This book explores non-electoral means of public participation in contemporary


China, both as an outcome of and a key contributor to the party-state’s


efforts to improve its governing capacity.


Examining consultative meetings, public hearings, and the use of surveys


and questionnaires in Zhejiang province, on an empirical level, the study


evaluates the historical development and institutional backgrounds of these


mechanisms, as well as provides a critical assessment of their achievements


and failures. At the same time, on a theoretical level, this book contributes


to the broader scholarship on contemporary Chinese politics and political


development within one-party regimes, as well as debates about state building


and democratisation. Relying on the distinction between access to and


exercise of power, it concludes that non-electoral public participation is in


fact a function of state building. Developing a state capable of producing


effective solutions to governing challenges, it is argued, requires public participation


in the governing process.


With analysis informed by interviews with local-level policy-makers and


officials, academics, and citizens’ representatives and activists, Public Participation


and State Building in China will be a valuable research resource for


students and scholars of Chinese politics, political science, and civil society.