This paper analyses institutional reforms and political participation, most notably indirect and direct elections of residential committees (RC), in China's urban neighbourhoods and communities (shequ). It shows that these elections at present are not meaningful to the majority of city dwellers...

We study geographic political representation and geographic distribution of local public goods within local jurisdictions using geo-coded data on politicians, the electorate and elementary schools. Descriptive analysis reveals that poorer neighborhoods are under-represented and that local...

Much previous research has examined the causes of political participation — primarily focusing on socio-economic status, resources, and election characteristics — in both national and local elections. A more recent line of research has focused on political context and its impact on political...