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Deliberation, demobilization, and limited empowerment: a survey study on participatory pricing in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 November 2018

Xuan Qin  and
Baogang He
Xuan Qin
Affiliation:
Institute for Advanced Study in Social Sciences at Fudan University
Baogang He*
Affiliation:
Chair in International Relations, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, DeakinUniversity, and adjunct professor at Tianjin Normal University
*
*Corresponding author: E-mail: Baogang.he@deakin.edu.au
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Abstract

Authoritarian deliberation has been used widely to describe the specific form of deliberation developed in China. However, whether its practice will strengthen authoritarianism or lead to democratization remains unknown. In this study, we examine this question from the perspective of participants in public deliberation. Surveying the participants in participatory pricings held in Shanghai over the past 5 years, we find that participants’ perception of deliberative quality has a statistically significant negative impact on their level of political activism, while their level of empowerment has a moderating effect on this negative relationship. In this light, Chinese deliberative practices characterized by high-quality deliberation and low-level empowerment are likely to have a demobilization effect; thus, they reinforce the authoritarian rules.

Keywords

Deliberationdemobilizationparticipatory pricingChinapublic forum
Type
Special Section, Authoritarian Deliberation Revisited (Edited by Baogang He and Hendrik Wagenaar)
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 694 - 708
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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