ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that a growing number of ordinary Chinese are developing citizen-initiated participation through strong rights-based consciousness and activism. It employs the concept of official-invited political space and citizen-initiated political space to examine two different forms of political participation in China—namely, the official, sanctioned political participation and citizen-created participation. The chapter examines the three official-initiated forms of participation—namely, village elections, deliberative mechanisms and participatory budgeting. It discusses citizen-initiated activities and new strategies. Election procedures, policy formulation and implementation, and accountability institutions influence political participation, and participation combines with public responses to feed into regime legitimacy. Massive social protests lead some local officials to develop forms of controlled and orderly participation, but the fundamental limits of such an official-invited political space lead to dissatisfaction, suspicion and further protests. The chapter briefly outlines the interaction and conflict between the official and citizen-initiated forms of political participation.
