The Diversity Of Contemporary Provincial Politics In China

Micro-blogs have become one of the most widely used information platforms in China with the advancement of information technology and the rapid penetration of mobile internet. This has profound impact on the conventional style of governance and the interactions between the government and the public. Many provincial governments have created official micro-blog accounts, which have emerged as important bridges connecting government agencies and the public. These micro-blogs offer a rare opportunity for the public to understand the general operations of government agencies, and have become important sources of authoritative information about various issues.As a country with a long history of centralization, the relationships between central and local governments have always been an important political topic in China-local governance is crucial to any country indeed despite of its political systems. The diversity of provincial politics is not only rooted in the history of China, but also the reality of this country today. It evolves over time, reflecting the feature of the age. This study attempts to observe such diversity from a novel perspective, that is, the role of micro-blogs as a new means of communications. This would be a valuable contribution, and is expected to shed fresh insights on both theory and practice.This study employs the largest micro-blog platform in China, Sina Weibo, as the research context. The period of observation is March 2014 when the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) were convened. Our research focuses on the micro blogs related to NPC and CPPCC posted by the official account of each province on Sina Weibo. The data collected from these micro-blogs have been carefully analyzed to explore the similarities and differences among provinces, which serves as a basis for us to understand the diversity of provincial politics. Overall, this study is structured as follows:It begins with the definitions of relevant concepts, including the meanings as well as the characteristics of micro-blogs and government micro-blogs. It also delineates the meaning of the provincial official micro-blogs, and explicates provincial political diversity. This study then analyzes data collected from the official account of each province on Sina Weibo, including the names of these accounts, their verification details, opening time, influences on the public, etc. Following this, it examines various factors extracted from micro blogs posted during the NPC and CPPCC period, which further leads to an overall understanding of the research topic. Last but not least, it selects eight representative official provincial micro-blogs for more in-depth analyses, including Shanghai and Tianjin, the municipalities directly under the Central Government, Hunan and Henan in the central region, Yunnan and Gansu in the west region, and Jiangsu and Guangdong as examples of more developed regions.This study reveals that the differences among provinces can be characterized by their efficiency of information dissemination, the degree of political engagement, and the level of governance capacity.