Village Economic Autonomy and Authoritarian Control Over Village Elections in China
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The London School of Economics and Political Science Village economic autonomy and authoritarian control over village elections in China - Evidence from rural Guangdong Province Ting Luo A thesis submitted to the Department of Government of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. London, March 2014 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 86,348 words. I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Joanna Cummings of Transformat. Ting Luo 2 Abstract This thesis investigates the effects of village economic wealth and economic autonomy on the authoritarian control of local government over village elections in China. With new data - qualitative evidence and quantitative data collected from the extensive fieldtrips to a county in Guangdong Province, this study finds that given that village elections operate within China’s one party authoritarian regime and the official purpose of the elections is to solve the grassroots governance crisis, local government have the incentive to control the elections in their favour, that is, to have incumbents and/or party members elected. Using the election of party members to the village committee chairman position and the re-election of incumbent chairmen as proxies for the inclusiveness and contestation dimensions of village elections, this study demonstrates that collective village wealth triggers fierce electoral competition, as collective village wealth represents the lucrative benefits candidates can obtain from holding the office. However, the success of authoritarian control hinges on village economic autonomy - the opportunities for economic development beyond the control of local government. If economic resources are controlled by local government, economic development might strengthen the capacity of local government to control the elections in their favour. Even if opponents win the elections, they are inclined to be co-opted by the local government - becoming party members, because their economic gain and maintenance of power are affected by the authoritarian local government control over economic resources. In most villages in the sample, authoritarian control prevails in village elections. The findings of this thesis suggest that until now the elections have been maintained within the boundary of the CCP’s authoritarian governance. In rural China, for elections to serve the function of promoting democracy and fostering checks and balances of power - neither manipulation by the local government nor manipulation by rich opponents - the key lies in the economic empowerment of villagers. 3 Acknowledgements Along my journey towards a PhD, I have been benefiting from the support and wisdom of many people. I feel truly blessed to be surrounded and supported by such a big group of intelligent and caring people. First and foremost, I am grateful to my supervisors, Simon Hix and Valentino Larcinese, for providing insightful guidance throughout my time at the LSE. As Simon marked in a seminar, getting into the PhD program is more an intellectual challenge, but finishing this journey is more a psychological challenge; indeed, they both have offered me not only academic but also psychological support throughout my PhD journey. Similarly, I am also grateful to Mayling Birney for her generous engagement with my research ideas and arguments and guidance of my personal development as a scholar. I also wish to thank the China and Inner Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies, which offered me the Best Graduate Paper Prize in 2014. The recognition of this prestigious prize of my ability to do rigorous analytical research has strengthened my confidence and determination in continuing my academic journey. I feel grateful to Professor Dorothy J. Solinger for her sharp and valuable comments on my work, which has helped me a great deal to make my argument more direct and clearer. Similar gratitude goes to my two examiners, Professor Jean-Paul Faguet and Professor Lianjiang Li, for their valuable comments and suggestions that help me to strengthen and best substantiate my argument. I feel privileged to have spent my time at the LSE with many incredibly talented colleagues. I thank the members of the Political Science and Political Economy Group and the Comparative Politics Group, especially Dr Andrew Eggers, Dr Steffen Hertog, Dr Ryan Jablonski and Professor John Sidel, for their constructive comments and feedback. I also thank other members of the community, notably Helen Addison, Anar Ahmadov, Regina Enjuto-Martinez, Yi Fan, Bo Hu, Kanokrat Yin Lertchoosakul, Corina Mavrodin, Mona Morgan-Collins, Jiarui Piao, Ashikur Rahman, Maja Kluger Rasmussen, Justine Zheng Ren, Mike Seiferling, James Ka-lei Wong, Wei Yang, Lei Yu-Hsiang, Ai Yu and Jianyong Yue; and the lovely colleagues who are sharing or used to share an office (H419) with me, particularly May Chu, Ignazio De Ferrari, Ninfa Fuentes, Ju Hyun Nam, José Olivas-Osuna, Laura Robbins- 4 Wright, Fabrizio Scrollini, Pon Souvannaseng and Martin Williams. I was very fortunate to have my fieldwork research financed by the Central Research Fund Grants of the University of London and the Fieldwork Grants by Universities’ China Committee in London. I am also grateful to the LSE, the Great Britain-China Education Trust, the American Political Science Association and the Association for Asian Studies for their generous scholarships and travel grants. Similarly, I thank the School of Government at Peking University for hosting me at my fieldwork stage and Professor Patrick Dunleavy, Professor Tianbiao Zhu and Professor Xianglin Xu for making this visit possible and facilitating my fieldwork. There are also very important people who facilitated my fieldwork in rural China. Their generosity, especially the support from the rural government officials, makes this Ph.D. thesis possible. I cannot reveal their names because of confidentiality, but I wish to express how grateful I am. The years that have passed have not diminished my gratitude to the Zhou’En Lai School of Government at Nankai University where I started my academic journey. I wish to thank in particular Professor Tongshun Cheng and Professor Guang Zhang who not only led me into the world of political science but also encouraged me during my PhD. My sincere appreciation goes to the Warden and the management team of LSE Carr- Saunders Hall, which has become my home in the past four years. In particular, I am very grateful for Dr Svetozar Rajak’s generous moral support, encouragement and sharing of his insightful life lessons. I thank the lovely management team of LSE Carr-Saunders Hall, accompanied by whom I never feel lonely. There are four special friends of mine who I feel indebted to. They are Pei Gao, Aofei Lv, Xun Yan, and Junxiang Zhang. Their unfailing support, trust and care support me to sail through the ups and downs of this PhD journey. Lastly, and by no means least, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, my sister and my significant other. Without their unconditional love and support – both financially and emotionally, I would never be able to complete this intellectual journey. 5 Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 4 Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... 6 List of Tables ................................................................................................................. 9 List of Figures .............................................................................................................. 10 List of Diagrams .......................................................................................................... 10 List of Maps ................................................................................................................. 10 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1 : Economic autonomy and authoritarian control of local elections ............. 11 1.1 Subnational democracy and elections ............................................................ 16 1.2 Explaining the variance of subnational democracy ....................................... 20 1.3 The concept of economic autonomy .............................................................. 23 1.4 Data ................................................................................................................ 26 1.5 Overview of the thesis ................................................................................... 30 Chapter 2 : Setting the Scene: historical, institutional and economic backgrounds of village elections........................................................................................