@article{3853a4487bab45fb9acfd9cc2ffd276c,
title = "Authoritarian Gridlock? Understanding Delay in the Chinese Legislative System",
abstract = "Legislative gridlock is often viewed as a uniquely democratic phenomenon. The institutional checks and balances that produce gridlock are absent from authoritarian systems, leading many observers to romanticize “authoritarian efficiency” and policy dynamism. A unique data set from the Chinese case demonstrates that authoritarian regimes can have trouble passing laws and changing policies—48% of laws are not passed within the period specified in legislative plans, and about 12% of laws take more than 10 years to pass. This article develops a theory that relates variation in legislative outcomes to the absence of division within the ruling coalition and citizen attention shocks. Qualitative analysis of China{\textquoteright}s Food Safety Law, coupled with shadow case studies of two other laws, illustrates the plausibility of the theoretical mechanisms. Division and public opinion play decisive roles in authoritarian legislative processes.",
keywords = "China, National People{\textquoteright}s Congress, authoritarian, gridlock, institutions, legislature, power sharing, responsive authoritarianism",
author = "Rory Truex",
note = "Funding Information: Thanks to Quinn Albaugh, Ben Ansell, Kevin Arceneaux, Meir Alkon, Mark Beissinger, Valerie Bunce, Tom Christensen, Killian Clarke, Jeremy Daum, Greg Distelhorst, Harry Doshay, Diana Fu, Jennifer Gandhi, Yue Hou, Karrie Koesel, Xiaobo Lu, Rachel McClellan, Ben Noble, Molly Roberts, Paul Schuler, Victor Shih, Milan Svolik, Dawn Teele, Jeremy Wallace, Lynn White, Matthew Wilson, Yiqing Xu, and Dali Yang and participants at workshops at Notre Dame, Temple, Oxford, and UChicago for helpful comments on various stages of the project. Lawrence Liu, Tony Lu, Molly Reiner, Changhao Wei, and Alexandra Wong contributed excellent research assistance. I take sole responsibility for any remaining errors. The replication files and Transparency Appendix (TRAX) are available on my personal website, www.rorytruex.com. The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The author received financial support from Princeton University for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2018.",
year = "2020",
month = aug,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1177/0010414018758766",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "53",
pages = "1455--1492",
journal = "Comparative Political Studies",
issn = "0010-4140",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",
number = "9",
}