Social Policy and Political Trust: Evidence from the New Rural Pension Scheme in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 235 ◽  
pp. 644-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhonglu Li ◽  
Xiaogang Wu
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Pension Scheme ◽  
Old Age Support ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Material Benefits ◽  
The Government ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey ◽  
Rights Consciousness

AbstractThis article analyses the data from the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) to investigate the effects of the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) on people's political trust and policy expectations in China. Results from difference-in-differences (DID) analyses show that those in the NRPS pilot areas reported higher levels of trust in government at both central and local levels than their counterparts in non-NRPS areas, with the former gaining more support than the latter. Moreover, the potential NRPS beneficiaries show similarly higher levels of trust in both central and local governments than non-NRPS beneficiaries. However, the policy did not increase rural residents’ rights consciousness that the government should take the main responsibility for the provision of the old-age support. These findings suggest that citizens' political trust under an authoritarian regime is mainly determined by the material benefits they receive.

scholarly journals Temporal dynamics of political trust in China: A cohort analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiebing Wu ◽  
Yong Li ◽  
Chengcheng Song
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Cohort Analysis ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Cohort Effect ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey ◽  
New Generation

This article focuses on the changing trends in political trust in China. Based on data drawn from the Asian Barometer Survey for 2002, 2008, and 2011, as well as the Chinese General Social Survey for 2010 and 2012, we find a declining trend in the level of political trust in China, whether it be trust in the central government, trust in the local government, or the central–local government trust gap. Additionally, the results of our analysis show a strong cohort effect on the erosion of political trust. This study provides solid empirical evidence of declining political trust in China and increases our understanding of the changing dynamics of political trust. By analysing changes in citizens’ values and in the political expectations of the new generation, this article sheds light on the antecedents of political trust in China, which is gradually changing across different generations.

scholarly journals Can Political Trust Weaken the Relationship between Perceived Environmental Threats and Perceived Nuclear Threats? Evidence from South Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (18) ◽  
pp. 9816
Author(s):  
Jaeyoung Lim ◽  
Kuk-Kyoung Moon
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Environmental Threats ◽  
The Government ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Relationship

As environmental movements rage, how to handle nuclear power plants has become a hotly contested issue globally. While concerns about nuclear power plants are warranted, nuclear power plants may play a crucial role in climate change discourse. In this context, this study examines the connections between individuals’ perceived environmental threats and their perceptions of the environmental threats posed by nuclear power plants (perceived nuclear threats). In particular, the study explores whether such connections are moderated by individuals’ level of political trust, such that political trust helps weaken perceptions of threats individuals may feel from nuclear power plants. Using the 2014 Korean General Social Survey and ordered probit, this study confirmed that individuals’ perceived environmental threats were positively associated with their perceived nuclear threats. Additionally, individuals with a high level of trust in the government can help alleviate the positive link between individuals’ perceived environmental threats and perceived nuclear threats.

scholarly journals Social life and political trust in China: Searching for machers and schmoozers

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 694-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinxuan Huang
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Social Involvement ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey ◽  
Contemporary Chinese ◽  
Insight Into

Previous literature has provided little evidence regarding the ways in which China’s burgeoning social life and rapid urbanization shape Chinese people’s level of trust in their government leaders. This article builds on Robert Putnam’s conceptualization of maching and schmoozing as formal and informal forms of social involvement, respectively. Using the 2012 Chinese General Social Survey, we identify four types of participants in social involvement, namely the inactives, machers, schmoozers and all-rounders, to untangle various aspects of social life in China. Our empirical analysis shows that the sociodemographic positions of the four types of social involvement are largely distinct. Our findings also contribute to the study of political trust by offering insight into the complicated associations between social involvement, hukou status and political trust in contemporary Chinese society.

The Arts as a Polarized Issue and the Role of Political Trust in Promoting the Arts: Evidence From the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-97
Author(s):  
Lim Jae Young ◽  
Woo Harin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Moderating Role

The arts in the United States, for a long time received strong support from both sides of the political aisle. However, in recent years, the arts have been transformed into a partisan issue that pits conservatives against liberals. The article points to the importance of political trust as a means of helping conservatives overcome their ideological inclinations and support the arts. Scholars argue that political trust influences more strongly individuals who perceive a given policy to be one that imposes ideological risks for them compared with those without such risks. Focusing on the moderating role of political trust, the article examines whether political trust can help alleviate the conservatives’ hostility to the arts. Relying on the 2016 General Social Survey, the article finds that conservatives have no direct relationship with arts spending, but they will be more likely to support arts spending when this is contingent upon political trust.

scholarly journals Influence of Commercial Insurance Purchase on the Health Status of Chinese Residents

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bao-Chang Xu ◽  
Xiu-Juan Li ◽  
Meng-Yao Gao
Keyword(s):  
Health Status ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Research Result ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Commercial Insurance ◽  
Medical Reform ◽  
Internal Relations ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey ◽  
Better Than

Under the context of rapid economic and social development, and growing demands for a better life, Chinese residents have been increasingly concerned with their health status and issues. In this study, the internal relations between the purchase of commercial insurance by residents and their health status are analyzed and studied with a polytomous logit model based on the data of Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2015. According to the research result, purchase of commercial insurance significantly improved the health status of residents, with an improving effect for rural residents apparently better than that among urban residents. In addition, purchase of commercial insurance can promote the health status of residents by increasing their household income. This research will provide an effective reference for the innovative development and medical reform of the commercial insurance of China in the future, which is theoretically and practically significant to the implementation of the Healthy China Strategy.

Liberal or Conservative? The Differentiated Political Values of the Middle Class in Contemporary China

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Guangqiang Qin
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Political Values ◽  
Markets And Institutions ◽  
Heterogeneous Nature ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Market Situation ◽  
The Status ◽  
Chinese General Social Survey

Abstract This article analyses data from the 2015 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) to investigate the differentiated political values of the middle class in China. Combining the two factors of market situation and institutional division, the article first categorizes several basic types of middle class and then identifies two kinds of political values (liberal and conservative) from the indicators of support for freedom, government satisfaction, and political voting. The results show that the middle class, as a whole, tends to be more liberal than the working class. However, the internal divisions among the sub-groups in the middle class are more obvious – the political tendency of the middle class within the redistribution system is conservative but the middle class sub-groups outside the system, especially the new middle class, have the most liberal tendencies and constitute a potential source for change in China. Thus, the middle class is not necessarily a stabilizer or a subverter of the status quo and has a heterogeneous nature shaped by the dual forces of markets and institutions.

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