Understanding Local Agency in China’s Policy Reform (Politics and Development of Contemporary China)

"The meticulously researched case studies in this book reveal the nuance and complexity of Chinese politics and the modern authoritarian welfare state. Xiaoye She challenges the outdated notion of an unchanging authoritarian welfare state that is all too often treated as an afterthought. Her refreshing focus on sub-national politics speaks to pressing debates about economic development paradigms. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to better understand the realities of Chinese politics today, and authoritarian regimes more broadly." - Sarah Wilson Sokhey, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado Boulder, USA This book challenges the common perception or assumption that greater state intervention and re-centralization will result in convergence towards a more equitable and inclusive growth model in China. Instead of asking whether local agency matters, this project examines the conditions and latitude of local agency under initial decentralization followed by increasing top-down re-centralization. The central argument is that in response to common policy directives and pressures from above, disparities in local growth strategies have interacted with political institutions in generating "embedded" sub-national welfare mix models, with varying articulations of state, market, community, and family in Chinese welfare production. The bottom-up feedback effects from these embedded models have somewhat offset growing top-down pressure for re-centralization, contributing to persistent sub-national variations. This author contributes to a growing literature of comparative political economy that seeks to examine the political and economic logics of social policy in non-western and authoritarian political systems. Xiaoye She is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at California State University San Marcos, USA Acknowledgments Contents Abbreviations List of Figures List of Tables 1 Social Policy Reform and Local Agency in China 1.1 The Incomplete Return of the State in Social Policy 1.2 Political Institutions, Growth Models, and Local Agency 1.3 National Social Policies, Subnational Welfare Mixes 1.4 Overview of the Chapters References 2 Authoritarian State, Growth Strategies, and Subnational Welfare Politics 2.1 From the West to the Rest: The Comparative Perspectives 2.2 Social Policy in China: Serving Economics or Politics? 2.3 Local Agency and Subnational Welfare Mixes 2.4 Revising Authoritarian Social Contracts 2.5 A Structured Comparison Approach References 3 The Pro-growth National Reforms: State-Led Commodification Before 2000s 3.1 The Early Starter: Healthcare Reform Prior to SARS 3.2 Playing Catch-Up: The Delayed Housing Commodification 3.3 The Half-Ways: Pension and Old-Age Care 3.4 Local Agency in Pro-growth Reforms References 4 The Return of the State? The New Reforms and Changing Local Agency 4.1 Healthcare Reform: Bring the State Back in? 4.2 Affordable Housing: Quantitative Growth Without Quality? 4.3 Pension and Old-Age Care: The Second Transition? 4.4 Local Agency in the New Era: What Have Changed and What Have not? References 5 Limits of Fragmented Universalism: Local Agency in Healthcare 5.1 From LIS to UEBMI: The Dominance of Employment-Based Approach 5.2 The Vested Interests in the Party-State: From Free Medical Care to Supplemental Insurance 5.3 Medical Assistance for Whom? From URBMI to Medical Aid 5.4 Articulating the Welfare Mixes: Comparing Local Healthcare Models 5.5 Political Institutions, Growth Strategies and Subnational Healthcare Politics References 6 Asset-Based Welfare or Public Rental? Local Agency in Affordable Housing 6.1 Housing Monetization: The Employment-Based Housing Provident Fund 6.2 Who Are Entitled to Own? The Local Variants of Asset-Based Welfare 6.3 Housing Assistance for Whom? Embedding Public Rental Programs 6.4 Articulating the Welfare Mixes: Local Models of Affordable Housing 6.5 Political Institutions, Growth Strategies and Subnational Housing Politics References 7 Local Agency in Old-Age Care: Articulating State, Society, and Family 7.1 From LIS to UEBPI: The Dominance of Employment-Based Social Pension 7.2 From Civil Servant Scheme to Occupational Pension: The Vested Interests within the Party-State 7.3 Social Assistance for the Elderly: From Means Testing to Universalism? 7.4 Articulating the Welfare Mixes: Comparing Local Models of Old-Age Care 7.5 Political Institutions, Growth Strategies, and Subnational Politics of Aging References 8 State Responsibility or Societal Participation? The Future of Authoritarian Social Policies 8.1 Political Institutions, Growth Strategies, and Local Agency 8.2 Theorizing Welfare Mix in Decentralized Authoritarian Regimes 8.3 Studying the Evolving Authoritarian Social Policies References Index