What does the state do when public expectations exceed its governing capacity? Iza Ding’s new book "The Performative State” shows how the state can shape public perceptions and defuse crises through the theatrical deployment of language, symbols and gestures of good governance—what Ding calls performative governance. Ding studies street-level bureaucracy in China through ethnographic participation, in-depth interviews and public opinion surveys. She demonstrates with vivid detail how China’s environmental bureaucrats deal with intense public scrutiny over pollution while lacking the authority to actually improve the environment. The book also explains why performative governance sometimes fails at impressing its audience, and when governance becomes less performative and more substantive.