Chinese People's Congresses are no longer rubber stamp institutions. In Local People's Congresses in China, Young Nam Cho shows that local Chinese legislatures have become important political forces in local politics during the reform era.

Based on extensive fieldwork in Shanghai, Guangdong, and Tianjin, Cho's book provides rich detail on the role of legislatures in Chinese local politics. Two questions are investigated: First, what kinds of roles have Chinese local legislatures performed in local politics, and to what degree have they exerted influence on the polity? Second, how have Chinese local legislatures become dominant forces? Relying on interviews and literary documents, Cho examines Local People's Congresses lawmaking (Chapter 2), supervision of governments (Chapter 3), courts (Chapter 4), representation (Chapter 5), and their relationship with social organizations (Chapter 6). He finds that local legislatures have strengthened their lawmaking and supervisory roles. Drawing on works by Murray Scott Tanner and Kevin O'Brien, he argues that one of the key differences between local legislatures and the National People's Congress (NPC) has been that the former have regarded supervision as their most important role while the NPC concentrated on lawmaking (p. 44). To Cho, the driving force behind these changes in local politics has been the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

As one of the first studies on Chinese local legislatures, the book's largest contribution lies in advancing our understanding of their political influence beyond central-level politics. Like the former Soviet Union, the Chinese state comprises territorial divisions at the center, province, city, county, township, and village levels. It is composed of numerous government and party units at the national level, which replicate themselves through lower levels of government. Individual units receive administrative guidance from above, but they are also subject to the leadership of the local government and party units to which they belong.

Focusing on the provincial and county levels, Cho finds that since the 1990s, local legislatures have been able to enact most local laws without prior review and approval of the territorial party (p. 20). Instead, local governments have become dominant in lawmaking. To cope with attempts by governmental agencies to expand their organizational interests, legislatures have improved their administrative authority in lawmaking guidelines and involved nonstate actors, such as scholars, professionals, social organizations, and ordinary citizens, in the drafting of laws (pp. 27–32). This has resulted in greater influence in lawmaking.

Even more significant, according to Cho, has been increased supervision over government agencies and courts by local legislatures. In order to impede corruption, the CCP has encouraged legislatures to supervise local government officials more rigorously (p. 47). As a result, local legislatures have enjoyed greater autonomy to examine law enforcement and appraise government bureaus and officials (pp. 55–62). In addition, legislatures have actively conducted the oversight of courts when legal reform has provided them with the opportunity to expand their political power (p. 82).

Since reform policies have been the main movers behind the enhanced status of local legislatures, Cho concludes that legislative development in China ultimately depends on decisions made by political leaders. He is pessimistic about the prospects of legislative development for democratization: China needs free competitive elections, a multiparty system, and the guarantee of political rights to become a democracy; “[u]ltimately, the further development of Chinese legislatures depends on democratization in China, and not vice versa” (p. 172).

Researchers of democratization may find this conclusion somewhat disappointing. Previous studies have already focused on other factors, most importantly the role of economic development, dynamics between ruling elites and reformers, and the emergence of civil society. Excluding legislative development as an important explanatory factor primarily confirms existing theories of democratization.

A better choice may have been to frame the study as a contribution to the recently emerging literature on authoritarian resilience. Currently, this literature focuses on the role of electoral institutions in sustaining authoritarianism. One of the key concepts Cho is concerned with is “institutionalization,” defined as “the attainment of values and stability on the part of organizations and procedures” (p. 171). Local legislatures have significantly contributed to institutionalization as their strengthening has increased the state's organizational capacities to deal with challenges brought about by economic reforms. Increased involvement of nonstate actors in the lawmaking process has helped to integrate an increasingly diverse and marketized society. Cho advances these ideas in the book; fleshing out how legislative development can play a key role in maintaining political order and social stability in an authoritarian state would have greatly improved this study's contribution to comparative politics.

More original is Cho's solution to the limitations associated with case studies for the generalizability of empirical research findings. Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangdong all constitute highly economically developed regions in China. Local People's Congresses in these regions have been strengthened from the early period of the reform era in order to establish a legal system equipped to carry out economic reforms and attract foreign investment. In particular, Shanghai and Guangdong serve as possible models for other local legislatures. In Chapter 7 Cho explores the uneven development of Local People's Congresses by studying 18 district and county People's Congresses in Tianjin Municipality. He finds that political leadership was the most important factor explaining stronger supervisory measures in local legislatures in Tianjin. Economic development was negatively correlated with supervision (p. 160). These findings allow him to draw inferences to other regions of China.

Overall, Local People's Congresses in China will be of interest to researchers of comparative politics for three reasons: because it advances our knowledge of Chinese legislatures beyond central-level politics and in doing so significantly improves our understanding of Chinese politics; because it contains valuable research findings relevant to the study of authoritarian resilience, although the author prefers to address the relevance of his findings for democratization; and because it offers an original solution to the lack of generalizability from case studies.