Taxation without Representation in Contemporary Rural China

by Thomas P. Bernstein , Xiaobo Lü

• ISBN13: 9780521813181
• ISBN10: 0521813182
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-14
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The financial burden imposed upon the Chinese farmer by local taxes has become a major source of discontent in the Chinese countryside and a worrisome source of political and social instability for the Chinese government. Bernstein and Lü examine the forms and sources of heavy, informal taxation, and shed light on how peasants defend their interests by adopting strategies of collective resistance (both peaceful and violent). Bernstein and Lü also explain why the central government, while often siding with the peasants, has not been able to solve the burden problem by instituting a sound, reliable financial system in the countryside. While the regime has, to some extent, sought to empower farmers to defend their interests - by informing them about tax rules, expanding the legal system, and instituting village elections, for example, these attempts have not yet generated enough power from 'below' to counter powerful, local official agencies.

Table of Contents

List of Journals, Newspapers, Translation Services, and Abbreviations	ix
List of Tables and Figures	xiii
Preface	xv
Introduction	1	(19)
Locating the Chinese State	1	(6)
The Central and Local States	7	(6)
Rural Society and Peasant Collective Action	13	(4)
Overview of the Chapters	17	(3)
Peasants and Taxation in Historical Perspective	20	(28)
Rural Taxation in Imperial China	20	(5)
Rural Taxation in the Late Qing and Republican Periods	25	(6)
Taxes and the Communist Revolution	31	(5)
The Maoist Era: The Primacy of Grain Procurements	36	(10)
Conclusion	46	(2)
Extracting Funds from the Peasants	48	(36)
Burdens: An Overview	50	(18)
The TVE Factor	68	(5)
Grievances: Lack of Accountability and Brutality of Enforcement	73	(11)
Institutional Sources of Informal Tax Burdens	84	(32)
Deconcentration of State Power	84	(4)
The Local State: Developmental Pressures and Incentives	88	(8)
State Sprawl: China's Expanding Bureaucracy	96	(9)
Muddled Finances and the Rural Funding Crisis	105	(4)
Embedded Corruption	109	(5)
Conclusion	114	(2)
Burdens and Resistance: Peasant Collective Action	116	(50)
Individual and Collective Protest and Violence	120	(17)
Peasant Collective Resistance: Incipient Social Movements?	137	(9)
Leaders, Organization, and Coordination	146	(11)
Potential Allies	157	(8)
Conclusion	165	(1)
Containing Burdens: Change and Persistence	166	(40)
Exhortations, Regulations, and Campaigns	167	(10)
``Letters and Visits'' and the Role of the Media	177	(13)
Enabling Villagers to Seek Legal Redress	190	(7)
Toward Effective Institutional Change	197	(7)
Conclusion	204	(2)
Burden Reduction: Village Democratization and Farmer National Interest Representation	206	(35)
The Impact of Village Democratization on Burdens	207	(17)
Strengthening Farmer Interest Representation at the Center	224	(7)
A National Farmers' Association?	231	(8)
Conclusion	239	(2)
Conclusions	241	(12)
Bibliography	253	(18)
Index	271