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dc.contributor.authorDistelhorst, Greg
dc.contributor.authorHou, Yue
dc.date.accessioned2019-03-07T16:03:11Z
dc.date.available2019-03-07T16:03:11Z
dc.date.issued2017-05
dc.identifier.issn0022-3816
dc.identifier.issn1468-2508
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120799
dc.description.abstractWhy do nondemocratic regimes provide constituency service? This study develops theory based on a national field audit of China’s “Mayor’s Mailbox,” an institution that allows citizens to contact local political officials. Analyzing government responses to over 1,200 realistic appeals from putative citizens, we find that local service institutions in China are comparably responsive to similar institutions in democracies. Two key predictors of institutional quality are economic modernization and the intensity of local social conflict. We explain these findings by proposing a demand-driven theory of nondemocratic constituency service; in order to sustain the informational benefits of citizen participation, the responsiveness of service institutions must increase with citizen demand. We then offer supplementary evidence for this theory by analyzing the content of real letters from citizens to local officials in China. Keywords: authoritarian regimes; institutions; constituency service; responsiveness; Chinaen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Chicago Pressen_US
dc.relation.isversionofhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1086/690948en_US
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alikeen_US
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/en_US
dc.sourceOther repositoryen_US
dc.titleConstituency Service under Nondemocratic Rule: Evidence from Chinaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.identifier.citationDistelhorst, Greg, and Yue Hou. “Constituency Service Under Nondemocratic Rule: Evidence from China.” The Journal of Politics 79, 3 (July 2017): 1024–1040 © 2017 Southern Political Science Associationen_US
dc.contributor.departmentSloan School of Managementen_US
dc.contributor.mitauthorDistelhorst, Greg
dc.relation.journalJournal of Politicsen_US
dc.eprint.versionAuthor's final manuscripten_US
dc.type.urihttp://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticleen_US
eprint.statushttp://purl.org/eprint/status/PeerRevieweden_US
dc.date.updated2019-02-07T15:52:52Z
dspace.orderedauthorsDistelhorst, Greg; Hou, Yueen_US
dspace.embargo.termsNen_US
dc.identifier.orcidhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3623-7953
mit.licenseOPEN_ACCESS_POLICYen_US


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