Authoritarian Deliberation: Public Deliberation in China

Min Jiang (Ph.D. Purdue)Assistant ProfessorCommunication StudiesUNC-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28269E-mail: mjiang3@uncc.edu

Deliberative Poll in Zeguo, 2005

“The public is smart. Under the right conditions, it’s smart in China just like it’s smart in Britain or smart in Bulgaria.” -- James Fishkin (2005)

In Zeguo township, residents voice their opinions inDeliberative Poll plenary session. (Photo: Jeffrey Prescott)

Key Questions Can public deliberation take place in less democratic

countries? Do countries have to be democratized first in order

to achieve public deliberation? If the pursuit of better policy making, civic and

political participation is not limited to Western societies, in what ways can less democratic societies benefit from deliberative theories?

How can the deliberative experiences in other parts of the world inform and enrich the theories of public deliberation in the West?

Overview

Define public deliberationAnalytical and social aspects

Authoritarian deliberation US and Chinese public deliberation

OfflineOnline

Conclusion

Define Public Deliberation

Gastil & Black (2008) “When people deliberate, they carefully examine a

problem and arrive at a well-reasoned solution after a period of inclusive, respectful consideration of diverse points of view” (p.2)

Analytical: problem-solution model (Dewey, 1910) Social: equality, rights, respect, emotions

Types of public deliberation in the West Informal conversations, media & public opinion,

government decision making, public meetings, elections, juries, communities

Public Deliberation Graph

Media & Business

GovernmentJuries,

Gov Decision Making

Civil SocietyInformal Political

Discussions,Communities

Media &Public Opinion

Election,MultilateralDeliberation

Public Meetings

Authoritarian Deliberation

He (2006) Top leaders are not elected Deliberation under one-party domination Arguments and reasoning – communicative

action – solve collective problems Types of public deliberation in China

Informal conversations, media & public opinion, government decision making, public meetings, village elections, communities

Informal Conversations

National Issues Forum

Public Forum Institute

Huaxia Zhiqing Net

Xici Hutong Net

Media and Public Opinion 1

Indymedia

Ourmedia

Strengthening the Nation Forum

Hunan Red Net

Media and Public Opinion 2 – Chinese Blogs

Douban 9 o’clock Antiwave

Don’t Think

Antiwave YouTube Interview

Government Decision Making

U.S. Congressional discourse Court decision making

China - Blogs National People’s Congress (NPC) Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference

Public Meetings

America Speaks

21st Century Town Hall Meetings Deliberative Opinion Polls

(Fishkin) Politicopia Utah

China Local deliberative institution (He,

2005) Citizen evaluation meeting

Beijing Legislative bill comments

Observations

Chinese civil society and media are dominated by government, and increasingly commercial influence

Chinese public deliberative institutions tend to be voluntary, dispersive, and less institutionalized

Deliberative goals: better policies, and more accountable government

Offline and online deliberative platforms and interactions

Institutional exchange of public deliberation between U.S. and China

Conclusion Emerging empirical evidence of public deliberation in

China Public deliberation is a passage to increased political

participation and civil liberties in China Public deliberation to be nourished alongside other

democratic institutions Societal and institutional changes to employ a

variety of strategies to facilitate citizens’ participation in local and national affairs

The project of public deliberation to broadened to account for complex realities