me very helpful advice. Scott has guided me to the literature on China studies, and offered many valuable suggestions to improve my dissertation. The Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at IU has not only provided me invaluable financial support but also made me feel at home during my doctoral study. I am thankful for the unique, self-governing organization with superb academic environment. Many Workshop-associated faculty members, visiting scholars, fellow students have influenced my thinking or shared their ideas with me, and I thank all of them without listing their names here. The excellent staff of the Workshop has always been helpful in the past six years. I’d like to thank Gayle Higgins, Patty Lezotte, Nicole Todd, Ray Eliason, David Price, Carol Buszkiewicz, Linda Smith, Laura Wisen, Sarah Kantner, and others for their tireless work and commitment. I must extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to many Chinese scholars who helped arrange field work for this dissertation project or shared their research with me. They are Guoying Dang at China Academy of Social Sciences, Yang Yao at Peking University, Dapeng Peng, Xuefeng He, Xingzuo Luo, Yong Xu, Jiquan Xiang, and Yi Wu at Central China Normal University, Qiang Ren at Zheijiang Party School, Dan Mao at Zhejiang University, and Tangbiao Xiao at Jiangxi Party School. Also, I’d like to express my thanks to a number of township or county officials I met or interviewed during my field research for their immense assistance. Meanwhile, without v the unconditional cooperation, trust, and help of the interviewed villagers and cadres in the four communities, this project would be impossible. My host families in the villages made my stay there enjoyable. I must express my appreciation to all of them from the bottom of my heart. Further, I want to thank the Department of Political Science and East Asian Studies Center at IU for their travel grants that enabled me to attend several conferences. Sharon LaRoche, the Graduate Secretary in the Department of Political Science, deserves many thanks for her unfailing help in the past six years. In addition, I am very grateful to Patty Lezotte and Sheldon Gellar for correcting grammar and spelling errors in my dissertation. Their help certainly makes the dissertation more reader-friendly, while all remaining errors are mine. Most of all, I must express my deep appreciation to my wonderful wife, Ran Zhang, for her love, support, and encouragement on our intellectual journey. With her company and laughter, our life in Bloomington has become much more joyful and unforgettable. Finally, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to my parents and father-in-law for their patience. vi Jianxun Wang POLITICAL ECONOMY OF VILLAGE GOVERNANCE IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA Rural development and transformation in post-Mao China is one of the most remarkable scenarios in transition countries. With the dismantlement of collectivized farming and the rural reforms since the late 1970s, villages have become diverse in terms of institutional structure. In some villages, one or a few cadres still dominate decision making over public affairs, while, in others, villagers actively participate in the decision making in one way or another. How do the different institutional structures of villages influence governance performance in terms of providing public goods and services? Do the villages with more peasant participation in decision making over public affairs have better performance than those with less peasant participation? This analysis is aimed at an initial answer to the questions by engaging in empirical, in- depth case studies in contemporary rural China. With the help of four Chinese scholars, I identified four villages with different institutional structures as cases for this project. I have examined and compared the four communities’ governance performance in providing roads, primary schools, land allocation, and fiscal management. The findings suggest that the villages with more villager participation in decision making have better performance in providing public goods and services. The implication of the study for vii rural development in transition societies is to encourage peasants’ participation and to draw upon their capabilities and local knowledge. The empirical data for the study rely on my field research of six months in the four communities in 2004. The methods of collecting the data include interviews with villagers and cadres as well as extensive field observations and archival research. _____________________________ Elinor Ostrom, Ph.D., Chair _____________________________ Norman Furniss, Ph.D. ______________________________ Scott Kennedy, Ph.D. ______________________________ Vincent Ostrom, Ph.D. ______________________________ Amos Sawyer, Ph.D. viii Table of Contents Chapter One Introduction 1 The Transformation of Rural China 1 Peasants, the State, and Rural Development 3 Village Governance and the Post-Mao Rural Transformation 16 Case Selection and Data 27 The Limits of the Study 36 The Plan of the Dissertation 38 Chapter Two Village Governance in Chinese History 41 Village Organization and Governance in Imperial China 41 Villages and State Strengthening in Republican China 50 Village Restructuring under Mao and Rural Transformation after Mao 56 Conclusion 63 Chapter Three Institutional Structures of the Four Villages 67 Minlu Village 68 ix Beishuai Village 74 Xin Village 79 Linhai Village 86 Why Do the Institutional Structures of the Four Villages Vary? 91 Conclusion 99 Chapter Four Rural Roads and Village Governance 104 Introduction 104 Roads and the Collective-Action Problem 105 Decision Making over Roads in the Four Villages 109 Construction of the Roads and Their Physical Conditions 115 Maintenance of the Rural Roads 120 Village Spending for the Roads 124 Villager Evaluation of the Roads 129 Conclusion 136 Chapter Five Peasant Participation, Village Schools, and Rural Education 143 Introduction 143 School Facilities in the Four Villages 148 Village Provision of Utilities for the Schools 155 Village Spending for Education 162 x Teacher Hiring and Unqualified Teachers 165 Support for Students Going to College 171 Villager Evaluation of Education 174 Conclusion 179 Chapter Six Land Allocation, Property Rights, and Village Governance 187 Introduction 187 Land Allocation and Reallocation 193 Leased out or Expropriated Land and Benefit Distribution 205 Land Conflicts and Conflict Resolution 212 Villager Evaluation of Land Allocation and Management 218 Conclusion 223 Chapter Seven Fees, Peasant Burdens, and Fiscal Management in the Villages 230 Introduction 230 Per Capita Collection of Fees 234 Fiscal Records in the Four Villages 242 Irresponsible Spending and Fiscal Management 246 Village Debts 258 Villager Evaluation of Fiscal Management 265 xi Conclusion 271 Chapter Eight