Reinforcing Authoritarianism Through Democracy by Xuan Qin

Author:Xuan Qin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789813349568
Publisher: Springer Singapore

3.1.2 Political Instability

In addition to a descriptive analysis of “government control,” a deeper exploration into its inner causation is needed.

As discussed in the previous chapter, the main motivation for the Chinese government to enact deliberative reforms is the pursuit of a more stable social network. Deliberative innovations serve as mechanisms to keep social order through alleviating the tension between citizens and the government. Citizens with different opinions are encouraged to voice them and interact, as long as it promotes a harmonious coexistence. In this light, instability and the subsequent social unrest can be reasons for the government to introduce political controls. Notably, stability indicates the political stability of the regime rather than the security of the society; the former describes the dissatisfaction with the government or the authoritarian rule, while the latter describes social unrest among the citizens. As a result, I use the amount of administrative cases per year as an indicator of social instability. Unlike criminal cases and civil cases, administrative cases are between the state authority and a person. It provides ordinary citizens with legal means to file a complaint against the state’s action (民告官). In China, most of the administrative cases are about the problems of land ownership, house expropriation, government information disclosure, etc. The number of administrative cases, which are directly observable by the local government, can be interpreted as a potential danger to social stability and therefore results in government control.

Hypothesis

A large number of administrative cases are related to greater government control.

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