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BALLA, STEVEN J (3) answer(s).
 
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1
ID:   133731


Health system reform and political participation on the Chinese / Balla, Steven J   Journal Article
Balla, Steven J Journal Article
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Publication 2014.
Summary/Abstract Authoritarian regimes, such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), seek to bolster legitimacy by facilitating communications between citizens and government officials. This article investigates the operation of online consultation, a process through which citizens offer feedback on draft laws and regulations. The article specifically examines the importance of demographic characteristics and subjective motivations in the expression of citizen sentiments in response to a proposed revision to China's health system. By bringing together analysis of the content of citizen sentiment with a survey of participants, the article illuminates the determinants of the tone and substance of citizen feedback in health system reform. The primary finding is that participants who were internally efficacious and democratically oriented were, relative to respondents not possessing such traits, positive in tone and highly substantive in the submission of their comments concerning health system reform. This finding indicates that the health system reform commenting process offered citizens the opportunity to gain exposure to democratic principles and the process of articulating interests. More broadly, the analysis suggests the promise of online consultation in promoting citizen satisfaction with public policies, the legitimacy of the CCP, and, ultimately, stability in the Chinese political system.
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2
ID:   112833


Information technology, political participation, and the evolut / Balla, Steven J   Journal Article
Balla, Steven J Journal Article
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Publication 2012.
Summary/Abstract Although information technology is playing a fundamental role in China's political development, relatively little is known about the contours of online participation in government policymaking. This article presents the results of a survey of individuals who, in 2008, used the Internet to submit comments on the central government's plan to reform the nation's health system. The responses demonstrate that participants were, in the aggregate, well-educated professionals who live in urban areas and were especially likely to work in the medical and health industry. Substantial numbers of participants commented as a means of expressing concerns about the overall direction of reform, as well as on specific elements of the proposal itself. Participants generally anticipated no more than a modest degree of government responsiveness, although high expectations were held for comments from government officials and individuals who worked in the medical and health industry. Overall, these attributes and attitudes are illustrative of the evolution, as opposed to transformation, of the political system that is occurring in online contexts where neither democratization nor the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party is of immediate salience to government officials and societal stakeholders.
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3
ID:   179289


Online Consultation and the Institutionalization of Transparency and Participation in Chinese Policymaking / Balla, Steven J; Xie, Zhoudan   Journal Article
Balla, Steven J Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract This article examines the institutionalization of online consultation, a prominent instrument of governance reform in contemporary China in which government organizations make public draft laws and regulations and solicit input from interested parties prior to finalizing decisions. The article specifically analyses the extent to which online consultation is a durable governance reform that enhances transparency and participation in policymaking. The analysis focuses on the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and Guangzhou Municipal Government (GMG), leading organizations in the implementation of online consultation. Through the analysis of original datasets consisting of hundreds of policies proposed by the MOC and GMG and thousands of comments submitted in response to these drafts, the article demonstrates that online consultation has institutionalized government transparency but has not consistently enhanced public participation. Although online consultation has the potential to transform policymaking, the evidence suggests that strong confidence in this possibility is not warranted.
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