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<p>This study explores how revolutionary legacies strengthened regime legitimacy through government-invested infrastructure projects like rural electrification. Using GIS technology and historical archives, this study builds an original dataset on counties passed through by the Long March, an arduous strategic retreat by the remnants of Chinese Communist Red Army during the First Chinese Civil War. Findings indicate that counties traversed by four major Red Army forces during 1934–1936 (Long March Counties) were more likely to receive the central government’s prioritized support for rural electrification during the 1980s and 1990s. This relationship is likely causal after accounting for a quasi-experimental design exploiting neighbors of Long March Counties as placebos. Further analyses reveal that such preferential electrification operates through a region-based revolutionary legacy: revolutionary history attached to particular counties endowed them with enduring political recognition and symbolic significance, making them more likely to be prioritized for visible development support as a manifestation of the central government’s remembrance of revolutionary sacrifices and fidelity to revolutionary principles. These findings contribute to research on distributive politics and the long-term legacies of revolution by showing how revolutionary history continues to shape strategic policy resource allocation and post-revolutionary legitimacy.</p>

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The Long March of Rural Electrification

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月23日

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  • Renhao Ye

摘要

This study explores how revolutionary legacies strengthened regime legitimacy through government-invested infrastructure projects like rural electrification. Using GIS technology and historical archives, this study builds an original dataset on counties passed through by the Long March, an arduous strategic retreat by the remnants of Chinese Communist Red Army during the First Chinese Civil War. Findings indicate that counties traversed by four major Red Army forces during 1934–1936 (Long March Counties) were more likely to receive the central government’s prioritized support for rural electrification during the 1980s and 1990s. This relationship is likely causal after accounting for a quasi-experimental design exploiting neighbors of Long March Counties as placebos. Further analyses reveal that such preferential electrification operates through a region-based revolutionary legacy: revolutionary history attached to particular counties endowed them with enduring political recognition and symbolic significance, making them more likely to be prioritized for visible development support as a manifestation of the central government’s remembrance of revolutionary sacrifices and fidelity to revolutionary principles. These findings contribute to research on distributive politics and the long-term legacies of revolution by showing how revolutionary history continues to shape strategic policy resource allocation and post-revolutionary legitimacy.