Participation in politics is a topic of fundamental interest to scholars in political science. Who particpates, how they participate, and why, have always been questions that occupy a central place in the study of American political behavior. Despite the interest in the political participation of Americans, relatively few investigations have been conducted cross nationally. This Doctoral Dissertation Research Project promises to attend to this deficiency by undertaking a nationwide survey of political participation in the People's Republic of China. The universe sampled for this study includes the total non- institutionalized population of mainland China who are eighteen years or older, except those who live in Sinjiang and Tibet. The interviews will be conducted face-to-face by professional interviewers from the Institute of Social Survey and by students from Beijing University. The investigation will assess the modes and levels of political participation in China and the impacts of socioeconomic status, institutional affiliation, political history and political attitude on political behavior. The study is cast within the theoretical framework developed for the classic study of American political participation undertaken in the late l960's by Sidney Verba, et. al. The investigation will examine the modes of political participation aimed at influencing the decision-making process of the government and will also explore additional modes which people may use to cast influence at the policy implementation stage. The data from China will be compared with data previously gathered from other countries and will serve as an important basis for understanding political participation in the People's Republic of China.
