Browsing by Author "Wang, Jianxun"

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How Can China Get Out of Cycle of Dynasties? A Tocquevillian Perspective
(2019) Wang, Jianxun
"China has been gotten stuck in the cycle of dynasties for more than 2000 years. The Open and Reform Policy has helped the country achieve remarkable economic success in the past forty years, but it has made little progress in terms of political development. The people are rejected to participate in public affairs in any meaningful way, and their fundamental rights are frequently abridged and violated. To simply put it, they are not allowed to govern themselves. How can China get out of the cycle of dynasties? What challenges the country needs to overcome in order to become a self-governing society? One of the striking characteristics of the Chinese regime has been administrative centralization. Chinese people and many China observers have been convinced that the centralization is indispensable for the unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and greatness of the country. They even believe that administrative centralization can coexist with a self-governing society. Why do they hold these beliefs? How can they be changed? Drawing upon the works of American Founding Fathers, Tocqueville, and Vincent and Elinor Ostrom, this paper is an effort to explore these issues. I propose that, without the change of the centralized structure of the Chinese regime, it’s unlikely for the country to establish a free and self-governing society. However, unless the mores, or 'habits of heart and mind', change in the society, it is very hard to do away with the centralized institutions."
Political Economy of Village Governance in Contemporary China
(2006) Wang, Jianxun
"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 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."
Village Governance in Chinese History
(2006) Wang, Jianxun
"How were villages organized and constituted in Chinese history? How were decisions made in the communities? How were public goods and services provided there? What are the changes and continuities of village organization and governance in the history? This paper is an effort to answer these questions by providing a historical account of rural society. The discussion is sectioned along the line of time, including Imperial (221 BC - 1912), Republican (1912 -1949), and Mao's China and after (1949 - present). Since Chinese history is very long and complicated, the discussion provided here is nothing more than a sketch. Moreover, it is necessary to note that the analysis mainly relies on secondary sources, especially those works in historical scholarship."