Abstract
In what ways has the expansion of the Internet transformed local governance in China? Through analysis of over 2000 leaked official emails from a district-level Internet propaganda office, this chapter finds that the Internet has served more as a tool to enhance control rather than to improve governance at the local level. In particular, local authorities have prioritized Internet commentating tasks assigned from upper levels while keeping a close watch on negative publicity of both national and local problems. Their occasional responses to online complaints are often more likely meant to satisfy superiors and pacify the public rather than to address citizens’ concerns. Such a “ruling by the Internet” strategy may bring short-term gains such as preserving social stability on the surface but may harm the regime in the long run with accumulated social dissatisfaction.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Following the suggestion of a reviewer, this study anonymizes all specific administrative units to avoid potential controversy.
- 2.
This email archive was released by an anonymous blogger “Xiaolan” in 2014 and has been publicly available since then. Gary King at Harvard University and his colleagues are the first group of political scientists using these data in scholarly research (King et al. 2017). According to them, based on the size and complexity of the archive, as well as the result of reference verification by the researchers, the authenticity of the archive should not be a concern. Since the dataset is publicly available and it provides scholars with unprecedented amount of valuable information, they believe it is appropriate to use the dataset strictly for scholarly research. The authors agree with them on this point.
- 3.
ZIPO, 2013 niandu Z Qu yuqing xinxi gongzuo qingkuang huibao (District Z 2013 work report on public opinion monitoring), December 20, 2013, email communication in ZIPO Dataset.
- 4.
See Qiugongdao, Z Qu S Zhen H Cun: Tudi bei zhengyong cunmin yaoqiu buchang (Village H, Township S, District Z: Land expropriated with villager asking for compensation), available at: goo.gl/HZf6Gq.
- 5.
ZIPO, Z Quwei Bangongshi guanyu “Z Qu S Zhen H Cun Cunmin tudi beizhengyong yoaqiu buchang zhengdikuan” de yuqing diaocha qingkuang huibao (Public opinion investigation report by District Z Party Committee Office regarding “Village H, Township S, District Z: Land expropriated with villager asking for compensation”), May 25, 2014, email communication in ZIPO Dataset.
- 6.
ZIPO, Guanyu jinyibu jiaqiang quangqu wangluo xuanchuan gongzuo de yijian (Suggestions to further strengthen online propaganda work in our district), May 14, 2014, email communication in ZIPO Dataset.
- 7.
ZIPO, Qu wangxuanban 2013 nian gongzuo zongjie he 2014 nian gongzuo silu (ZIPO’s work report for 2013 and work plan for 2014), December 20, 2013, email communication in ZIPO Dataset.
References
Bernstein, T., and X. Lv. 2003. Taxation without representation in rural China. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Boas, T.C. 2006. Weaving the authoritarian web: The control of Internet use in nondemocratic regimes. In Zysman, J., and A. Newman (eds.). How revolutionary was the digital revolution: National responses, market transitions, and global technology. California: Stanford Business Books.
Chen, D. 2016. Review essay: The safety valve analogy in Chinese politics. Journal of East Asian Studies 16: 281–294.
CNNIC. 2017. Di 39 ci Zhongguo hulianwang fazhan zhuangkuang tongji baogao (The 39th China statistical report on Internet development). Available at http://www.cnnic.cn.
Cui, D., and F. Wu. 2016. Moral goodness and social orderliness: An analysis of the official media discourse about Internet governance in China. Telecommunications Policy 40: 265–276.
Damm, J. 2006. China’s e-policy: Examples of local e-government in Guangdong and Fujian. In Damm, J. and S. Thomas (eds.). Chinese cyberspaces: Technological changes and political effects. London and New York: Routledge.
Distelhorst, G. 2012. Publicity-driven accountability in China: Qualitative and experimental evidence. MIT Political Science Department Research Paper Working Paper.
Edin, M. 2003. State capacity and local agent control in China: CCP cadre management from a township perspective. The China Quarterly 173: 35–52.
Esarey, A. 2015. Winning hearts and minds? Cadres as microbloggers in China. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 44(2): 69–103.
Esarey, A., and Q. Xiao. 2008. Political expression in the Chinese blogosphere. Asian Survey 48(5): 752–772.
———. 2011. Digital communication and political change in China. International Journal of Communication 5: 298–319.
Gao, L. 2016. The emergence of the human flesh search engine and political protest in China: Exploring the Internet and online collective action. Media, Culture & Society 38(3): 349–364.
Gao, L., and J. Stanyer. 2014. Hunting corrupt officials online: The human flesh search engine and the search for justice in China. Information, Communication, & Society 17(7): 814–829.
Gorman, P. 2016. Flesh searches in China: The governmentality of online engagement and media management. Asian Survey 56(2): 325–347.
Han, R. 2015a. Cyberactivism in China: Empowerment, control, and beyond. In Axel B. et al. The routledge companion to social media and Politics. London and New York: Routledge.
———. 2015b. Manufacturing consent in cyberspace: China’s “fifty-cent army”. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 44(2): 105–134.
———. 2018. Contesting cyberspace in China: Online expression and authoritarian resilience. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hartford, K. 2005. Dear mayor: Online communications with local governments in Hangzhou and Nanjing. China Information 19(2): 217–260.
Hassid, J. 2012. Safety valve or pressure cooker? Blogs in Chinese political life. Journal of Communication 62(2): 212–230.
Hu, Y. 2008. Zhongsheng xuanhua: Wangluo shidai de geren biaoda yu gonggong taolun (The rising cacophoney: Personal expression and public discussion in the Internet age). Nanning: Guangxi Normal University Press.
Jiang, J., T. Meng, and Q. Zhang. 2017. From Internet to social safety net: The policy consequences of online participation in China. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2975456.
Kelliher, D. 1992. Peasant power in China: The era of rural reform, 1979–1989. New Haven: Yale University Press.
King, G., J. Pan, and M. Roberts. 2013. How censorship in China allows government criticism but silences collective expression. American Political Science Review 107(2): 1–18.
———. 2017. How the Chinese government fabricates social media posts for strategic distraction, not engaged argument. American Political Science Review 111(3): 484–501.
Lagerkvist, J. 2005. The techno-cadre’s dream. China Information 19(2): 189–216.
———. 2007. The Internet in China: Unlocking and containing the public sphere. Lund: Lund University.
———. 2008. Internet ideotainment in the PRC: National responses to cultural globalization. Journal of Contemporary China 17(54): 121–140.
———. 2010. After the Internet, before democracy: Competing norms in Chinese media and society. Switzerland: Peter Lang.
Kluver, R. 1999. The architecture of control: A Chinese strategy for e-governance. Journal of Public Policy 25(1): 75–97.
Lee, M., and M. Lio. 2014. The impact of information and communication technology on public governance and corruption in China. Information Development 32(2): 127–141.
Lei, Y. 2011. The political consequences of the rise of the Internet: Political beliefs and practices of Chinese netizens. Political Communication 28(3): 291–322.
Lieberthal, K., and D. Lampton (eds.). 1992. Bureaucracy, politics, and decision making in post-Mao China. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Lollar, X. 2006. Assessing China’s e-government: Information, service, transparency and citizen outreach of government websites. Journal of Contemporary China 15(46): 31–41.
Lorentzen, P. 2014. China’s strategic censorship. American Journal of Political Science 58(2): 402–414.
MacKinnon, R. 2009. China’s censorship 2.0: How companies censor bloggers. First Monday 14(2).
———. 2011. China’s “Networked authoritarianism.” Journal of Democracy 22(2): 32–46.
Mertha, A. 2009. “Fragmented authoritarianism 2.0”: Political pluralization in the Chinese policy process. The China Quarterly 200: 995–1012.
Miller, B. 2016. Automatic detection of comment propaganda in Chinese media. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2738325.
Montinola, G., Y. Qian, and B. Weingast. 1995. Federalism, Chinese style: The political basis for economic success in China. World Politics 48(1): 50–81.
Nip, J., and K. Fu. 2016. Networked framing between source posts and their reposts: An analysis of public opinion on China’s microblogs. Information, Communication & Society 19(8): 1127–1149.
Noesselt, N. 2014. Microblogs and the adaptation of the Chinese party-state’s governance strategy. Governance 27(3): 449–468.
O’Brien, K., and L. Li. 1999. Selective policy implementation in rural China. Comparative Politics 31(2): 167–186.
———. 2006. Rightful resistance in rural China. New York: Cambridge University Press.
OpenNet Initiative. 2005. Internet filtering in China in 2004–2005: A country study.
Qiang, Z. 2007. China’s information revolution: Managing the economic and social transformation. Washington: World Bank.
Qin, B., D. Strömberg, and Y. Wu. 2017. Why does China allow freer social media? Protests versus surveillance and propaganda. Journal of Economic Perspectives 31(1): 117–140.
Rauchfleisch, A., and M. Schäfer. 2015. Multiple public spheres of Weibo: A typology of forms and potentials of online public spheres in China. Information, Communication & Society 18(2): 139–155.
Rothstein, B. 2014. The Chinese paradox of high growth and low quality of government: The cadre organization meets Max Weber. Governance 28(4): 533–548.
Schlæger, J. 2013. E-government in China: Technology, power and local government reform. Abingdon: Routledge.
Schlaeger, J., and M. Jiang. 2014. Official microblogging and social management by local governments in China. China Information 28(2): 189–213.
Shi, L. 2014. Micro-blogs, online forums, and the birth-control policy: Social media and the politics of reproduction in China. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry 38(1): 115–132.
Tai, Z. 2006. The Internet in China: Cyberspace and civil society. London: Routledge.
Tai, Z., and X. Liu. 2015. The Chinese government hops on the Wechat bandwagon. China Policy Institute: Analysis. Available at https://cpianalysis.org/2015/05/06/chinese-government-hops-on-the-wechat-bandwagon/.
Tang, L., and H. Sampson. 2012. The interaction between mass media and the Internet in non-democratic states: The case of China. Media, Culture & Society 34(4): 457–471.
Tang, M., and N. Huhe. 2013. Alternative framing: The effect of the Internet on political support in authoritarian China. International Political Science Review 35(5): 559–576.
Tong, Y., and S. Lei. 2013. War of position and microblogging in China. Journal of Contemporary China 22(80): 292–311.
Wang, J. 2015. Managing social stability: The perspective of a local government in China. Journal of East Asian Studies 15: 1–25.
Wang Y., and R. Han. 2015 May. Paying lip service or taking it seriously? How Chinese government responds to online complaints. Paper presented at the 13th China Internet Research Conference, University of Alberta, Canada.
Wu, Y. et al. 2013. Agenda setting and micro-blog use: An analysis of the relationship between Sina Weibo and newspaper agendas in China. The Journal of Social Media in Society 2(2): 8–25.
Wu, Y., and J. Bauer. 2010. E-government in China: Deployment and driving forces of provincial government portals. Chinese Journal of Communication 3(3): 290–310.
Xi, Y., and W. Zhang. 2014. Wangjing huilu wangjing: Ti lingdao shantie (Internet police bribing Internet police: Deleting posts for local leaders). Nanfang Zhoumo (Southern Weekend). 17 April.
Xiao, Q. 2011. The rise of online public opinion and its political impact. In Shirk, S. (eds.). Changing media, changing China. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Yang, G. 2003a. The co-evolution of the Internet and civil society in China. Asian Survey 43(3): 124–141.
———. 2003b. The Internet and the rise of a transnational Chinese cultural sphere. Media, Culture & Society 24(4): 469–490.
———. 2007. How do Chinese civic associations respond to the Internet? Findings from a survey. The China Quarterly 189: 122–143.
———. 2009. The power of the Internet in China: Citizen activism online. New York: Columbia University press.
Zhang, J. 2002. Will the government “serve the people”? The development of Chinese e-government. New Media & Society 4(2): 163–184.
Zhao, J., S. Zhao, M. Alexander, and A. Truell. 2016. E-government use of social media for enhancing democracy in China. Issues in Information Systems 17(1): 58–69.
Zheng, Y. 2008. Technological empowerment: The Internet, state, and society in China. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Zhou, X. 2004. E-government in China: A content analysis of national and provincial websites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 9(4). Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/9/4/JCMC948/4614512.
Zuckerman, E. 2010. Intermediary censorship. In Deibert R., J. Palfrey, R. Rohozinski, and J. Zittrain (eds.). Access controlled: The shaping of power, rights and rule in cyberspace. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Han, R., Jia, L. (2019). Governing by the Internet: Local Governance in the Digital Age. In: Yu, J., Guo, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Local Governance in Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2799-5_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2799-5_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-2798-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-2799-5
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)