'The Power of the Purse' of Local People's Congresses in China: Controllable Contestation under Bureaucratic Negotiation

摘要

1999年预算改革以来，中国的地方人大首次开始行使"钱袋子"的权 力。我们的访谈和问卷调査发现，尽管地方人大在预算改革后开始加强预 算监督，它们仍然沿用以前的"嵌入"策略。虽然一些地方人大在预算监督 领域开始变得比较有竞争性，但是，为了避免引发不可控制的预算冲突，它 们倾向于将这种竞争限制在一种官僚协商的范围内。可以说，地方人大在 预算监督领域的行动策略，对于最近关于地方人大监督行为模式的争论提 供了很好的实证检验。%Since the 1999 budget reform, and for the first time in China, local people's congresses (LPCs) have begun to exert "the power of the purse." Based on our fieldwork and survey, we argue that while LPCs have strengthened their budgetary oversight since the reform, they continue to employ a strategy of "embeddedness." Although certain LPCs have become more contentious, they tend to veil contestations in bureaucratic negotiation in order to avoid uncontrollable budgetary conflicts. The strategy adopted by LPCs in budgetary oversight provides a case for examining the recent debate over the behaviour patterns of LPCs in legislative oversight.