Village Governance in China

This chapter discusses some of the most pressing issues of local governance for the Chinese government; how they have addressed those issues; and the consequences of their policies. It focuses on rural areas, the home of over two-thirds of China’s population; one major policy reform — the introduction of elections for village government; and its consequences for three important issues for the rural population: the provision of local public goods, redistribution, and unpopular upper government policy enforcement. The evidence suggests that while elections can improve villagers’ satisfaction with the regime, they have an adverse effect of reducing the enforcement of central objectives when they conflict with villager preferences.