Village Committees Research Articles

Associations between Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index and incident stroke among community populations in Pudong New Area, Shanghai

BackgroundTo analyze the relationship between Chinese Visceral Adiposity Index (CVAI) and stroke in Pudong New Area, and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of this condition. Materials and MethodsBased on the Follow-up Cohort Program of Chronic Disease Risk Factors in Pudong New Area, a total of 7,194 residents from 12 townships and 35 village committees or neighborhood committees were selected. The cohort data in 2016 served as the baseline, and a follow-up was conducted on 5462 individuals from 2019 to 2020. ResultsIn the analysis of stroke incidence, 5,462 subjects were included, with 616 stroke events recorded. The incidence density of stroke was 33.41 per 1000 person-years, while the China standard rate and the world standard rate were 13.78 and 12.52 per 1000 person-years, respectively. The incidence density of stroke rose with increasing quartiles of CVAI. After adjusting for potential confounders, the risk of stroke for males and females with CVAI ≥ 132.11 was 2.492 times (95% CI: 1.457 ∼ 4.260) and 1.759 times (95% CI: 1.070-2.891), respectively, compared to the groups with CVAI < 81.91. Among the eight obesity indicators, including CVAI, Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI), Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), Waist Hip Ratio (WHR), Waist Height Ratio (WHtR), Body Adiposity Index (BAI), A Body Shape Index (ABSI),and Body Roundness Index (BRI), CVAI has the highest diagnostic accuracy for female stroke using Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves (the Area under the ROC curve/AUC = 0.619). Subgroup analysis showed that smoking and dyslipidemia significantly modified the association between CVAI and stroke risk in females (interaction P < 0.05). ConclusionsCVAI is identified as a significant risk factor for stroke and serves as a valuable predictor of stroke, particularly in females.

Village Organization and Sustainable Growth of Farmers’ Income: An Empirical Study Based on Dynamic Survey Data of the Labor Force in China

Common prosperity is the core goal of rural revitalization, and the sustainable growth of farmers’ income is an inevitable requirement. This study uses CLDS2014-2018 village- and family-level questionnaire data to reveal how the degree of village organization affects the sustainable growth of farmers’ income, thus providing a reference for local government decision-making to promote the increase in farmers’ income and narrow the income gap at the village level. The results show that the degree of village organization can significantly affect farmers’ income, and the analysis results of the degree of formal organization are consistent with this. Specifically, for every 1% increase in the degree of village organization, the per capita household income will increase by 0.324%, among which, the wage income will increase by 0.226%, the operational income will increase by 5%, the property income will increase by 0.008%, and the transfer income will increase by 0.042%. The estimation results obtained by using instrumental variables are consistent, and the results are robust. At the same time, improving the degree of village organization can also significantly increase the proportion of farmers’ non-agricultural income and narrow the income gap among farmers. On the impact of heterogeneity, it was found that the geographical distance between villages and county and township governments, as well as the political identity and education level of farmers, will affect the role of the degree of organization. The results of the mechanism analysis show that improving the degree of village organization is mainly achieved by promoting the circulation of agricultural land, socializing the service of agricultural machinery, and providing industrial and commercial capital to the countryside to increase farmers’ income. The research revealed that the modernization of rural governance should be accelerated and the degree of village organization should be improved, especially the degree of formal organization, so as to build benign trust and a cooperative relationship between village committees and villagers and implement policies and measures that improve the income of farmers according to local conditions. At the same time, this will strengthen the publicity and education of party members to improve the proportion of rural party members and the education level of farmers.

Influencing Factors of Peasant Households’ Willingness to Relocate to Concentrated Residences in Mountainous Areas: Evidence from Rural Southwest China

Relocating poor people in mountainous areas to centralized settlement sites is an important poverty alleviation policy implemented by China and a key measure to promote stable poverty alleviation and sustainable rural development for the poor. Based on the survey data of 405 peasant households in the Panxi Area in 2021, this study constructed a structural equation model (SEM) to explore the influencing factors of peasant households’ willingness to relocate to a concentrated residence. The results showed the following: (1) Of the 405 peasant households surveyed, 20.98% were unwilling to move to centralized resettlement sites, making it more difficult to carry out the relocation policy for poverty alleviation. (2) Living environment, living conditions, important social groups, the economic benefits, living benefits, and survival benefits brought by concentrated residences, governments, and the village committees significantly influenced the willingness to relocate to a concentrated residence. In contrast, agricultural income, ecological benefits, and value benefits brought by the concentrated residence had little effect on the willingness to relocate to a concentrated residence. (3) Land force, human force, cognitive force, and national force significantly positively affected the peasant households’ willingness to relocate to a concentrated residence. This study is of great significance in promoting the implementation of poverty alleviation and relocation policy, improving the efficiency of relocation and promoting the wellbeing of peasant households.

Four-party evolutionary game analysis of enterprise environmental behavior.

With the implementation of the "Rural Revitalization Strategy" in China, it is common for enterprises to go to the countryside to develop business. However, enterprises often neglect the local environmental protection in rural areas while developing the economy to pursue profits. As the end of the national administrative system and the villagers' autonomous organization, the village committee needs to participate in monitoring enterprises' environmental behavior. With this in mind, this paper builds a game model of enterprises, grass-roots governments, farmers, and village committees and analyzes the impact of village committees, grass-roots governments, and farmers on enterprise environmental behavior. The conclusions are as follows: (i) it is difficult for the village committee to promote the positive environmental behavior of enterprises, which needs the supervision of the grass-roots government; (ii) Improving the coordination ability of village committees is conducive to reducing the burden of government supervision; (iii) Farmers' awareness of environmental protection can affect the environmental behavior of enterprises through the rights protection mechanism and reputation mechanism.

Tripartite evolutionary game analysis of government reward and punishment mechanisms and agricultural resilience under a dual carbon context

PurposeUnder the “dual carbon” framework, the article explores the equilibrium points among the government, agricultural enterprises and village committees, and uses sensitivity analysis to reveal the dynamic factors affecting these stakeholders, thereby proposing methods to enhance agricultural disaster resilience.Design/methodology/approachThe article uses MATLAB to construct a game model for the three parties with interests: agribusiness, government and village council. It examines the stability of strategies among these entities. Through graphical simulation, the paper analyzes the sensitivity of agricultural enterprises carbon emissions and village committees’ rent-seeking behaviors in the decision-making process, focusing on significant factors such as government carbon tax and regulatory policies.FindingsA single government reward and punishment mechanism is insufficient to influence the strategic choices of enterprises and village committees. The cost of rent-seeking does not affect the strategic choices of enterprises and village committees. A key factor influencing whether the village committee engages in rent-seeking is the level of labor income of the village committee as an “intermediary”.Originality/valueThis paper focuses on the dynamic game between three stakeholders (the government, agricultural enterprises and village committees), seeking dynamic equilibrium and conducting sensitivity analysis through visualization to provide the government with optimal policy recommendations.

Women as Alternates: A Study on the Mechanism of Village Official Replacement in the Context of Rural Revitalization – A Case Study of Village J in Southeastern Hubei

Abstract The trend of left-behind women serving as village officials and participating in village governance is on the rise. Research in clan-based villages in the general agricultural regions of central and western China reveals that village factional conflicts make it difficult for elderly male village officials to win in village committee elections. Additionally, the emphasis on younger village officials by local governments forces these older men out of their roles. The economic resources available through village governance are limited and fail to meet the material needs of middle-aged and young male village officials, leading to their withdrawal as well. With the departure of men, left-behind women have become significant candidates for village official positions. Because of the increasing “administratization” 行政化 of village governance, village organizations need to mobilize these women to handle the growing administrative tasks in village management. Serving as village officials allows left-behind women to both care for their children and earn a decent income, while fulfilling the local government’s requirements for village officials. Consequently, through a series of training mechanisms, an increasing number of women are becoming the principal cadres within village committees.

Barriers and facilitators for accepting health education of Chinese rural older adults in Henan Province: a qualitative study

BackgroundAs global aging continues to intensify, the health status of the older people requires urgent attention, and health education provides a pathway for active aging. However, the current outlook on health education for older people in rural areas of China is not optimistic. This study used Social Ecosystems Theory and explored the deep-rooted influencing factors on the acceptance of health education from the perspective of the rural older people.MethodsIn this study, a purposive sampling method was adopted, and eligible rural older individuals were selected from Hebi city, Henan Province, China, from March to May 2023 as the research participants. A semistructured interview method was used to explore the factors affecting the acceptance of health education by older people. The interview data were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis method to obtain relevant themes and subthemes.ResultsA total of 14 participants were recruited for the interviews; 8 were male, 6 were female, most had an elementary school education, and most were farmers. The results of the thematic analysis revealed a total of nine facilitators and nine barriers in micro, meso and macro levels. Among the findings, our important and unique finding is that inadequate intergenerational support somewhat hinders older adults’ exposure to health education.ConclusionThere are numerous and complex facilitators of and barriers to accessing health education for rural older adults; of these, a lack of intergenerational support is particularly important. In the future, health education needs to be centered on the families of older people with the assistance of village committees so that older people and their children can learn and communicate together.

Does Longer Tenure Mean Greater Ability? Deep-Rooted Politics and Migration in Rural China

This study examines the political motivations behind changes in labor migration rates in Chinese villages. Using data from the China village survey, we estimate the impact of the tenure gap between the village committee director and party branch secretary on village labor migration rates. We find that within the dual power structure of villages, a longer political tenure for the secretary relative to the director significantly suppresses village labor migration rates, while a shorter tenure significantly promotes them. IV estimation supports the causal interpretation found by OLS estimation. This mechanism of causality is associated with vested interests stemming from ambiguous ownership, having a director or secretary with a longer political tenure tends to bias these interests towards villagers or township authorities. Other accompanying effects of the tenure gap should not be ignored, including the amplification effect of the non-laboring population, the feedback effect of labor, and the shrinkage effect of outsiders. This causal relationship is heterogeneous, the dual role analysis shows that the structure and stance of village leaders will affect the strength of the causal relationship, and the regional heterogeneity analysis shows that economic factors that drive village labor migration may be more important than political factors.

Social brokers in grassroots governance: The new rural gentry in China

One important and interesting aspect of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to revitalize the Chinese countryside in recent years has been the attempt to make use of prominent local people – known as xinxiangxian (新乡贤, meaning ‘new rural meritorious people’). As social brokers, xinxiangxian differ from other agents. The attributes of this new class have yet to be regularized through central government statute, which means that the CCP’s position on the xinxiangxian is still under discussion. From the example of A county, we conclude that xinxiangxian use their abundance of bridging social capital to fulfil two important political functions: lobbying their communities in favour of government policies to strengthen grassroots ruling and serving as local government supervisors to monitor village committee affairs. Compared with other brokers included into the CCP regime, xinxiangxian, as their name suggests, are renowned for their moral values and competencies, allowing them to make a significant contribution to the CCP’s governance of Chinese society.

Can cultural capital, cognitive ability, and economic capacity help rural older adults bridge the digital divide? Evidence from an empirical study.

The digital divide is the difference between individuals who use the Internet and those who do not. Under the triple social environment of urban-rural dichotomy, population aging, and the digital era in China, the existence of digital divide among rural older adults has seriously affected their access to health information through the Internet, so it is urgent to bridge the digital divide problem they face. Based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory and Stress Coping Theory, the impact of cultural capital on the digital divide among rural older adults was systematically analyzed using hierarchical regression and Chained Mediation Effect Tests using data from the Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Cultural capital has a significant positive effect on the digital divide among rural older adults (β = 0.178, p < 0.01). Cognitive ability and economic capacity both play independent intermediary effects between cultural capital and digital divide among rural older adults, and the intermediary chain formed by the two plays a chain intermediary effect. The increase in the cultural capital of rural older adults has led to an increase in their cognitive ability and economic capacity, which ultimately has a favorable effect on the bridging of the digital divide. Heterogeneity results suggest that cultural capital is more effective in bridging the digital divide among male rural older adults aged 60-69. Cultural capital is able to bridge the digital divide faced by rural older adults and is age and gender heterogeneous. At the same time, improved cognitive ability and economic capacity can also help rural older adults bridge the digital divide. Therefore, it is proposed that we increase the construction of public cultural service infrastructure in rural areas, liaise with community neighborhood committees and village committees to do a good job of publicity, improve training measures for key groups, and maintain the enthusiasm of rural older adults for learning, so as to provide references for the rural older adults in China and developing countries in general to bridge the digital divide.

How to measure agroecology? A rapid appraisal approach based on focus group discussions

ABSTRACT This study presents an approach to assess agroecology at village level through focus group discussions with village committees and district extension agents. This approach is intended as an alternative to resources-intensive assessment methods, covering larger areas and providing rapid yet empirical evidences for policy and practice. It is based on the translation of the 13 agroecology principles of the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) into 21 contextualized indicators and questions that are relevant for the research area. They are grouped into four entry points for transformative action: land use and governance, farm management, social interactions, and socio-economic situation. This approach was tested in 16 villages and three districts in Xiengkhouang Province in Laos. The results show that villages are at an intermediate agroecological level. Comparable results and conclusions were achieved, regarding potential entry points for transformative action in specific villages, encouraging the reliability of the approach. It also showed to be promising in terms of the capacity to characterize the status of the 13 principles of agroecology, and to capture their changes in time. This approach may be further combined with other assessment methods to complement the aspects that require finer understanding or assessment over large territories.

The Path of Rural Social Capital Improvement in China from the Perspective of Planners: A Case Study of Hongtang Village in Yunnan Province

China’s rural areas have long been backward in development, and many villages have completed poverty alleviation with the help of the government. Facing the requirements of sustainable development, it is necessary to change the development path, continuously increase social capital, and effectively connect with government investment resources. The existing research and practice mostly construct the strategy of social capital from the inside of the village, lacking interaction with the superior government. This paper argues for the method of planners’ intervention. The advantage is that it links the power of government and villagers, creates a perceptible, experiential, valuable material environment, and promotes collective action. Through this process, the knowledge interaction and social relations in the village can be improved. The purpose of this paper is to study how participatory planning affects the content and mechanism of this process mentioned above. Taking Hongtang village as a case study, we analyze the in-depth changes that participatory planning has brought to the rural space and social level. In the participatory planning practice of Hongtang village, college rural planners took a small vegetable garden as the breakthrough point to stimulate villagers’ participation. In the process of the upgrade, planners evolved the interaction between the village committee and villagers in the path of IMEE, which is “Intervene, Motivate, Enable, Empower”. Moreover, planners always maintained contact with the higher-level government. Through the upgrade of small vegetable gardens, the villagers’ initiative was brought into practice, the social capital was fully explored, and an effective link with the government’s resource allocation was realized.

Predictors of the prevalence and importance of the observed trinary control system in rural China

Western criminological literature continues to focus on the binary control system (formal vs. informal), while China has long employed the trinary system (formal, semiformal, and informal) in its construction of social control. China scholars have investigated the prevalence and importance of the trinary control system as a key to understanding social control. However, there is a lack of research on their predictors. The current study aims at investigating the correlates of the prevalence and importance of the observed trinary control system in rural China. Using the sample data of 2343 respondents collected from 164 villages in rural China, the study found that both individual and village factors were the predictors of the prevalence of the observed controls exerted by village committees, a measure of semiformal control, and police, a measure of formal control, in maintaining community social order. Findings included the reported prevalence of four control mechanisms as significant predictors of their importance in community order maintenance. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Effects of Intervention Strategies-Based on Positive Psychology on the Emotional Cognition, Mental Health, and Recovery of Speech Function in Speech Disabilities.

Compared with able-bodied people, speech disabilities are more prone to various mental health problems. We aimed to explore the impact of positive psychology-based intervention strategies on emotional cognition, mental health, and recovery of speech function in speech disabilities. In May 2023, 306 cases of speech disabilities were selected from 112 village committees and 129 neighborhood committees in Jingmen City, China. The control group was given routine speech rehabilitation training, and the observation group was given an intervention strategies-based on positive psychology based on the above training. The Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), Chinese Facial Emotion Test (CFET), Comprehensive Function Assessment for Disabled Children (CFADC), and Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) were used to evaluate the two groups of patients before and after intervention. After the intervention, the mental state scores (psychotic, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, somatization, paranoia, terror, hostility, anxiety, and depression) of the observation group were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). The correct emotional scores in the observation group were higher than those in the control group were. However, the remote error scores of the observation group were lower than those of the control group were. The difference was also statistically significant (P<0.05). The cognitive function score, speech function score, and BDAE score (retelling, writing, fluency, and reading comprehension) of the observation group were all higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). The intervention strategies-based on positive psychology could promote the improvement of health problems and speech function in speech disabilities.

Forest Biological Disaster Control Behaviors of Forest Farmers and Their Spatial Heterogeneity in China

With more and more loss caused by forest biological disasters (FBDs) in China, forest farmers, as one of the most important stakeholders, are participating in the control. In this study, the ordinary least squares model, simultaneous equation model, and propensity score matching method were used with the data from 818 surveys conducted in the typical FBD outbreak provinces, to reveal the FBD control behaviors of forest farmers and their differences between western and eastern regions of China. The results indicated the following. (1) Household factors: forest farmers could timely take control measures. An increase of 1 ha in the area of occurrence would increase the control measures by 3.26 ha. However, the control measures can only reduce 50% of the economic loss caused by FBDs and cannot effectively control the spread trend of FBDs. There are issues, including an insufficient and old labor force, insufficient technology support, and low consciousness of ecology protection. (2) External factors: forest farmers would increase control when the temperature rises, and reduce control when rainfall increases. After village committees unify organizing the control, their participation enthusiasm would increase, which would have a substitution relationship with the household investment. (3) Regional difference: the eastern region of China has higher figures than the western in terms of outbreak area, economic losses, control measures, and pesticide cost. If the western forest farmers have the control funds as the eastern forest farmers have, and the eastern forest farmers have the control intensity as the western forest farmers have, the overall FBD control effect would be better.

Role of self-actualization in green production behavior: Evidence from rice smallholders in China

Understanding who adopt green production and why they choose this strategy is an important issue that needs to be addressed in the context of increasingly severe agricultural pollution. Previous studies have generally investigated subsistence-oriented smallholders, typically employing profit maximization or risk minimization models. However, Chinese farmers have differentiated, and have unique characteristics. This study collected data from 960 random samples of rice farmers and conducted quantitative analysis. The findings reveal that 94.9 % of the farmers had less than 2-ha rice-planting area, and 80.21 % of farmers reported that their purpose of planting rice was for family self-feeding. Furthermore, the new standard to define smallholder based on whether their production purpose is self-feeding or selling and found that non-smallholders had an overall advantage and passed the t-test. Even more non-smallholder (76.32 %) intentionally chose green pesticide than smallholders (66.1 %), but their decision-making logic was different. Binary logistic regression results show that three aspects of self-actualization (environmental, market, and personal) positively and significantly affected the green production behavior of smallholders, but not significant for non-smallholders. This study suggests that in China, where smallholders are the mainstay of agriculture production, green production by smallholders will greatly improve the ecological environment and provide high quality agricultural products.

How to reduce construction risks in rural areas: an evolutionary game analysis

PurposeThe construction industry is widely recognized as one of the most hazardous sectors in the world. Despite extensive research on safety management, a critical issue remains that insufficient attention is devoted to safety practices in rural areas. Notably, accidents frequently occur during the construction of rural self-built houses (RSH) in China. Safety management tends to be overlooked due to the perceived simplicity of the construction process. Furthermore, it is essential to acknowledge that China currently lacks comprehensive laws and regulations governing safety management in RSH construction. This paper aims to analyze the behavior of key stakeholders (including households, workmen, rural village committee and the government) and propose recommendations to mitigate safety risks associated with RSH construction.Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies evolutionary game theory to analyze the symbiotic evolution among households, workmen and rural village committee, in situations with or without government participation. Additionally, numerical simulation is utilized to examine the outcomes of various strategies implemented by the government.FindingsWithout government participation, households, workmen, and rural village committee tend to prioritize maximizing apparent benefits, often overlooking the potential safety risks. Numerical simulations reveal that while government involvement can guide these parties towards safer decisions, achieving the desired outcomes necessitates the adoption of reasonable and effective strategies. Thus, the government needs to offer targeted subsidies to these stakeholders.Originality/valueConsidering that during the construction phase, stakeholders are the main administrators accountable for safety management. However, there exists insufficient research examining the impact of stakeholder behavior on RSH construction safety. This study aims to analyze the behavior of stakeholders about how to reduce the safety risks in building RSH. Thus, the authors intend to contribute to knowledge in this area by establishing evolutionary game model. Firstly, this study carried out a theoretical by using tripartite evolutionary game to reveal the reasons for the high safety risk during building RSH. Practically, this research points out the important role of households, workmen and rural village committee in improving safety management in rural areas. Besides, some suggestions are proposed to the government about how to reduce construction safety risks in rural areas.

Forest Management in an Ancient Indian Scriptures Prospective With Specific Reference to Ramayana – Literary Evidence

The relationship between ecological and culture is more apparent in ancient Indian texts, and this is mirrored in several scriptures. Ancient Indian scriptures including the Arthasastra, Sathapatha Bhramanas, Vedas, Manusmrti, Brhat Samhita, Ramayana, and Mahabharata all represented the sustainable ideas of forest ecology and conservation. The Vedic teachings demonstrate how deeply embedded sustainability was in the minds of the ancient Indians. For example, the Atharva Veda (Chand, 1997) hymn 12.1.11 reads: "O Earth! Pleasant be thy hills, snow-clad mountains and forests; O numerous coloured, firm and protected Earth! On this earth I stand, undefeated, unslain, unhurt." Another hymn from Atharva Veda (12.1.35) reads: "Whatever I dig out from you, O Earth! May that have quick regeneration again; may we not damage thy vital habitat and heart."In particular, our Indian Scriptures such as Aranyakas ("forest" works), Upanishad, and Smritis contains many descriptions on the uses and management of forests, and highlight sustainability as an implicit theme. According to the Vedic traditions, every village will attain wholeness only when certain types of forests are present. Some of these are, however, equivalent to the 'protected areas' and 'production forests' of today. The concept of participatory forest management, an important forest management paradigm today, also was prevalent in ancient India, as illustrated by the example of a village committee overseeing the maintenance of forests. In this context, Valmiki’s Ramayana is the most important source of botanical information. It is very useful in clarifying the botanical identity of various species of plAants and also their importance. It contains an extensive list of plants and also their specific geographical location. The epic also covers a vast area from Ayodhya to Lanka and thus gives an accurate account of different landscapes, mountains, river basins, forests and so on. When the Ramayana was being written, there were thick forests in Naimisharanya, Chitrakut, Dhandakaranya and Panchavati. The Bala kanda mentions the plants and forests of the region on the other side of the river Ganges, Kishkinda kanda discusses the geography and forestry and the biodiversity of the Pampa lake area; and the Aranya kanda describes the foliage of Sage Agasthya’s hermitage; Panchavati was a model of a modified ecology with fruit yielding and medicinal plants where cereals, millets and rice were found. The plants which are mentioned have an economic value, being sacred and utilitarian. Despite the prevailing notion that forestry as a "science" and "practice" originated in the Western Europe and further advanced in North America (Lewis, 2005), the principles of forest conservation and sustainable management were well entrenched in the pre-historic India. Forestry traditions have been documented in the Anciient Indian Scriptures for long. For example, the Vedas contain several descriptions on the uses and management of forests; environment consciousness, besides natural resource and biodiversity conservation, were intrinsic features of rituals and practices. Both productive as well as protective aspects of forest vegetation were emphasized .In this paper authors are making an effort to understand forest management from ancient scriptures perspectives. Vedas,Upanishand,Rmayana and Bhagwadgeeta has been used to understand. This paper is purely based on secondary, which is based on these research methodologies called Hermeneutics, which is the interpretation of ancient or classical literature (Ramayana,Vedas,Bhawadgeeta) Epistemology, which is knowing and understanding the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge.

“First Democracy, Then Centralism”: The New Shape of Village Elections Under the “One-Shoulder Pole” Policy

ABSTRACT Since the full implementation of the ‘one-shoulder pole’ policy in 2019, village secretaries are now expected to concurrently serve as village heads. Simultaneously, the question arises as to how village secretaries can be guaranteed to be elected as village heads. Drawing on an in-depth case study of Y County, this paper shows that the local government has adopted an approach I call ‘first democracy, then centralism’ to ensure that village elections involve democratic elements, such as open nomination and candidate competition, yet also produce a designated winner who is, in the government’s view, most qualified to govern the village. Such an approach has generated two consequences on village elections: First, the significance of village Party elections has greatly increased. Since the result of village committee elections is already certain, Party elections become the key phase that determines who will hold village office and in which candidates still have an opportunity to compete against one another. Second, it is now imperative for candidates to earn support and approval from the local government in order to become the village leaders in the new era.

Spatial-temporal evolution and driving factors of rural resilience in the urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China.

How to maintain the balanced stability and resilient development of rural systems is an important issue that needs urgent attention in the field of sustainable rural development at present. In this paper, the entropy method, spatial autocorrelation model, and Geodetector were used to explore the rural resilience level, spatial distribution characteristics, and driving factors of 31 cities in the urban agglomerations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (UAMRYR), and to put forward corresponding policy suggestions. The results are as follows: (1) From 2005 to 2020, rural resilience in the UAMRYR showed an upward trend with an average annual growth rate of 8.26%. The ranking of the three major urban agglomerations is Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomerations > Wuhan urban agglomerations > Poyang Lake urban agglomerations. (2) During the study period, the spatial distribution of rural resilience gradually developed from a negative correlation to a strong positive correlation and generally showed the characteristics of high in the west and low in the east. (3) The urbanization rate, the size and structure of the economy, the difference in consumption and income between urban and rural areas, the local fiscal revenue, and the number of village committees are the key factors affecting the level of rural resilience. On this basis, we proposed policy recommendations to improve the economic, social, and ecological resilience of rural areas in the UAMRYR. The findings of this paper are expected to provide insights into the policy formulation of China's rural revitalization strategy.