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1. Introduction
Views of China are segmented into many different groups. For one group, China is the authoritarian communist country that violates human rights, destroys the environment and supports internationally outlawed regimes. The recent riots in Tibet are seen as evidence that China is a “ticking time bomb.” The international protests during the Olympic torch relay in 2008 underscore their views that the Chinese government‟s human rights record is far from where it should be. They closely correlate the two terms „China‟ and „crisis.‟ On the other hand, business people and certain political leaders see within China the promise of a bright future and a model of effective economic reforms. They see enormous opportunities in doing business in China, with the emergence of a huge consumer market. The seemingly everlasting annual 10% rise in GDP makes them confident that China is on the right path.
The same debate exists in the academic world. One group considers China‟s recent achievements as very promising. They interpret the reform outcome as positive and see China as being on the right road, while the other group draws the contrary conclusion. The studies by Dali Yang1 and Minxin Pei2 are a case in point. Even though both authors have written about the same topic and in parts have used the same primary sources, they have reached mutually contradictory conclusions. For instance, Yang3 praises the introduction of job-rotations among cadres in the center‟s nomenclature and county magistrates as positive. He suggests that their working performance was enhanced and the likelihood for bribery and corruption, lowered.
Yang underlines the end-of-term audits for such officials which “have become a crucial link in the enhancement of the cadre disciplinary regime.”4 The same institutional reform can be seen from a completely different perspective. Pei describes the rotations of cadres as new exit options that dramatically reduce the time horizon for responsibilities. Self-interest and rent seeking became more salient. Pei‟s radically
1 Dali L. Yang, Remaking the Chinese Leviathan: Market Transition and the Politics of Governance in China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004), 181.
2 Minxin Pei, China's trapped transition the limits of developmental autocracy (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 2006), 153.
3 Yang, "Remaking the Chinese Leviathan: Market Transition and the Politics of Governance in China", 181.
4 Ibid., 182.
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different view leads him to conclude that “the unintended effect of this institutional practice is to turn these officials, literally, into roving bandits.”5 The problem of different interpretations can even be found within the statistics used. Pei sees the problem of overstaffing as a risk to a steadily growing Chinese state carrying an immense cost and constituting the root cause for China becoming a predatory state.
Pei stresses that the problem became worse during the 1990s. In particular, district and township governments significantly raised their staff levels above those officially authorized. Underreporting and the lack of a standard classification of employees made matters even worse in Pei‟s opinion. He compares the growth rate of state employees between 1953 and 1978, 1.8%, and between 1979 and 1990, 6.7%, and concludes that the official figures for 2002 suggest a doubling of employees compared with 1978.6 The same statistics can be read and interpreted very differently.
According to Yang,7 the Chinese state at the local level was recently massively downsized. The plan, at the time of writing his book, to reduce 20% of its staff would first affect the unauthorized employees and act as an effective tool to make a slimmer state.
This was a relevant discussion. Very different aspects of China‟s political, social and economic life are affected by this debate. Will corruption take over and become a major threat? Will the growing social inequality lead to social unrest? How will this affect the authoritarian one-party-state and the political stability in China?
It is an unresolved discussion; scholars are divided on this topic. There is no common theory or consensus about key questions. Will market forces reform the political system? Will the Communist Party survive? Or will the environmental problems become a major issue affecting China‟s stability?
It is far-reaching discussion; China‟s relations with other countries will be affected more and more. The world economy has much greater dependence on China and the expression „China threat‟ has become a popular issue. The salience of these questions makes them, in my view, worthy of focus. In this thesis, a theoretical approach is
5 Pei, "China's trapped transition the limits of developmental autocracy", 153.
6 Ibid., 136.
7 Yang, "Remaking the Chinese Leviathan: Market Transition and the Politics of Governance in China", 47.
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sought to contribute a different viewpoint to the discussion. To look at the practical aspect, a salient topic of governance will follow the theoretical part.
1.1. Research question and design
The thesis uses the governance approach to find an answer to the ongoing discussion on China‟s recent achievements. I suggest that under the angle of governance, the interpretation of the manifold problem areas is more meaningful than the use of one specific theory. Economic theories for instance help to interpret some particular effects in the economic development but obscure major changes in society and in politics.
If China‟s challenges are analyzed from a governance perspective, it should be possible to include various effects on China‟s rapid changes. The focus on governance within China will help to find an answer to the question „where are we?‟ in the discussion mainly because the governance perspective is more suitable to give an inclusive picture of development.
In the first step, a literature review is undertaken focusing on the different concepts and definitions of governance. A second step will narrow the discussion on governance within China. I will begin with the debate on positive and negative outlooks on China‟s achievements in relation to reforming the state under a governance perspective. Furthermore, governance theories on measuring China‟s performance are applied to selected topics. The theoretical discussion will be followed by a case study discussing the governance of energy policies in China.
The final concluding chapter will provide answers to several questions:
- How can governance theories help in the interpretation of governance indicators?
- How can governance theories explain changes in China‟s performance in governance indexes?
- How can we explain China‟s governance problems?
- What are the limits of governance reforms?
Finally, are governance theories helpful in the debate as to whether China‟s future should be seen in a more positive or negative perspective?
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