How institutionalized feedback works: Online citizen complaints and local government responsiveness in China

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, Howard H.; Cheng, Edmund W.; Chen, Xi; Liang, Hai
• 署名单位: City University of Hong Kong; Chinese University of Hong Kong; Chinese University of Hong Kong
• 刊物名称: GOVERNANCE-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF POLICY ADMINISTRATION AND INSTITUTIONS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0952-1895
• DOI: 10.1111/gove.12907
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: field experiment; authoritarian responsiveness; political-participation; constituency service; public-opinion; internet; protest; CONSEQUENCES; consultation; repression

摘要

The prevailing view that authoritarian regimes primarily respond to threats of instability is challenged by our research, which posits that such regimes also take citizen complaints seriously, even when they do not pose a direct threat. Based on 238,835 citizen claims from China's largest national online petition platform from 2020 to 2021 and 793,119 citizen claims from Wuhan's local petition website, this study reveals that online complaints result in greater governmental responsiveness, compared to non-complaints. This institutionalized feedback mechanism is driven by a mix of factors: the upper-level officials' expectation for negative feedback, combined with bureaucrats' efforts to preserve themselves and avoid punitive consequences. Our findings thus enhance the understanding of what drives authoritarian responsiveness and signal a caution that an overreliance on managing complaints may deepen a stability-maintenance mechanism, potentially impeding substantial reform.