In Search of Public Accountability: The ‘Wenling Model’ in China

Abstract

This article specifically attempts to answer two interrelated research questions: firstly, how do democratic consultation assemblies (DCAs) heighten public accountability in the current institutional setting of China's sub-provincial localities?; and secondly, what can be learned, from the Chinese case, in relation to achieving public accountability elsewhere? To address the first question, this article will explore two particular variations of the DCAs, and will focus on the interplay between the managerial and democratic accountability orientations to address the second question.

Determinants of Expenditure Decentralization: Evidence from China

“…12 The monitoring can also be strengthened by utilizing increasingly assertive congresses to exercise a check over intermediate governments. In a study of public accountability in Zhejiang Province in China, Hsu (2009) (Guo, 2008). Improving fiscal capacity at the local level thus is imperative in China.…”

Lost Decades in Growth Performance

“…Literature has shown that in many cases these people's opinions on given public issues changed significantly before and after the process. The method has been applied successfully even in authoritarian societies (see the experiences in the PRC, called "authoritarian deliberation" by He and Warren, 2011; see also Fishkin et al, 2010;He and Hundt, 2011;Hsu, 2009). For the description of the other models, see the survey in Smith (2011).…”

Truncated Decision Making and Deliberative Implementation: A Time‐Based Policy Process Model for Transitional China

“…China’s governance style has gradually changed to a more consultative and less top‐down approach over the past 10 years. At the same time, a strict accountability system has been established since the SARS epidemic (Cai & Zhu, ; Hsu, ; Ma, ). The accountability system forces political leaders or bureaucrats to respond quickly to resolve existing problems, or they may be held accountable and lose their positions.…”