Village governance, social cohesion and contentment with social assistance in Northern China

ABSTRACT The Chinese government’s legitimacy rests on ensuring the contentment of its people and avoiding social instability. In achieving these goals, the government has been massively aided by rising living standards and perhaps by reduced poverty. However, little is known about the contribution of poverty alleviation to political contentment. Therefore, ethnographic research was conducted in eight villages to explore attitudes to social assistance (dibao), a key component in poverty alleviation. Village cadres prioritized social cohesion over poverty relief in administering dibao. Nevertheless, cohesion varied markedly between villages, interacting with styles of village governance, to influence villagers’ (dis-)satisfaction with dibao.