Chapter Two Toward a More Open China? Jamie P.Horsley The People's Republic of China has joined the international move- ment toward greater government transparency,including making government records and decision making more accessible to its citi- zens.While China is very much aware of and indeed has drawn les- sons from this international trend,the primary motivating force is domestic dynamics. Transparency in China is in a transitional phase.Like many countries,China has a long tradition of government secrecy.The incremental progress toward greater information openness over the past twenty-five years was not triggered by a particular national crisis or scandal,as happened in the United States and Eastern Europe, although most changes in China during the late I97os and early I98os might well be attributed to a desire to prevent any repeat of the decade of lawlessness and destruction called the Great Proletar- ian Cultural Revolution of 1966-76.Instead,the transition toward greater transparency appears to have grown out of the confluence of an "open village affairs"movement that arose in the early I98os, natural pressures from rapid economic development,momentum 54 FLORINI CH02indd 54 3/2071:21:13PMThe People’s Republic of China has joined the international move￾ment toward greater government transparency, including making government records and decision making more accessible to its citi￾zens.1 While China is very much aware of and indeed has drawn les￾sons from this international trend, the primary motivating force is domestic dynamics. Transparency in China is in a transitional phase. Like many countries, China has a long tradition of government secrecy. The incremental progress toward greater information openness over the past twenty-five years was not triggered by a particular national crisis or scandal, as happened in the United States and Eastern Europe, although most changes in China during the late 1970s and early 1980s might well be attributed to a desire to prevent any repeat of the decade of lawlessness and destruction called the Great Proletar￾ian Cultural Revolution of 1966–76. Instead, the transition toward greater transparency appears to have grown out of the confluence of an “open village affairs” movement that arose in the early 1980s, natural pressures from rapid economic development, momentum Chapter Two Toward a More Open China? Jamie P. Horsley 54 FLORINI CH 02.indd 54 3/2/07 1:21:13 PM