Voting and Values: Grassroots Elections in Rural and Urban China

John James Kennedy, Haruka Nagao and Hongyan Liu
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John James Kennedy: Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, USA
Haruka Nagao: Department of Political Science, University of Kansas, USA
Hongyan Liu: School of Economics, Northwest University of Political Science and Law, China

Politics and Governance, 2018, vol. 6, issue 2, 90-102

Abstract: Authoritarian leaders often claim that they promote democratic institutions such as elections and democratic values. In China, the central propaganda often promotes the right and duty of citizens to vote in local elections as well as the importance of citizens’ input into the policy making process. However, there is often a gap between government rhetoric and reality. In this article, we use the China General Social Survey (CGSS) 2013 to evaluate the determinants of voting in local elections and democratic values (attitudes) in rural and urban China. The results show that respondents with higher education tend to have lower levels of democratic values and participate less in local elections, but respondents with only compulsory education are more likely to display democratic orientations and vote. This suggests the relative success as well as the limits of authoritarian democratic propaganda.

Keywords: China; democratic values; education; grassroots elections; voting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:poango:v6:y:2018:i:2:p:90-102

DOI: 10.17645/pag.v6i2.1331

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