Getting Their Voices Heard: Strategies of China’s Provincial People’s Congress Deputies to Influence Policies

Chen, Chuanmin

doi:10.1086/703388

Cited by 13 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The people's congresses in China are regarded as a “rubber stamp” without substantial decision‐making power (Cai, 2004; O'Brien, 2009) due to the party's heavy influence on the management of cadres. But some research has shown that certain congress functions have selectively improved (Cho, 2008) and that some delegates attempt to empower the congress (Chen, 2019). The decision‐making power of government officials in China has been well‐documented (Dickson, 2008).…”

Section: Literature Review and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making political connections work better: Information asymmetry and the development of private firms in China

Liu

Xin

Jing

2021

Corporate Governance

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Research question/issue: Previous studies have documented the benefits for firms of building political connections, yet there is a gap in the literature on the information transmission effect of political connections. Our study examines the effect of political connections in a highly asymmetric information environment-private firms in China.Research findings/insights: Using quarterly data on listed private firms in China from 2004 to 2017, we find that political connections ensure such firms have access to reliable political information, which mitigates the risks of policy uncertainty. Further, firms connected to the government are better able to mitigate the negative effects of policy uncertainty than those connected to the legislature, while firms tied to high-level authorities are better able to do so than those tied to lower-level ones.Specifically, political connections are more effective in lower-marketized and peripheral regions, where information asymmetry is higher.Theoretical/academic implications: Our study highlights the importance of political connections in mitigating the negative relationship between policy uncertainty and corporate investment via the information transmission channel. Specifically, officials can more efficiently mitigate policy uncertainty than delegates, and high-level authorities are more effective than lower-level officials.Practitioner/policy implications: We argue that building political connections helps private firms offset the negative effects of policy uncertainty. Our findings provide useful insights for understanding the impacts of Regulation No. 18 of October 2013, which limits the employment of current and retired officials in private firms.

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Section: Literature Review and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making political connections work better: Information asymmetry and the development of private firms in China

Liu

Xin

Jing

2021

Corporate Governance

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“…Although the institution is lacking formal authority to enact laws it does offer opportunities for delegates to make their voices heard. In addition to attending training sessions and participating in inspections and research tours, the delegates’ most important task is to submit formal policy proposals ( ti'an ) to which the relevant government departments are required to respond within a set period of time (Chen 2019). 2 The number of proposals has skyrocketed in recent decades (Lü, Liu, and Li 2020) and yet they have not been subject to comprehensive empirical studies.…”

Section: Background: the People's Political Consultative Conferences ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the literature on authoritarian legislatures has focused on dictators’ reasons for establishing them in the first place, yet the roles and actions of individual delegates are similarly important (Art 2012). In fact, members of assemblies in authoritarian regimes can show remarkable levels of commitment and passion for participating in their activities as for instance delegates of China's National People's Congress and People's Political Consultative Conference do (Truex 2016; Chen 2019). To be sure, delegates also exhibit remarkable differences in their levels of activity (Krol 2020; Malesky and Schuler 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

Explaining Activity in Authoritarian Assemblies: Evidence from China

Wiebrecht

2022

J. East Asian Stud.

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Who attempts to influence policymaking through authoritarian assemblies and why are some delegates considerably more active in doing so than others? Drawing on original data from provincial People's Political Consultative Conferences (PPCCs) in China, this study adopts a delegate-centered perspective and develops a theory of delegates’ activity in authoritarian assemblies. It argues that delegates’ activity can be explained by a combination of both cooptation theory and an understanding of delegates’ position within the authoritarian regime and hierarchy. The results highlight that core elites with more direct means of influencing policymaking will forego assemblies. Yet, peripheral elites lack other institutional channels of access to decision-makers and have to voice their demands in authoritarian legislatures. This study highlights the need for disaggregating groups of actors in authoritarian politics and offers an alternative view of cooptation particularly relevant for closed authoritarian regimes.

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“…After completing their terms at PCs, few of them can expect to be promoted to any full-time political position from their positions as deputies. Consequently, because the benefits of deputies are significantly related to the organizations at which they work full-time and since deputy proposals have some impact on government policy making (Chen, 2019), deputies likely have an incentive to further the interests of their work organizations by putting forth proposals about workplace-based issues.…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workplace-Based Connection: Interest Articulation of Deputies in China’s Municipal People’s Congresses

Chen

Huang

2022

Modern China

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Existing studies have demonstrated that China’s people’s congresses are co-optative and constituency-based representative institutions where regime outsiders’ interests and regional interests are articulated. Drawing on data of the municipal people’s congresses in Shenzhen and Kunming, this article shows that the congresses are also “workplace-based” representative institutions, that is, institutions through which deputies express the interests of their work organizations. Different from the conventional view that deputies’ workplaces make them less active in performing in the congresses, this article first shows that a “workplace-based connection” exists in people’s congresses and thus deputies are driven by incentives from their workplaces to articulate the latter’s interests. Furthermore, municipal deputies whose work organizations depend more on municipal units (i.e., municipal party-state organs) or have less influence on municipal policy making usually put forward more proposals about workplace-based interests. These findings indicate that people’s congresses can be channels utilized by both state and nonstate sectors to articulate organizational interests.

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Getting Their Voices Heard: Strategies of China’s Provincial People’s Congress Deputies to Influence Policies

Cited by 13 publications

References 16 publications

Making political connections work better: Information asymmetry and the development of private firms in China

Making political connections work better: Information asymmetry and the development of private firms in China

Explaining Activity in Authoritarian Assemblies: Evidence from China

Workplace-Based Connection: Interest Articulation of Deputies in China’s Municipal People’s Congresses

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