Event

What does the state do when public expectations exceed its governing capacity? The Performative State shows how the state can shape public perceptions and defuse crises through the theatrical deployment of language, symbols, and gestures of good governance—performative governance. Iza Ding unpacks the black box of street-level bureaucracy in China through ethnographic participation, in-depth interviews, and public opinion surveys. She demonstrates with vivid detail how China’s environmental bureaucrats deal with intense public scrutiny over pollution when they lack the authority to actually improve the physical environment. Bureaucrats assuage public outrage by appearing responsive and benevolent before citizens. But performative governance is hard work. Environmental bureaucrats paradoxically work themselves to exhaustion even when they cannot effectively implement environmental policies. Instead of achieving “performance legitimacy” through actual good governance and its desirable outcomes, the state can shape public opinion with theatrical performance of goodwill and sincere effort. The book also explains why performative governance sometimes fails at impressing its audience, and when governance becomes less performative and more substantive.

Iza Ding is an assistant professor of political science and public policy at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research examines two interconnected issues that are becoming more challenging and consequential than ever: environmental and climate politics and policy, and the politics of autocracy and democracy. Her articles have appeared in World Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Democratization, Studies in Comparative and International Development, and China Quarterly. Her book The Performative State: Public Scrutiny and Environmental Governance in China is forthcoming with Cornell University Press in summer 2022.

This event will be held on-site in the CSCC conference room, but with a Zoom option.

To attend in person: Please use this link to RSVP for this event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/performative-state-public-scrutiny-and-environmental-governance-in-china-tickets-257164143877 You must be a Penn Card holder. Please indicate in the RSVP link that you plan to attend in person. Under the university’s current COVID-19 protocols, we must limit on-site attendance at our events to Penn card holders and, to comply with contact-tracing requirements, we must have a record of who attends our in-person events. Therefore, we are asking that you RSVP is you plan to attend in person. If you do not RSVP and still wish to attend, you are still welcome to show up, but will need to sign in on arrival. Although social distancing is not required under current university rules, we will be limiting the number of people in our conference room to somewhat less than our past highest turnout events.

To participate by Zoom: We understand that some of you will be unable or uncomfortable attending in person, but wish to participate. We will send you a Zoom link if you register: https://upenn.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMkcOGtqT0sE9Z0b4R45iXiu5Lyvy6RlJ0-