1. 1
Civil society or corporatism? Case 3: Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims
Village Elections and Civil Society

2. Village elections Bottom-up initiatives 1980-81 Guangxi Province
Truly self-organized, informally elected elders
banned gambling and theft
maintained irrigation ditches, roads
mediated disputes
raised money, organized labor
rebuild schools
care for poor, elderly

3. Village elections Top-down attention to village elections Peng Zhen
1941 wrote report on village elections in Communist- controlled areas of rural China
Technique for strengthening support for CCP
1982 as Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress
Sent investigation team to Guangxi to study, promote village elec
1982 Constitution
Village committees
Elected mass organizations of self government

4. Village elections
Top-down promotion of elections for villagers’ committees
1987 trial regulations
1998 full law

5. Question for discussion
What do you think was the motivation of the central leadership in passing the “Organic Law of Villagers’ Committees,” mandating village elections?

6. Village elections Melanie Manion, University of Wisconsin
“strengthen Communist party rule”
“replace coercive and corrupt ‘local emperors’”
“An institutional design that subjects leaders to voter choice and rejection at regular intervals can be expected to constrain leaders—who are chosen through a process in which ordinary villagers have a voice—to act in the collective interest rather than in their private interest.” (p. 305)

7. Village elections—results
Manion: Which factors increase trust in local leaders? (Table 3)
Choices on ballot (“ electoral contestation”)
Real opportunitites to participate (“reported voting”)
NO dominant clan (“surname diversity”)
Improving economic conditions (“per capita income change”)

8. Village elections—results
Many villages lack real elections
Interview with farmer in Hunan (2007): “The appointment of the village leader and village party secretary are in the hands of the township government…the average person has no say in the matter. Even in recent years when village elections have been implemented, the township still puts forward the names, and the results of the election have been poor.”
If elections aren’t meaningful or elected leaders aren’t any better, voter apathy ensues.