Public Policy Satisfaction in Urban China

Public Policy Survey in Urban China

Public evaluation of government policies reflects public mood， which contributes to social and political stability. Understanding the public mood requires scientific and consistent effort in tracking public opinion. In order to collect such data on Chinese public opinion， beginning in 2013， a group of researchers initiated a periodic telephone survey on public policy satisfaction of Chinese urban residents. Later， at the International Conference on Reform and Public Policy in China organized by the Institute of Public Policy， South China University of Technology， in August 2014， a paper based on the survey was hotly discussed and talked about.

The first wave of the survey started from October 7 and ended on November 11， 2013. The survey sample included 2，000 respondents living in ten major Chinese cities， including Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou， Shenzhen， Chongqing， Kunming， Urumqi， Shenyang， Wuhan and Xian. For each city， 200 people were randomly selected using cellphone numbers.

As for the survey content， the questionnaire focused on peoples comprehensive evaluation of 20 important public policies， including food safety， consumer price stability， social equality， housing provision， income level， clean governance， environmental protection， government responsiveness， government efficiency， unemployment benefits， health care， poverty relief， pension insurance， civil rights， college entrance examination system， employment opportunity， crime control， freedom of speech， national security， and ethnic equality.

In addition to surveying public satisfaction with the 20 important public policies， the research also includes respondents satisfaction with governments at the community， municipal and central levels， the possible actions they may take when being unfairly treated， as well as the demographic information of respondents， such as age， gender， education level， occupation， working hours， marital status， ethnicity， religious belief， income level， political identity， and so on. This information allows the researchers to comprehensively analyze the causes and consequences of public policy satisfaction in China.

Distribution of Public Policy Satisfaction

In the survey， the respondents were asked to evaluate each of the aforementioned 20 public policies.

Among the average satisfaction level with each policy item， the five least satisfied were

1） food safety （38%），

2） consumer price stability （42%），

3） social equality and housing provision （both 44%），

4） income and clean governance

（both 45%）， and

5） environmental protection and government responsiveness （both 46%）.

The public outrage was understandable given the frequent food safety incidents and pollution problems in recent years. The two issues were closely related to peoples everyday life. Consumer price， public housing and income were three issues related to each other. In general， income level has been increasing in China in recent years， but it couldnt keep up with the growth of commodity and housing prices， resulting in peoples dissatisfaction with their income. Social equality， clean governance and government responsiveness were another set of interrelated issues. This reflected a gap between the public expectation and governments actual performance， despite that the government had been making effort to improve these policies.

And the five policy items with the highest satisfaction level were

1） ethnic harmony （66%），

2） national security and foreign policy （64%），

3） freedom of speech （59%），

4） crime control/employment opportunity （both 57%）， and

5） college entrance examination system （56%）.

It was understandable why national security and foreign policy enjoyed a high level of satisfaction. Similarly， the high satisfaction with employment opportunity was not surprising. Besides， considering Chinas state-sponsored affirmative ethnic policy， it is not surprising to see a high public satisfaction with ethnic harmony. As for Chinese college entrance examination system， despite its limitations， people still believed that the system provided a channel for them to ascend to a higher social stratum through individual endeavors.

However， one stunning fact was the high level of satisfaction with crime prevention. In the past several decades， China had experienced dramatic social changes. A huge proportion of the population migrated and flowed across the country. All these factors would likely to contribute to the rise of crimes. Two explanations are offered. First， the government had been effective in fighting crimes and successfully keeping crimes under control. Second， as an indirect factor， the relatively abundant job opportunities and low unemployment rate reduced the incentive of young males， who were most likely to commit crimes.

Another stunning fact was the high satisfaction with freedom of speech. As the room to express personal opinion and the channel to criticize government were expanding in China， most people taking the survey seemed pretty satisfied with the current governments policy on freedom of speech. This reality was hugely different from the conventional impression on the lack of freedom of speech in China.

To sum up， public satisfaction was affected by how closely the policy issue was related to peoples everyday life； the closer it was， the less they were satisfied.

Determinants of Public Satisfaction with Policy

Based on the survey， three factors are believed to affect public satisfaction with public policy： regional distribution， media effect， and the respondents socio-economic status.

One finding in the regional factor is that the better the government communication and the transparency of public policy information are， the higher the public satisfaction is.

As for the media factor， it is important to note that the Internet and television had the opposite effects： the former reduced policy satisfaction， while the latter increased policy satisfaction. Although television was still dominant in news dissemination in China at the time of the survey in late 2013， the Internet may soon replace television and its negative effect in policy satisfaction is a trend to watch in the future.

Finally， the effect of individual characteristics was basically in line with common sense expectations： People with greater everyday life pressure and people who benefitted less from system showed lower policy satisfaction.

Policy Satisfaction and Political Action

Researchers further analyze the possible outcomes of public policy satisfaction， in particular， what action people will take when they feel dissatisfied， and main findings can be summarized as follows：

（1） By late 2013， Chinese urban residents were highly active in taking actions to defend their civil and political rights；

（2） The percentage of contentious actions such as protest was small but higher than what the researchers expected；

（3） When dissatisfied with the government and its policies， public reaction tended to divert towards one of two extremes， either taking radical actions or doing nothing. Neither is healthy for Chinas future political development；

（4） The court played a negligible role in reducing the state-society conflict；

（5） Internet provided a platform for people to express anger and to complain about the government； and

（6） Social network and social capital were more important factors in determining political participation and collective action， but they encouraged people to take actions through irregular channels， which was not helpful in institutional building and political stability.

Conclusion

In sum， based on all data and information from the survey， the researchers have some findings which are both reassuring and worrisome.

On the reassuring side， although with variation by specific policies， the general public satisfaction with government policies was quite high. Moreover， satisfaction with various levels of the government， especially with the central government， had been constantly high. Finally， although the Internet was increasingly used by people to express their discontent， analysis did not show any evidence that the Internet was effective in mobilizing anti-regime collective political activity. All these findings were helpful in maintaining political stability in urban China.

Meanwhile， the news was not all that positive. The survey found that Chinese urban residents showed strong tendency of political activism. Nearly 80% of the respondents said that they would do something to defend their rights when unfairly treated by the government； among these people， 12% said that they would engage in confrontational behavior， such as group petition， demonstration and protest， or even more radical actions. One reason for the desire to take such extra-system actions was the obstruction of the normal problem solving channels.

To address the challenges to social stability， China has to promote institutional development under the rule of law and public supervision of policy making and implementation， and redirect the public obsession of expressing discontent and defending individual rights through extra-system means to institutional channels.