Existing research on grassroots political participation behavior in China often suffers from a synchronic perspective, lacking systematic diachronic analysis. This study addresses this gap by integrating the age-period-cohort (APC) analytical framework to examine the temporal dynamics and spatial heterogeneity of residents' grassroots political participation, specifically voting in neighborhood/village committee elections. Utilizing nine waves of the China General Social Survey (CGSS) data from 2005 to 2021 and employing Hierarchical APC-Cross-Classified Random Effects Models (HAPC-CCREM), the analysis disentangles the distinct effects of age, period, and cohort. The findings reveal a significant inverted U-shaped age effect, where participation rates increase through middle age before declining in later years, aligning with life-cycle theory. A positive period effect is observed, indicating a gradual, albeit fluctuating, upward trend in participation over time, which is consistent with institutional learning theory and reflects the evolving socio-political environment in China. Cohort analysis shows notable generational differences: those born around the establishment of the People's Republic of China exhibit higher participation rates, demonstrating a lasting political imprint, while the reform-and-opening-up cohort displays relatively lower engagement, suggesting potential shifts in participation styles among younger generations. Furthermore, significant spatial heterogeneity exists between urban and rural areas. Rural residents consistently show higher participation rates across most age groups, forming a distinct “rural participation advantage,” likely tied to differing community structures and interest distributions. However, the overall positive period trend is primarily driven by rising participation among urban residents, whereas rural participation shows a slight decline over the studied periods. This divergence suggests that broader societal transformations, such as the weakening of traditional community bonds in rural areas, may be influencing participation patterns differently across contexts. These results underscore the importance of incorporating both temporal and spatial dimensions into the study of political participation. They validate the explanatory power of life-cycle, institutional learning, and political imprinting theories while highlighting the complex, “evolving-with-the-times” characteristic of grassroots political participation in China. The study concludes that enhancing grassroots democracy requires nuanced, multi-dimensional strategies. Recommendations include implementing age- and generation-sensitive engagement policies, strengthening institutional responsiveness to societal changes, fostering inter-generational dialogue to sustain participatory norms, and promoting integrated urban-rural development to ensure balanced and high-quality development of whole-process people's democracy at the grassroots level, ultimately contributing to the modernization of grassroots governance systems and capabilities.
Xie et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: