State Power in China: More "Parks and Rec" than Command and Control?
On the last episode of the podcast, Mark talked with two experts regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, and the political and logistical challenges of accelerating a ‘Green Transition’ in the US.
Which makes for an interesting comparison to our topic today.
Because these days, when people want to critique how slow and ineffective the US government can be, they often compare it to another country - one that we tell ourselves is where big government projects happen faster and better than almost anywhere: China.
But as Iza Ding, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh, explains to Mark on this episode, China’s government might not be quite as dominant and proficient as we think. And nowhere is this more clear than at the local level, as Iza explores in her recent book, “The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China.”
Even though the book focuses on aspects of environmental governance like conservation and pollution mitigation, her conclusions are far-reaching. Primarily, the idea that even so-called strong states have weaknesses, and when they are asked to address them, they often ‘perform’ the task of governing in informative and surprising ways.
Watch Iza Ding’s talk at the Watson Institute.
Learn more about and purchase her book "The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China".
Пікірлер: 18
I feel like the performative governance idea is a more universal phenomenon, it certainly rings true with Western governments in relation to the environment given the vast subsidies they continue to give away to oil companies. Not to mention generally pretending they still have power when they actually gave it all away to the financial markets at the end of the 20th century.
@isoboy2125
Жыл бұрын
Hush, we're trying to do the orientalist programming here.
Politics is not only about what kind of ruling institutions you have, but also about who is running the system.
@Q_QQ_Q
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Yes
Wow Mark, feeling very attacked by your parody of the American pronunciation of my name 😂 (Just being silly; interesting and informative episode, as always!)
Fascinating. Thank you.
old chinese tradition: heaven is high, and emperor far away. happens in every human society. but less in prc, i would guess. ccprc does not tolerate an 'idaho.'
@gliang9406
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Agree, this is human nature. Under the current human development level, we'd expect to see it everywhere. The way China manages it, is far from perfect but okay. Indeed, US and the West suffer much more from the same issue. That's why the Chinese approach has significant advantages over the Western one.
Interesting Psychology.
It’s incredible when Brits come to America & then talk about the place as if they’ve been here for 100 years.
@Q_QQ_Q
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LoL