Abstract
This paper documents the structure and operations of student governments in contemporary Chinese higher education and their effect on college students’ political trust and party membership. We first investigate the structure and power distribution within student governments in Chinese universities, specifically focusing on the autonomy of student governments and the degree to which they represent students. Second, using a large sample of college students, we examine how participating in student government affects their political trust and party membership. Our results show that student government in Chinese higher education possesses a complex, hierarchical matrix structure with two main parallel systems—the student union and the Chinese Communist Party system. We found that power distribution within student governments is rather uneven, and student organisations that are affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party have an unequal share of power. In addition, we found that students’ cadre experience is highly appreciated in student cadre elections, and being a student cadre significantly affects their political trust and party membership during college.
Highlights
High-quality higher education (HE) depends on both investments in financial and human resources (Johnstone, 2003) and good governance (Rytmeister, 2009; Vidovich & Currie, 2011)
It is well acknowledged that student involvement can be an essential component in promoting the quality of HE governance (Obondo, 2000; Luescher, 2013)
When policymakers consider the internal governance of HE, understanding how students should and could be involved is imperative
Summary
High-quality higher education (HE) depends on both investments in financial and human resources (Johnstone, 2003) and good governance (Rytmeister, 2009; Vidovich & Currie, 2011). The structure of SGs and its internal operation significantly affect its criteria in determining who should be student cadres and its generating procedures. Statistics; on the other hand, how student cadres are generated and how being a student cadre affects their political choices and beliefs could further verify or reinforce the qualitative observations, which are essential in making further inferences about SGs in Chinese HE governance. To answer these questions, our paper examines these three elements through two major sections. We use large-scale quantitative data to examine what characteristics associated with being student cadres, and how being a student cadre is associated with their political trust and party memberships
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