Lee
Assessing the Relationships Among
Ethnic Tension, Nationalism and Electoral Participation:
Case Studies of Villages in Jilin Province, China
Duke University
Asia Pacific Studies Institute
Summer Research Grant Proposal
Request of $2500 for field research in Jilin province, China
from May 10 to June 9, 2010
Jiseon (Sophie) Lee
M.A. Candidate
Department of Political Science
Supervisor: Professor Emerson Niou
Department of Political Science
Keyword: China, Village Election, Democracy, Ethnic Tension, Nationalism, Jilin Province,
Korean Chinese, Yanbian
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Objectives
Scholars of political science have studied how ethnic tensions can develop into
devastating calamities, hampering democratization processes especially in non-democratic
regimes (Nevers 1993; Adekanye 2008). Political scientists have also examined the causes and
the unfortunate consequences of nationalism, such as the first and second World War and ethnic
cleansings in Rwanda (Anderson 1999). Furthermore, election has become a rising star topic in
political science. We now know how rational voters decide their voting strategies in different
voting methods.
What we know less, however, is how these three different research fields that are
considered hot potatoes – ethnic conflicts, nationalism and electoral dynamics - are related. Thus,
this research project aims to fill this gap, probing the causal relationships of these three factors
and find out how they interact. To achieve such purpose, I select Jilin, a province located in north
eastern China as a field work venue for the following three reasons.
First, Jilin province overall consists of different ethnic minorities along with 90 percent
Han Chinese. Eight prefecture-level cities and one autonomous prefecture-level city exist in Jilin.
Some of these cities have a higher ratio of ethnic minorities. For instance, Yanbian autonomous
prefecture city consists of roughly 50 percent Han Chinese, 40 percent ethnic Koreans, and 10
percent other ethnic groups including Manchu and Mongol. Two autonomous ethnic minority
counties exist as well in Baishan and Siping cities: the Korean Changbai Chaoxianzu
autonomous county and the Manchurian Yitong Manchu autonomous county. Therefore, the
province offers a prime place to explore ethnic politics.
Second, residents of Jilin pride themselves with their unique ethnic cultures. They
identify themselves as a certain ethnic group residing in China. These minority ethnic groups
insist on speaking their own language through founding educational institutes that teach students
in ethnic languages and name their children in an ethnically identifiable way (Kwon 1997;
Campbell, Lee, and Elliott 2002). For this reason, Jilin can facilitate studies of ethnic nationalism.
Third, Jilin province shows high quality political participation. Niou (2010) in his
“Implementing Village Elections in China: Voting Methods and Outcomes” polled 27 Chinese
provinces across the country and residents in Jilin gave the highest score for their election
qualities. The result comes as a surprise as the province is vastly an agrarian community, with a
low ratio of a highly educated population. This is a unique merit of examining villages in Jilin as
having to study an area with high quality election is more conducive to tracing the causal
relationships with political participation.
Careful observation of the unique features of Jilin forces me to formulate the central
question of this project: what are the the independent variables affecting political participation in
Jilin if not socio-economic status? Various political scientists theorize about the correlation
between socio economic status and political minds. For instance, they say economic
development and educated populations are the prerequisite for implementing free elections (Dahl,
1971, pp. 74-75; Sirowy and Inkeles, 1990; Feng, 1997). Seymour Lipset asserts that “only in a
wealthy society in which relatively few citizens lived in real poverty could a situation exist in
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which the mass of the populations could intelligently participate in politics.” Therefore in
Lipset’s view, “the better educated the population of a country, the better the chances for
democracy” (Lipset, 1959, pp. 75, 78). Yet, the low educated peasants’ active political
participation in Jilin exposes the fallacy of the pronouncements. Given this, I hypothesize that
nationalism and ethnic tension motivate political interest of the residents in this area.
To test the hypothesis, this project will serve as pilot research. The result of the project
will provide several benefits both academically and practically. Academically, this will provide a
unique perspective on the current strand of studies in the three topics: nationalism, ethnic politics,
and Chinese rural democracy. By suggesting the interdisciplinary angle to look at political
participation in the light of ethnic tension and nationalism, this research will refreshingly fill the
gap caused by scholarly neglect. Also, it will enhance our understandings of rural Chinese
peasants’ motivations of political participation. The orthodox belief is that socio-economic status
and political participation are positively associated (Verba and Nie, 1972). Yet, the Jilin case
begs for scrutiny for other variables that affect politics and elections in Chinese villages.
Practically, the better understanding of the dynamics of ethnic politics will hint at clues
for resolving ethnic confrontations in China. Finally, foreign policy makers will benefit from the
insights of the result of this project in conducting policies to facilitate nurturing Chinese rural
civil society.
Research Method
This research is to help me prepare for more in-depth research in the future. I plan to go
back to the research site at the end of the year. Thus, this trip will be preliminary exploration for
the series of the field research of a bigger project which will include quantitative methodology.
As of yet, this research is intended to be pilot work, therefore, the methodology adopted can
hardly be quantitative.
Against this backdrop, I will employ a case study approach in carrying out this project.
While on my journey, I intend to interview roughly 20 residents from each of the three villages
mentioned above. The focus group will be randomly and proportionally sampled among those
who voted before (adults who are over 18). The interviewees will include normal peasants and
skilled workers as well as officials in village governments. My proposed research will ask openended questions about interviewers’ primary motivations in electoral participation, effects of
ethnic dynamics on village politics, and the forms and causes of their unique identification. Prof.
Niou, who is supervising this project, has agreed to facilitate the process and give contact points
in Jilin University.
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Works Cited
Adekanye, J ‘Bayo. 2008. “Structural Adjustment, Democratization and Rising Ethnic Tensions
in Africa.” Development and Change 26 (2), 355-374
Anderson, Benedict R.O'G. (Benedict Richard O'Gorman). 1991. Imagined communities:
Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London ; New York : Verso, 1991
Campbell, Cameron, James Lee, and Mark Elliott. 2002. “Identity Construction and
Reconstruction: Naming and Manchu Ethnicity in Northeast China, 1749-1909.”A Journal of
Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History 35 (3) Summer 2002, 101-115
Dahl, R.A. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. Yale University Press, New Haven,
CT.
de Nevers , Renee. 1993. “Democratization and ethnic conflict.” Survival 35:2, 31-48
Feng, Y., 1997. “Democracy, Political Stability and Economic Growth.” British Journal of
Political Science 27 (3), 391-418.
Kwon, Tai Hwan. 1997. “International Migration of Koreans and the Korean Community in
China.” Korea Journal of Population and Development 26 (1)
Niou, Emerson. “Implementing Village Elections in China: Voting Methods and Outcomes.”
Computer printout, Department of Political Science, Duke University. 2010.
Lipset, S.M., 1959. “Some social requisites of democracy: economic development and political
legitimacy.” American Political Science Review 53 (2), 74-81.
Sirowy, L., and A. Inkeles, 1990. “The effects of democracy on economic growth and inequality:
a review.” Studies in Comparative International Development 25 (2), 126-157
Verba, Sidney and Norman H. Nie. 1972. Participation in America: Political Democracy and
Social Equality. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
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Budget Sheet
1. Travel
$ 1850
1) Round-trip airline ticket from Raleigh (RDU) to Beijing (PEK) = $ 1,300
2) Round-trip airline ticket from Beijing (PEK) to Jilin (CGQ) = $ 350
3) Transportation within country (Train, Bus and Taxi) = $ 200
2. Accommodations
$ 1500
$50/ day * 30 = $ 1500
3. Food and Living Expenses
$ 900
$30 / day * 30 = $ 900
4. External Funding Source from Prof. Niou (Agreed)
- $ 1750
Total Budget
$ 4250
Requesting
$ 2500
** Note
1. Travel
1) : The price is the cheapest fair including tax calculated from Travolcity
(www.travelocity.com).
2): The price is the cheapest fair including tax calculated from Skyscanner
(www.skyscanner.com).
3): My base will be Jilin city. I plan to travel out to ethnic communities including Yanbian
(Korean autonomous county), Baishan (Changbai Chaoxianzu autonomous county), Siping
(Yitong Manchu autonomous county) The train ticket prices to these destinations are calculated
based on the information from the following Chinese official train ticket reservation website.
(http://www.gaocan.com/train?srcCity=%E9%95%BF%E6%98%A5&destCity=%E5%BB%B6
%E5%90%89&submit=%E6%90%9C%E7%B4%A2%E6%9C%80%E4%BD%B3%E8%B7%A
F%E7%BA%BF)
2. Accommodations
The price is based on the cheapest budget hotel option guided on the Travel China website
(www.travelchina.com).
3. Food and Living Expenses
The prices are calculated based on the information provided from Travel China (www.travelchina.com).