Political Culture and Participation in Urban China

Table of Contents

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. Introduction

   Yang Zhong

   Abstract

   This chapter is an introduction to the whole book. First, it discusses the importance of the subject matter of the book. China is currently experiencing a period of massive urbanization. For the first time in Chinese history, more Chinese live in the country’s cities than in the rural areas. As a result, Chinese urbanites are likely to determine the future of the country. It is the assumption of the author that political culture shapes people’s political behavior. Chinese political culture is not unique, even though it might have differences from political cultures of other countries. This book also takes an empirical approach to the study of political culture in urban China. An outline of the book is also laid out in this chapter.

3. Chapter 2. Political Support in Chinese Cities

   Yang Zhong

   Abstract

   This chapter examines the level of regime support in urban China. The political system in China has been described as “resilient”. The obvious question is: why has the Chinese regime successfully maintained its rule and proved so resilient in the most populous country in the world? Stability in urban China is indispensable to the level of overall stability in China. On a descriptive level, the key question to be answered is: To what degree does the current regime in China enjoy popular diffuse support? On an analytical level, we would like to find out what factors affect Chinese urban residents’ level of support for the current political system in China? Other than the usual socioeconomic and demographic factors, such as age, gender, income, education and Communist Party membership, this chapter is particularly interested in exploring the relationships between popular satisfaction with local government performance in specific policy areas (such as education, medical care, housing, the social safety net, employment, public safety, transportation, cultural development, and environment), popular satisfaction with local governmental efficiency, attitudes toward official corruption, trust of central and local governments on the one hand and popular regime support on the other.

4. Chapter 3. Levels of Political Interest

   Yang Zhong

   Abstract

   This chapter measures the levels of political interest among Chinese urban residents and examines the associated factors. The key descriptive question to be answered in this chapter is: To what degree are Chinese urban residents still interested in politics or state affairs? On an analytical level, the chapter considers the factors affecting Chinese urban residents’ levels of political interest. Other than the usual socioeconomic and demographic factors such as age, gender, income, education and Communist Party membership, the study is especially interested in exploring the relationships between levels of political interest on the one hand and belief in religion, support for the current political system, democratic values, nationalist feelings and general life satisfaction on the other. Even though this study does not cover the whole of China, the findings from this research do shed light on the general levels of political interest at the mass level and who tend to be more interested in politics.

5. Chapter 4. Democratic Values

   Yang Zhong

   Abstract

   This chapter studies democratic values among Chinese urban residents. There is a popular perception both within China and outside the country that Chinese culture is inherently authoritarian and incompatible with modern democratic values. What is the current status of democratic values among Chinese urban residents? How do Chinese urban residents compare with people from other countries, especially neighboring Asian countries, with regard to their democratic values? What are the factors that possibly affect the support or lack of it for core democratic values among Chinese urbanites? Answers to these questions are crucial to understanding and predicting political developments in China.

6. Chapter 5. Political Trust in Urban China

   Yang Zhong

   Abstract

   This chapter explores political trust in urban China. Even though studies on political trust have proliferated in democracies since the late 1960s, there have been few studies of this issue in authoritarian countries. This is probably due to the fact that it is not easy to obtain an accurate measure of political trust in authoritarian settings where people are afraid of openly expressing their true feelings about the authorities. Difficulties in measuring the level of political trust in authoritarian settings does not mean, however, that the level of political trust cannot be measured or that it is not an important issue in authoritarian countries. The two key questions to be answered in this chapter are: What is the level of political trust among Chinese citizens of their government? and what factors affect their level of political trust?

7. Chapter 6. Environmental Views of the Chinese Urbanites

   Yang Zhong

   Abstract

   This chapter focuses on environmental attitudes and the tendency of citizens to participate in environment-related street protest. Most Chinese cities face serious environmental problems. Unlike some other issues, such as land or labor disputes, which concern only a small and specific group of people, environmental pollution and degradation are of wider concern to the general population and can arouse widespread societal reaction. The descriptive questions to be answered in this chapter are concerned with Chinese urban residents’ environmental awareness and knowledge, their willingness to help improve the environment, their assessment of China’s environmental problems, and their satisfaction with government performance in protecting the environment. However, the key analytical question to be answered in this chapter is: why do some people choose to care for the environment while others do not?

8. Chapter 7. Empirical Study of Religious, Social and Political Values of Urban Chinese Christians

   Yang Zhong

   Abstract

   This chapter taps into the religious, social and political values of Chinese urban Christians. After the disastrous years of the Cultural Revolution, religions have been coming back to China in a significant way. Christianity is one of the fastest-growing religions in China. Given the rapid increase in the Chinese Christian population, it is surprising that contemporary Chinese Christians have not been the subject of sufficient study, as they are still shrouded in mystery and their religious beliefs and sociopolitical values are little known to non-Christian Chinese and the outside world. The rapid increase of Christians in China could obviously have far-reaching implications for China’s future social and political development. This chapter will examine the religiosity (i.e., the believing and behaving aspects) of Chinese urban Christians as well as their social and political values, which will be compared with those of Chinese urban non-Christians and American Christians. Another question to be answered in the chapter is whether religiosity of Chinese urban Christians attending official churches is different from that of unofficial “house church” members. A third question to be answered is how Chinese Christians’ religiosity affects their social values and support for democratic values.

9. Chapter 8. Conclusions

   Yang Zhong

   Abstract

   This chapter concludes the book. In this chapter, other than the concluding remarks, I will compare data from our survey of Chinese urban population with those of the Asian Barometer Survey that was conducted across China (except for Xinjiang and Tibet) in 2015. Compared with Chinese urbanites, support for the current political system is even higher than in the general Chinese population. In addition, our Chinese urban residents are also much more interested in political affairs than the general population in China. Like majority of urbanites in our survey of large Chinese cities, most Chinese people favor the direct election of Chinese leaders. Finally, the general Chinese population shows a higher level of political trust of the Chinese government than our urban dwellers.

10. Backmatter