Fox Fake Tiger: The Chinese Middle-class Mentality toward Community-based Deliberative Democracy Led by Social Organisations

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study, based on three years of interviews, archival work, and ethnographic fieldwork, explores how social organisations integrate governmental and Party ideologies into the grassroots of urban society, and evaluates the effects of these efforts. Contrary to the widespread belief among the middle class that social organisations simply act as conduits for the will of the government and the Party, this study uncovers a notable absence of official backing for their activities by the state. This apparent contradiction, which might seem baffling at the grassroots level, becomes more comprehensible when examining the function of social organisations. They not only articulate the aims of the government and the Party, thereby addressing a critical void in the existing literature on co-governance, but also shield the state from direct criticism by the middle class. Employing the Chinese proverb ‘Fox Fake Tiger’—which typically denotes a scenario where the fox leverages the tiger’s perceived strength to enhance its influence in a manner it could not achieve on its own, thus critiquing those who depend on the authority of others to garner respect or induce fear—this study illustrates how social organisations, much like the fox that announces the tiger, subtly reinforce the state’s control and credibility within these communities, in line with the ‘whole-process democracy’ campaign. This analogy emphasises the complex role of social organisations in magnifying state authority and legitimacy through delegated power, a dynamic that merits further investigation concerning governmentality and the mentalities of the middle class.