The Politics of Social Harmony

Ruling Strategy and Health Care Policy in Hu's China

Bibliographic Data

ID6040674
AuthorsYu Bin (0000-0002-8105-1496, University of Colorado Boulder, corresponding author), Bin Yu (0000-0001-6980-7345)
Year2009
Volume1
Issue2
Pages186-222
Publication date2009-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Politics & Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1943-0787 • E-ISSN: 1943-0779
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1943-0787.2009.01112.x
OpenAlexW2066711440
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited18

This study seeks to explain the causes of social welfare policy change in a single‐party authoritarian system. Using the evolution of Chinese health care policy as an example, it discerns why the Hu Jintao administration opted for a compensation‐oriented welfare policy paradigm in the absence of adequate interest articulation and apparent electoral accountability, despite the virtual collapse of the Chinese social welfare system during the 1990s. I explore the hypothesis that a high level of political pressure, coupled with a high degree of economic openness, drove the Chinese Communist Party to alter its ruling strategy, a political paradigm that best ensures its monopoly on political power and consequently produces distinct implications for public policy outputs. This study suggests that authoritarian regimes can and do compensate the citizenry under certain circumstances. Further, it also reveals a self‐adaptation process initiated by a single‐party authoritarian system

China · Harmony (color · Political science · Politics · Social harmony · Social science · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub