Riding the Wind: My Experience with the Longzhixuan Direct Election in Buci Township

Author: Li Fan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-04-01
Features: The practice of rural governance in contemporary China at the end of the 20th century gave rise to a democratic political experiment concerning local public power at the township level. This experiment was the "Bucun Direct Election" that took place in Suining City, Sichuan Province, in December 1998, where all residents of the township voted directly to elect their township head. The "Bucun Direct Election" has generated enduring responses in both domestic and international academia. It undoubtedly holds significant importance for promoting China's political system reform, shaping the reform path, and expanding the thinking of related academic research. Li Fan, a professor who participated in the "Bucun Direct Election," wrote this memoir to record the social foundation, political conditions, interactions between different forces within and outside the system, and the complex and turbulent election process. At the same time, the book proposes a political system reform approach based on elections, from bottom to top, and a selective dual-track system, combining theory and practice effectively.