Portland State University The contemporary politics of China reflect an ongoing effort by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to reclaim the right to rule in light of the consequences of economic development, international pressures, and historical change China’s regime stands out within the Asian region for its success in the effort of adapting to change and ensuring its continuity Focusing on changes in China’s elite discourse during the reform period and particularly during the last decade, the aim of this article is to elaborate the relative importance of various sources of legitimacy as they are shifting over time, as well as inherent dilemmas and limitations There is evidence of an agile, responsive, and creative party effort to relegitimate the postrevolutionary regime through economic performance, nationalism, ideology, culture, governance, and democracy At the same time, the study finds a clear shift in emphasis from an earlier economic-nationalistic approach to a more ideologicalinstitutional approach

/pdf/reclaiming-legitimacy-in-china-30qvfz1o9u.pdf

Reclaiming Legitimacy in China

The contemporary politics of China reflect an ongoing effort by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to claim the right to rule in light of the consequences of economic development, international pressures, and historical change. China stands out within the Asian region for the success the regime has achieved in this effort. By focusing on the changes in China’s elite discourse during the reform period and particularly during the last decade, this paper aims to elaborate on the relative importance of various sources of legitimacy as they shift over time, as well as on their inherent dilemmas and limitations. There is evidence of an agile, responsive, and creative party effort to relegitimate the postrevolutionary regime through economic performance, nationalism, ideology, culture, governance, and democracy. At the same time, the paper identifies a clear shift in emphasis from an earlier economic‐nationalistic approach to a more ideological‐institutional approach.

In Search of Legitimacy in Post-Revolutionary China: Bringing Ideology and Governance Back

The purpose of this study is to explore the mechanics of guanxi in an organizational setting, focusing on the use of interpersonal relationships within Chinese firms to discover how firms initiate, build and use guanxi networks. Two richly detailed case studies document changes that take place over time in two distinct networks with respect to key actors and their contacts. This research also investigates patterns of social structure that emerge over time in these two distinct cases looking at brokerage relationships, network density, and dyadic redundancy in three waves at six month intervals. The cases are dissimilar in all aspects except absolute size demonstrating the universal use of guanxi across time, geographic location, specific industries, and firm experience. Dynamic network visualization is used to highlight the sequence and rate of activity in each network to identify salient changes. The findings show that firms seek to improve their organizational guanxi by improving existing employees’ guanxi quality within the firm and by recruiting new actors from outside the firm. Additionally, firms use organizational guanxi to expand their networks by forming cooperative partnerships with complementary organizations that enhance the attributes or potential of both organizations. And finally, firms initially exploit brokerage in organizational guanxi, then attempt to stabilize the network by fostering new ties to exclusive contacts.

Guanxi, Networks and Economic Development: The Impact of Cultural Connections

The paper examined the historical underpinnings of the under-development ofrepresentative institutions in Africa. The author noted that notwithstanding its worldwideprevalence, the legislature had been involved in struggles for political power and relevance across political systems. Specifically, he viewed the African parliaments as products of specific historical experiences, notably of colonialism and militarism, that not only stultified their growth and development but also left legacies that continued to constrain their capacity to serve as effective checks on the ever-growing powers of the executive arms of post-independence governments. Accordingly, the legislatures of Africa had not been placed in vantage positions akin to those of their counterparts in the advanced democracies, and their capacities as effective agents of limited government were seriously constrained. In the circumstances, the workings and challenges of representative institutions in Africa had to be understood within the context of the historical forces that shaped and continued to shape their emergence and contemporary relevance. It identifiedpeople-centred constitutional re-engineering, more proactive posture on the part of legislators themselves and capacity-building supports as the irreducible minimum for strengthening the legislatures and creating responsive and citizens-friendly environments for sustainable democracy and good governance in Africa.

	 

	Key words: Legislature, colonialism, military rule, African politics.

The legislatures in Africa: A trajectory of weakness

The contemporary politics of China reflect an ongoing effort by the ruling Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) to claim the right to rule in light of the consequences of economic development,
international pressures, and historical change. China stands out within the
Asian region for the success the regime has achieved in this effort. By focusing on the
changes in China’s elite discourse during the reform period and particularly during the
last decade, this paper aims to elaborate on the relative importance of various sources of
legitimacy as they shift over time, as well as on their inherent dilemmas and limitations.
There is evidence of an agile, responsive, and creative party effort to relegitimate the postrevolutionary
regime through economic performance, nationalism, ideology, culture, governance,
and democracy. At the same time, the paper identifies a clear shift in emphasis from
an earlier economic‐nationalistic approach to a more ideological‐institutional approach.
Die Versuche der Kommunistischen Partei Chinas (KPCh), vor dem Hintergrund wirtschaftlicher
Entwicklung, internationalen Drucks und historischer Veranderungen die Legitimitat
ihrer Herrschaft zu wahren, pragen die gegenwartige Politik Chinas. Innerhalb
der asiatischen Region kann China dabei als vergleichsweise erfolgreich gelten. Ziel dieses
Beitrags ist es, mit Blick auf Anderungen im innerchinesischen Elitediskurs wahrend der
Reformperiode und vor allem wahrend des zuruckliegenden Jahrzehnts, zu untersuchen,
auf welche Legitimitatsquellen zuruckgegriffen wird, wie ihre relative Bedeutung sich im
Zeitverlauf verandert, und welche inharenten Dilemmata und Beschrankungen damit verbunden
sind. Identifiziert werden wirtschaftliche Performanz, Nationalismus, Ideologie,
Kultur, Governance und Demokratie als die wichtigsten Quellen zur Relegitimierung eines
durchaus agilen, responsiven und kreativen postrevolutionaren Parteiregimes.
Zugleich wird gezeigt, dass dabei eine klare Akzentverschiebung stattgefunden hat, und
zwar von einem fruheren Ansatz, der sich primar auf Wirtschaftswachstum und Nationalismus
stutzte, hin zu einem Ansatz, der Aspekte des ideologischen und institutionellen
Wandels betont.

http://edoc.vifapol.de/opus/volltexte/2010/2304/pdf/wp127_holbig_gilley.pdf

In Search of Legitimacy in Post-revolutionary China: Bringing Ideology and Governance Back In

* The Uses of Comparative Politics * Britain * France * Germany * Japan * Russia * China * India * Mexico * Brazil * Nigeria * Iran * Epilogue: Lessons of Eleven Countries

Michael G. Roskin

Papers

Countries and Concepts: Politics, Geography, Culture