Bounded Articulation: An Analysis of CPPCC Proposals, 2008-12

This study sheds new light on China's authoritarian resilience by exploring the proposals of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a political institution once deemed a mere decoration. Though the CPPCC is tacitly silent on politically incendiary issues, an analysis of 648 delegate-submitted ti'an (proposals) to the National Committee of the CPPCC between 2008 and 2012 reveals that delegates use the conference to effectively articulate their interests, practicing what I define as "bounded articulation." In addition to theme of content, proposals differ in policy orientation, responsiveness, and professionalism, which are associated with both institutional and biographical factors, especially mode of initiation, suggesting that deliberative politics embedded in jointly-submitted proposals may alter delegates' political behaviors.