Political Representation and Coalition Formation of Chinese Congress Delegates

• In Event: Representation in Comparative Legislative Politics

Abstract

The nature of political representation of People’s Congress in China has received increasing scholarly attention and has generated debates. Parochial representation that delivers targeted public goods to (parts of) constituency is found to be prevalent among local congress delegates. Built on content analyses of over 8,000 suggestive bills put forward by provincial congress delegates from seven provinces in China, this article finds that a large proportion of delegates’ suggestive bills is non-parochial. The article further employs statistical analyses to investigate which type of provincial congress delegates are more prone to pork-related activities whereas other delegates transcend the parochialism and represent broader public interest. In particular, this analysis examines the extent to which the sectoral background of delegates constitutes a major factor underlying the substantial representation of provincial congresses. In addition, built on the activity of co-sponsorship among provincial delegates in putting forward suggestive bills in one southern province in China, this analysis also examines the network of collaboration among delegates and the conditions under which provincial congress delegates form coalition in initiating suggestive bills. Social network analysis is conducted to show the profile of most- connected provincial delegates and explore whether the form of coalition varies across policy issue areas.

Author

• Cai (Vera) Zuo