International Sociology and International Sociology Reviews

‘Grassroots political mobilization’ is our Topic of the Month for August 2025. On this topic, enjoy Free Access this month to the article by Xingyu Qian (Chongqing University, China) & Yangguang Yao (Sun Yat-sen University, China) published in International Sociology, Sword of Damocles hanging over grassroots cadres in China: Understanding the accountability in campaign-style enforcement. Read on to know more about the authors’ trajectory and work.

Xingyu Qian

Why are you working on this topic? Could you share an experience, a fact or a person who made you get engaged in that research?

X. Qian: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese authorities mobilized governments at all levels to implement a series of strict measures that effectively curbed the spread of the virus. Many scholars argue that, compared to Western societies, the successful enforcement of China’s pandemic policies can be largely attributed to strong career incentives given to local cadres. For instance, fast-track promotions were used to encourage officials to implement top-down directives with zeal, aligning with what has been described as the “theory of promotion tournament” (Li & Zhou, 2005; He et al., 2020; Wei et al., 2023; Pang et al., 2023).

However, a closer look at the anti-pandemic campaign reveals another important phenomenon: a significant number of cadres were punished. According to publicly available data, more than 3,000 officials in Hubei Province alone were sanctioned in 2020 for failures related to pandemic control. This phenomenon prompted our study.

We argue that career incentives alone cannot fully explain the efficiency of policy implementation in China. On the contrary, punitive accountability mechanisms may be a more critical force driving the enforcement of top-down policies. Our observations suggest that Chinese authorities adopted strict accountability measures during the pandemic: if cadres failed to effectively carry out their assigned tasks, they faced a wide range of sanctions. This style of enforcement resembles the “campaign-style enforcement” seen in socialist China’s political movements, where intensive, top-down mobilization was often paired with harsh disciplinary actions. Hence our research seeks to answer two key questions: What conditions are likely to trigger punishment during campaign-style enforcement? And why do these conditions matter in shaping accountability under such a system?

Using publicly accessible sources, we compiled a dataset of 557 cadres in Hubei Province who were officially penalized during the pandemic. Applying the method of grounded theory, we systematically analyzed the types of misconduct and corresponding punishments, ultimately identifying seven key conditions that often led to sanctions. We further examined why these conditions play such a decisive role in determining accountability outcomes.

Our findings highlight that, unlike elected officials in democratic systems who are accountable to voters and other stakeholders, Chinese cadres are primarily answerable to their superiors. This creates a hierarchical, top-down system of accountability focused on evaluating outcomes after the fact and punishing errors in execution. Through this research, we aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of how accountability operates differently in authoritarian versus democratic regimes. Moreover, we emphasize that rewards and punishments are two sides of the same coin, focusing solely on political incentives provides an incomplete picture of the policy implementation in China.

Do you have any video, recorded conference, or online material that you would like us to share with others?

X. Qian: We have uploaded the supplementary materials which has been published with this article together. This document demonstrates the data processing and analysis.

What would you emphasize about your academic trajectory? Can you highlight which have been your academic positions, universities, awards, departments and research centers?

X. Qian: I received my PhD in Public Management from Tsinghua University in 2022, and now an assistant professor (lecturer) at the School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University. I was awarded the National Social Science Fund of China and the fellowship of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation. Now my research interests focus on local governance and urban studies in China. The details about my academic background can be found at ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4114-3932.

My co-author Yangguang Yao is a PhD candidate at the School of Government, Sun Yat-sen University. He is currently a visiting fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. His research focuses on public policy and intergovernmental relations in China.