Getting Their Voices Heard: Strategies of China’s Provincial People’s Congress Deputies to Influence Policies

Drawing on evidence from semistructured interviews and an original survey, this article examines the policy influence of Provincial People’s Congress deputies and reveals how deputies who lack substantial power enhance their influence. Deputies mainly use two types of strategies: improving the persuasiveness of policy suggestions, which includes gathering information and providing specific and feasible solutions, and strengthening interactions with other political actors, through face-to-face persuasion, pressuring relevant departments, gaining support from congress leaders, and seeking support from public opinion. The article demonstrates how such strategies help some of the deputies make a difference in China’s policy-making process.