Rethinking Political Meritocracy: An Attention-Based Approach

Referent

Prof. Dr. Xiao Ma (Associate Professor of Political Science, School of Government, Peking University)

Datum und Zeit

1. Oktober 2026, 16:15 - 17:45

Ort

Gloriastrasse 12b, 8006 Zürich, Raum GLT-A-03

Inhalt 

Political meritocracy, which selects and promotes officials based on their work performance, is an important explanation for China's rapid development. While prior studies focus on territorial leaders (kuai), less attention is given to functional department leaders (tiao), whose performance is harder to measure, attribute, or compare. In this talk, Xiao Ma introduces an attention-based explanation, arguing that in China's complex bureaucratic system, marked by intricate divisions of labor and information asymmetry, capturing superiors' attention is critical for official's career advancement. This argument is corroborated through case studies and analyses of original biographical data on functional department leaders. This attention-based framework tries to reconcile debates on competence versus connections in Chinese political selection and explains both the bureaucratic system's successes and its governance challenges.

Organisation: Asien-Orient-Institut - Sinologie