{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T17:19:53Z","timestamp":1788455993788,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,5]],"date-time":"2025-12-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1764892800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study, based on the 2021 China General Social Survey (CGSS), examines how different forms of political participation\u2013spanning behavior, attitude, and affiliation \u2013shape perceptions of grassroots governance effectiveness in safety, convenience, and social atmosphere. Framed within the conceptual lens of social work, which emphasizes community engagement and service-oriented participation, the study uses multinomial ordered logistic regression and uncovers three key insights.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>First, participatory initiatives facilitated through social work\u2013related community contexts amplify collective confidence in safety and atmosphere but paradoxically undermine convenience evaluations, revealing a procedural legitimacy paradox when community services fall short. Second, strong political attitudes cultivated through community-based outreach uniformly predicts satisfaction with safety and atmosphere, functioning as a critical accountability mechanism, especially among urban women engaged in local support programs. Third, familial political ties intersect with community networks to show generational asymmetry: paternal affiliations, often reinforced by male-led committees, predict atmosphere perceptions, while maternal ties channeled through women\u2019s groups diminish convenience satisfaction, reflecting entrenched authoritarian familism. Control variables reveal that education predicts convenience perceptions but erodes safety and atmosphere evaluations, as more educated citizens identify gaps between policy intent and delivery; urban residency also polarizes governance expectations through differential access to community engagement platforms. Stable demographic patterns emerge, with gender and household registration maintaining consistent directional effects.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>To address these dynamics, we propose differentiated participation ecosystems that leverage social work principles and community networks: (1) education\u2013governance dialogues mediated by community practitioners; (2) voting\u2013service audits coordinated through civic coalitions; (3) citizen panels empowering skeptical urban women; and (4) familial governance scaffolding through social work alliances, leveraging paternal heritage programs and matrifocal budget reallocation. These strategies transform social work\u2013based engagement into a precision tool for governance optimization across urban\u2013rural, gender, and generational divides.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0337520","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,5]],"date-time":"2025-12-05T18:31:36Z","timestamp":1764959496000},"page":"e0337520","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Political participation and grassroots governance: A social work perspective based on CGSS 2021 data"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-7794-576X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Xiao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dana","family":"Burkhanova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingwei","family":"Tian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0337520.ref001","article-title":"Evaluating social governance innovation policy in China: A study based on fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis","volume":"106","author":"Q Wu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Evaluation and Program Planning."},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0337520.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1007\/s41111-023-00245-9","article-title":"\u201cWhole-Process People\u2019s Democracy\u201d in China: Evidence from Shanghai","volume":"9","author":"J Hu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Chin Polit Sci Rev."},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0337520.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2921","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.20181249","article-title":"The rise and fall of local elections in China","volume":"112","author":"M Martinez-Bravo","year":"2022","journal-title":"American Economic Review."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0337520.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1057\/s41599-024-03574-5","article-title":"Factors influencing villagers\u2019 willingness to participate in grassroots governance: evidence from the Chinese social survey","volume":"11","author":"W Zhan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Humanit Soc Sci Commun."},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0337520.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1016\/j.heliyon.2024.e31258","article-title":"Unveiling the role of political education for political participation in China","volume":"10","author":"M Chen","year":"2024","journal-title":"Heliyon."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0337520.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"307","DOI":"10.1177\/20578911221125510","article-title":"Explaining voting participation gaps in local government elections in rural China","volume":"8","author":"L Wu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Asian Journal of Comparative Politics."},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0337520.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"579","DOI":"10.1080\/23812346.2024.2372183","article-title":"How to enhance villagers\u2019 willingness to participate in grassroots governance through political efficacy?","volume":"9","author":"W Zhan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal of Chinese Governance."},{"key":"pone.0337520.ref008","volume-title":"The civic culture: political attitudes and democracy in five nations","author":"GA Almond","year":"2015"},{"key":"pone.0337520.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511973383","volume-title":"Democratic deficit: critical citizens revisited","author":"P Norris","year":"2011"},{"key":"pone.0337520.ref010","unstructured":"Bowling C. 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