Descriptive and Substantive Representation in China's Single-Party Legislature

• In Event: Political Participation and Policy Making in China

Abstract

Although a large body of literature has examined the relation between descriptive and substantive representation in legislatures, it is still unclear whether such a link is universal and exists in single-party legislatures. Drawing on original datasets containing 75,797 proposals written between 2008 and 2017 in China’s National People’s Congress, this article reveals that descriptive representation in single-party legislatures similarly brings substantive representation. Deputies who are women, members of ethnic minorities, workers, farmers or professionals tend to submit significantly more proposals pertaining to corresponding identity-oriented issues. The numbers of proposals concerning some nonidentity-oriented issues submitted by these deputies are basically consistent with the preferences of citizens with the same identities. The discoveries suggest that the link between descriptive and substantive representation in legislatures subsists across various regime types, and such a link can be utilized by single-party regimes to gain information necessary for sustaining their rule.

Author

• Chuanmin Chen, East China University of Political Science and Law