Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Local Enforcement of Regulations in China and Russia

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Through a multi-city case study in China and Russia, the researcher seeks to elucidate the political dynamics that explain why and how the enforcement of regulation varies across space and time at the local level. Examining the difference between official policy and local implementation of policy offers unique opportunities to understand law-in-action as opposed to law-on-the-books. Countries transitioning from command to market economies, such as China and Russia, are particularly interesting with regard to theoretical understanding of policy implementation because of the social, political, legal, and economic uncertainties induced by such transitions. The researcher will conduct interviews with key officials involved in the promulgation of policy, actors charged with local enforcement, members of non-governmental organizations, and targets (potential and actual) of enforcement to identify and explain punitive versus rehabilitative enforcement and variation in punitive enforcement actions. In addition, the researcher will conduct archival work in both China and Russia to gather relevant police records and information on press coverage. The results of this research will provide insights into state capacity, policy implementation, and criminal organization.