The Central Governing Apparatus

Post-Mao policy has led to a revitalization of the state sector, with a renewed stress not only on the state’s economic functions but also its legislative and representative functions. Four sets of pressures have pushed this process along. First, there is the performance deficit inherited from the Mao years when government efficiency was low, the state intrusive, law arbitrary if it existed, and citizens’ rights subject to the whim of local officials. Second, the emphasis on economic reform required the state to withdraw from its previous overbearing role and reduce administrative interference, which led to a major redistribution of power both horizontally and vertically, with significant de facto powers being decentralized to lower-level administrative units (see Chapter 6). This was compounded by global economic competition and China’s integration into the world economy. Third, the information revolution has built on these two factors and revealed the gap between performance in the public and private sectors. Also, it has allowed citizens greater access to information through which they can evaluate the performance of their government. Fourth, there has been pressure to increase levels of accountability, either through village elections that were introduced to fill the institutional vacuum left in the country’s villages (see pp. 213–17) or through the expansion of non-state organizations.