Centralized Minimalism

Semiformal Governance by Quasi Officials and Dispute Resolution in China

Bibliographic Data

ID6008275
AuthorsPhilip C C Huang (People's University of China University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume34
Issue1
Pages9-35
Publication date2008-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern China (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0097-7004 • E-ISSN: 1552-6836
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0097700407308130
OpenAlexW2057777181
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited25

Existing theories of governance generally focus on formal institutions, conceptualized in an either—or binary of state versus society. Recent archival research, however, has demonstrated that local Chinese administrative practice drew widely on semiformal governance through the use of quasi officials nominated by communities. They were not salaried and generated little or no paperwork. Once confirmed by the magistrate, they were largely left to function on their own; the county yamen intervened only after complaints or in disputes. That mode of administrative practice was born of adaptations, by a highly centralized government that aimed to be as minimalist as possible, to the demands for expanded governance that came with a growing population. Substantial aspects of that legacy from imperial China have persisted through the Republic, the Mao Zedong period, and the present reform era. They may be considered particularly persistent characteristics of the Chinese political “tradition,” “premodern” and “modern,” and they may yet play a role in shaping a distinctive Chinese political modernity

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