Gao, H, Tyson, A orcid.org/0000-0002-4458-6870 and Cheng, G (2022) Novel virus, novel response: Local discretion and responses to COVID-19 in Hebei Province, China. Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, 9 (1). pp. 5-22. ISSN 2050-2680
Abstract
The Chinese Communist Party is consolidating one party rule under the leadership of Xi Jinping. Beijing seeks to rule by central mandate while limiting local autonomy. The central government response to the COVID-19 public health emergency reinforces this view. In January 2020 Beijing established the Central Epidemic Response Leading Group to mobilise a comprehensive nationwide policy effort to contain the virus. The exceptional nature of the COVID-19 national emergency allows the central government to project power over local authorities and leverage over citizens, but we argue that this is a short-term phenomenon because local disease control initiatives remain important, with local authorities adapting national policies to meet constituent needs. There are degrees of policy discretion and divergence at the subnational level that enable context-specific responses to the virus within China’s strict bureaucratic hierarchy. Primary data derives from interviews and observations in Nancun village, Hebei Province, conducted from January to April 2020. Evidence from Nancun explains how local authorities interpret the edicts and mandates of the central government.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Authors. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies published by Crawford School of Public Policy of the Australian National University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) |
Keywords: | central-local relations; China; COVID-19; decentralisation; health policy |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 21 Sep 2021 13:56 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 22:46 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley Open Access |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/app5.342 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:178341 |