Factors influencing villagers’ willingness to participate in grassroots governance: evidence from the Chinese social survey

Village self-governance is becoming a crucial measure in advancing social governance innovation in China. It plays an irreplaceable role in promoting sustainable rural governance, yet some villagers’ willingness and capacity to participate in grassroots governance need cultivation and enhancement. To explore the factors influencing villagers’ willingness to participate in grassroots governance and the conditions under which these factors operate, this study tests its hypotheses using data from the 2019 Chinese Social Survey, which includes 7031 responses. The findings reveal that the positive relationship between political efficacy and villagers’ willingness to participate in grassroots governance is moderated by satisfaction with government performance. Additionally, the interaction effect between political efficacy and satisfaction with government performance on villagers’ willingness to participate in grassroots governance is further moderated by the higher-order effect of perceived social justice. This indicates that among villagers with a high sense of social justice, the interaction effect between political efficacy and satisfaction with government performance more strongly predicts their willingness to participate in grassroots governance.

Weizhen Zhan, Zhenwu You