Showing papers by "Thomas Heberer published in 2017"

Political Reform and Regime Legitimacy in Contemporary China

Abstract: While China's economic and social reforms have gained much attention internationally, the CCP regime's efforts at political structural reform (zhengzhi tizhi gaige) initiated by Deng Xiaoping have been widely ignored by China scholars so far. Political reforms that do not aim at abolishing one-party rule to the benefit of some form of Western liberal (multi-party) democracy are not taken seriously by most observers of China's modernisation process. This article hypothesizes that these reforms do actually affect regime legitimacy in a positive way and should therefore be carefully analysed in order to explain the "authoritarian resilience" of Communist one-party rule. It is argued that political reform in its limited sense of enhancing cadre efficiency and accountability (instead of empowering the demos vis-à-vis the state) may, indeed, help to effectively prolong one-party rule in contemporary China.

From "state control" to "business lobbying": The institutional origin of private entrepreneurs' policy influence in China

Abstract: Existing scholarship regards the collusion between the Chinese government and the private sector as 'informal' and a series of 'economic alliances', without considering the private sector's institutionalized participation in the process of government policy formulation. This article takes an alternative perspective and examines such institutionalized efforts in interest expression and policy promotion. In the authoritarian regime, state institutions that previously functioned to co-opt and corporatize the private sector have also become forums in which private entrepreneurs can have an impact on policy-making. This change results from the state's initiative in developing formal channels of participation based on the united front work remnant and interaction between 'state control' and the 'business lobby'. The shift from 'state control' to the 'business lobby' reveals a unique pathway for private interest to have an impact on public policy formulation.

Private Entrepreneurs as a "Strategic Group" in the Chinese Polity

Abstract: China scholars have consistently described China's private entrepreneurs as politically co-opted by the Communist Party regime. Since China's economic development now overwhelmingly depends on the performance of the private sector, the political dynamics and power configurations within the current regime coalition between state and business may have seen change over the past decade. Drawing on the recent literature on state-business relations and fieldwork conducted in different provinces, cities, and counties since 2012, this paper hypothesizes that private entrepreneurs are a "strategic group" in Chinese politics. By working through the multidimensional networks that crisscross different party-state units, administrative levels, and formal institutions such as business associations and local parliamentary bodies all over the country, private entrepreneurs act collectively, albeit in (as yet) uncoordinated ways. By looking closely at the evolving government-business nexus in China's local state, this article sheds new light on private entrepreneurs' strategic action in China's political system and highlights that private entrepreneurs are increasingly influential within the existing regime coalition.