The politics of blame avoidance in China: A review of the field

Blame avoidance by governments and officials is common across various political systems. An increasing body of literature analyses the methods of blame avoidance utilized by both central and local governments, as well as local officials in China. This article reviews existing studies on blame avoidance in China, detailing the motivations, strategies, and limitations of these approaches. It highlights the commonalities and differences between government blame avoidance in China and in other contexts. The article also identifies gaps in the current literature, particularly the limited research on the effectiveness of blame-avoidance strategies and their implications for governance in China.