The Struggle Over Village Elections
The paper reviews policy debate over village elections and attempts to abolish and rescue the reform after the student movement in 1989.
Grassroots political reform makes it possible for villagers to hold officials
accountable in exchange for their compliance with state policies. But this exchange,
even in the best of circumstances, is not self-implementing. Enforcement of the Organic
Law often involves a struggle between villagers who demand improved accountability
and township leaders who, initially at least, refuse to cede their authority to appoint
village cadres.