Political Selection in China - Rethinking Foundations and Findings

Political selection is about how individuals are selected to political office - and this substantially determines the quality of governance. The evidence favors democratic elections as the selection institution that produces high governance quality. Yet authoritarian China, where a communist party monopolizes the selection of all officials of importance, presents a sophisticated and, by some measures, successful contrast to liberal democratic versions of political selection. Understanding how and how much the preferences of the few at the political center in Beijing systematically shape the composition and actions of the tens of thousands of leaders who manage politics, society, and the economy across China is foundational to understanding China. This Element critically reviews the literature on political selection in China to better structure our knowledge on this important question. It clarifies sources of greatly disparate findings in statistical studies and identifies major descriptive challenges to these studies in rich qualitative and quantitative evidence.

List of contents

1. Introduction; 2. Dominant Paradigms: What Have We Learned?; 3. Descriptive Challenges: Lessons from Fieldwork; 4. Views from the Inside: A 'Good-Fit' Perspective; 5. Conclusion; References.

Summary

This Element critically reviews the literature on political selection in China to better structure our understanding of how much the preferences of the few at the political center in Beijing systematically shape the composition and actions of those who manage politics, society, and the economy across China.

Product details

• Authors: Melanie Manion, Melanie (Duke University Manion, Manion Melanie
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.10.2023
• EAN: 9781009454193
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0945419-3
• No. of pages: 75
• Series: Elements in Politics and Society in East Asia
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; China, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / General, Political structure & processes, Central / national / federal government, Political structure and processes, Central government, Regional, state and other local government, Regional government