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Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China

What does the state do when public expectations exceed its governing capacity? Iza Ding’s new book "The Performative State” shows how the state can shape public perceptions and defuse crises through the theatrical deployment of language, symbols and gestures of good governance – what Ding calls “performative governance.” Ding studies street-level bureaucracy in China through ethnographic participation, in-depth interviews and public opinion surveys. She demonstrates with vivid detail how China’s environmental bureaucrats deal with intense public scrutiny over pollution while lacking the authority to actually improve the environment. The book also explains why performative governance sometimes fails to impress its audience, and what makes governance become less performative and more substantive.

Speakers:
• Iza Ding, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Pittsburgh
• Michael Davidson, Assistant Professor, UC San Diego (Moderator)
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This webinar series is organized by the 21st Century China Center at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. For more information on China activities, as well as recordings of previous webinars, please visit china.ucsd.edu.

Apr 14, 2022 04:00 PM in Pacific Time (US and Canada)