Publicity-Driven Accountability in China: Qualitative and Experimental Evidence

Abstract

This paper argues that publicity can discipline officials in the absence of electoral incentives. It presents a qualitative picture of publicity-driven accountability in contemporary China, highlighting the roles of official incentives, media change, and citizen initiative. A key hypothesis from this mechanism is then tested through an original survey experiment on Chinese bureaucrats. By manipulating the identities of hypothetical complainants, it finds that officials perceive journalists to be more threatening to their careers. The mechanism linking publicity and official discipline suggests that the bureaucratic control associated with effective authoritarian rule, when combined with a partially-liberalized media system, also enhances accountability to the public.