Abstract:

Though it is important that future research on village elections focuses more systematically on the post-election period than on ongoing electoral institutionalization, it is not enough to look at the village level alone if one wants to assess the quality of village governance. What we need is a more comprehensive framework that includes an analysis of election procedures, cadre behaviour, villager awareness, and the larger cultural context, which would connect the village, township and county levels and shift attention toward legitimacy rather than 'democracy'.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/10670560902770222