Honors Theses
Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Croft Institute for International Studies
First Advisor
Joshua Howard
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The enrollment expansion of the Chinese higher education has no historical precedent, and defies belief in its speed and scale. I argue that this rapid enrollment growth is best understood not as a natural phenomenon of the market economy, nor as an intentional policy outcome, but rather as a byproduct of the structure of the Chinese state. I propose that the central government's lack of effective control over lower-level cadres at local governments and individual universities was instrumental in the expansion of enrollments far beyond the intentions of the Ministry of Education. This uncontrolled enrollment expansion was enabled by local officials' soft budget constraints, and incentivized by their short time horizons and focus on superficial hard targets. When the MOE attempted to rein in the expansion rate at all levels starting in 2002, only elite, directly-administered universities slowed their growth. At locally- administered universities, meanwhile, central policy was severely distorted by the effects of decentralization and fragmented authoritarianism. Furthermore, I provide evidence that only by reinforcing its monitoring capability at lower levels was the central government able to reassert its authority.
Recommended Citation
Bumpas, William, "Uncontrolled Enrollment Expansion: Fragmented Authoritarianism in Chinese Higher Education" (2014). Honors Theses. 946.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/946
Accessibility Status
Searchable text
Comments
A thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for completion of the Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from the Croft Institute for International Studies and the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College.