Wealth into voice: Political behavior of private entrepreneurs in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (2008–2012)

Abstract

AbstractThis article explores the political behavior of private entrepreneur delegates (PEDs) in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Drawing evidence from a data set consisting of personal background and behavioral information for 2295 members of the 11th CPPCC (2008‐12), we probe into the behavioral patterns of 178 PEDs in the proposal process. Our findings reveal that PEDs' participation demonstrates more economic rather than political aspirations, which suggests that a major motivation of their participation is enhancing economic well‐being rather than initiating political changes. Party affiliation is associated with the PEDs' engagement in the proposal process, possibly through two mechanisms. In the pre‐selection mechanism, PEDs' with different political ideologies and preferences tend to be assimilated into different party backgrounds before becoming a delegate, hence different participation patterns. In the resource mobilization mechanism, party backgrounds may influence their capacity to effectively participate in the proposal process due to the resources provided by their party organizations.