Mao's invisible hand : the political foundations of adaptive governance in China / edited by Sebastian Heilmann and Elizabeth J. Parry.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Heilmann, Sebastian, editor.

Parry, Elizabeth J., editor.

Series:

Harvard contemporary China series ; 17.

Harvard Contemporary China Series ; 17

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public administration--China.

Public administration.

Communism--China.

Communism.

China--Politics and government--1949-.

China.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London : Harvard University Asia Center, [2011]

Summary:

"Observers have been predicting the demise of China's political system since Mao Zedong's death over thirty years ago. The Chinese Communist state, however, seems to have become increasingly adept at responding to challenges ranging from leadership succession and popular unrest to administrative reorganization, legal institutionalization, and global economic integration. What political techniques and procedures have Chinese policymakers employed to manage the unsettling impact of the fastest sustained economic expansion in world history? As the authors of these essays demonstrate, China's political system allows for more diverse and flexible input than would be predicted from its formal structures. Many contemporary methods of governance have their roots in techniques of policy generation and implementation dating to the revolution and early PRC--techniques that emphasize continual experimentation. China's long revolution had given rise to this guerrilla-style decisionmaking as a way of dealing creatively with pervasive uncertainty. Thus, even in a post-revolutionary PRC, the invisible hand of Chairman Mao--tamed, tweaked, and transformed--plays an important role in China's adaptive governance.".

Contents:

Embracing uncertainty: guerrilla policy style and adaptive governance in China / Sebastian Heilmann and Elizabeth J. Perry

From mass campaigns to managed campaigns: "constructing a new socialist countyside" / Elizabeth J. Perry

Policy-making through experimentation : the formation of a distinctive policy process / Sebastian Heilmann

Learning through practice and experimentation : the financing of rural health care / Wang Shaoguang

Governing civil society: adapting revolutionary methods to serve post-communist goals / Nara Dillon

A return to populist legality? Historical legacies and legal reform / Benjamin L. Liebman

Sustaining and contesting revolutionary legacies in media and ideology / Yuezhi Zaho

Retrofitting the steel frame: from mobilizing the masses to surveying the public / Patricia M. Thornton

The elusive search for effective sub-country governance / Joseph Fewsmith

Central-local dynamics: historical continuities and institutional resilience / Jae Ho Chung.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-68417-116-4

OCLC:

999606476

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9781684171163 DOI