Based on the data of 1852 questionnaires collected by author in rural Guangdong in 2002, this paper analyzes the degree and motivation of political participation of villagers and its support to village self government. It is argued that direct, open and competitive village elections are the movement of empowerment for villagers, and then, the villager will obtain the institutional realization of citizenship written in the constitution. This political development promotes the democratic transformation from the political involvement with the characteristic of rule of men, instrumentalism and class struggle, to the institutional, rightful and autonomous public participation. Also, this paper reveals that impacts of non economic factors to political participation are becoming strong, while the consciousness of citizenship of the villagers is awakening. The political role of villagers participated in village elections is changing from the tame peasant to citizen.
