Decentralized Authoritarianism in China: The Communist Party's Control of Local Elites in the Post-Mao Era - Hardcover

Landry, Pierre F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521882354 ISBN 13: 9780521882354

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

China, like many authoritarian regimes, struggles with the tension between the need to foster economic development by empowering local officials and the regime's imperative to control them politically. Landry explores how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) manages local officials in order to meet these goals and perpetuate an unusually decentralized authoritarian regime. Using unique data collected at the municipal, county, and village level, Landry examines in detail how the promotion mechanisms for local cadres have allowed the CCP to reward officials for the development of their localities without weakening political control. His research shows that the CCP's personnel management system is a key factor in explaining China's enduring authoritarianism and proves convincingly that decentralization and authoritarianism can work hand in hand.

About this title

Book Description:

Landry explores how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) manages local officials in order to perpetuate an unusually decentralized authoritarian regime. Landry's research shows that the CCP's personnel management system is a key factor in explaining China's enduring authoritarianism and proves convincingly that decentralization and authoritarianism can work hand in hand.

About the Author:

Pierre Landry is Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale University and a research fellow with the Research Center for Contemporary China at Peking University. He is an alumnus of the Hopkins-Nanjing program and taught in the Yale-Peking University joint undergraduate program in 2007. His research interests focus on Chinese politics, comparative local government, and quantitative comparative political analysis. His recent articles have appeared in Political Analysis and The China Quarterly.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0521882354
• ISBN 13: 9780521882354
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 316