Governing Neighborhoods in Urban China examines the key mechanisms, operating at the grassroots level, which contribute to urban developmentand and increased public support for the legitimacy and authority of the Chinese state. Through the uncovering of new trends and dynamics of urban neighborhood governance in China since the 2000s, Beibei Tang examines the key mechanisms that contribute to the regime survival.
Beibei Tang introduces the concept of hybrid authoritarianism, a governance mechanism employed in an authoritarian state to produce governance legitimacy, public support, and regime sustainability. Hybrid authoritarianism is situated in an intermediary governance space connecting state and society. It accommodates both state and non-state actors, deals with a wide range of governance issues, employs flexible governance strategies, and in this context, ultimately strengthens CCP leadership.
Tang documents processes of hybrid authoritarianism through her focus on various types of urban neighborhoods, including new urban middle-class neighborhoods and the increasing urbanization of the countryside. Governing Neighborhoods in Urban China provides a conceptual framework that avoids scholarly approaches that tend to reify either one-party autocracy or Western-centric notions of democracy.