"Whole-Process People's Democracy" in China: Evidence from Shanghai

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the grassroots practice of the "whole-process people's democracy" (WPD) raised by the Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping. Through extensive fieldwork in Shanghai and based on a participation-response analytical framework, four typical types of WPD are explored, i.e., participation for policy suggestion, participation for mobilization, participation for complaints and supervision, and participation for self-governance. It suggests that, unlike Western democracy, which is based on public scrutiny of the government and competitive elections, the responses of local officials to the demands of the people under WPD are more dependent on the assessment of higher authorities and their expectations for promotion. At the same time, public participation is state-mobilized and people express their voices, exercise their powers, and supervise the government in a conditional manner. Despite limitations, WPD has helped to facilitate local officials' response to people's demands and engaged more public opinion in the policymaking process. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the democratic governance in communist regimes and the theoretical development of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.