From powerholders to stakeholders
State‐building with elite compensation in early medieval China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6232082 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joy Chen (0000-0002-1318-1766, School of Economics Renmin University of China Beijing China, corresponding author), Erik Wang (0000-0001-5518-2866, Wilf Family Department of Politics New York University New York New York USA, corresponding author), Erik H Wang, Xiaoming Zhang (0000-0002-3134-9294, Department of Sociology Zhejiang University Hangzhou Zhejiang China, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 607-623 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0092-5853 • E-ISSN: 1540-5907 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ajps.12888 |
| OpenAlex | W4401063280 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 36 |
How do rulers soften resistance by local powerholders to state‐building efforts? This paper highlights a strategy of compensation, where elites receive government offices in exchange for relinquishing their localist interests, and become uprooted and integrated into the national political system as stakeholders. We explore this strategy in the context of the Northern Wei Dynasty of China (386–534 CE) that terminated an era of state weakness during which aristocrats exercised local autonomy through strongholds. Exploiting a comprehensive state‐building reform in the late fifth century, we find that aristocrats from previously autonomous localities were disproportionately recruited into the bureaucracy as compensation for accepting stronger state presence. Three mechanisms of bureaucratic compensation facilitated state‐building. Offices received by those aristocrats: (1) carried direct benefits, (2) realigned their interests toward the ruler, and (3) mitigated credible commitment problems. Our findings shed light on the “First Great Divergence” between Late Antiquity Europe and Medieval China
Archaeology · Autonomy · Bureaucracy · Central government · China · Compensation (psychology · Context (archaeology · Divergence (linguistics · Economics · Economy · Elite · Government (linguistics · Local government · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Ruler · Sociology · State (computer science · State-building · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Public Administration
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| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |