The Art of Political Control in China (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

When and why do people obey political authority when it runs against their own interests to do so? This book is about the channels beyond direct repression through which China's authoritarian state controls protest and implements ambitious policies from sweeping urbanization schemes that have displaced millions to family planning initiatives like the one-child policy. Daniel C. Mattingly argues that China's remarkable state capacity is not simply a product of coercive institutions such as the secret police or the military. Instead, the state uses local civil society groups as hidden but effective tools of informal control to suppress dissent and implement far-reaching policies. Drawing on evidence from qualitative case studies, experiments, and national surveys, the book challenges the conventional wisdom that a robust civil society strengthens political responsiveness. Surprisingly, it is communities that lack strong civil society groups that find it easiest to act collectively and spontaneously resist the state. "Governance is a problem of political control. For governments, the problem is how to control society: how to maintain order, enforce laws, collect revenue, and implement policy. For citizens, the problem is how to control their governments: how to ensure that political leaders respond to their demands and are held accountable if they do not. This problem of political control is especially severe in autocracies like China, where the state reaches further into people's everyday lives and where citizens have fewer avenues for holding officials accountable than in most democracies"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half-title 2 Title - Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 List of Figures 11 List of Tables 13 Acknowledgments 15 1 - Introduction 18 2 - A Theory of Political Control 41 3 - The Communist Party’s Governance Challenge 73 4 - Cultivating Civil Society 104 5 - Co-optation 137 6 - Infiltration 171 7 - Conclusion 198 A - Additional Figures and Tables 210 B - Survey Design 233 C - Qualitative Research Design 235 Bibliography 238 Index 256 Other Books in the Series 262