Selective Intervention in Dispute Resolution: Local Government and Community Governance in China

AbstractThe Chinese Communist Party faces a dilemma in local community governance, i.e. state intervention vs. community self-governance. Increased intervention violates its long-promoted social self-governance and undermines the regimes’ credibility and legitimacy, while less intervention may add to the risk of social instability and collective actions at the local level. Therefore, selective intervention is applied by local government as a rational choice in community governance. This article explores the political rationale of local governments’ selective intervention in community disputes in urban China. The authors argue that the type of community, the degree of homeowners’ solidarity and the media exposure significantly affect the likelihood and degree of a local state’s intervention as well as the local government’s response in the dispute resolution.