Abstract
Given the context of globalization which is hollowing out the sovereignty of nation-states through unraveling the central state, every nation-state has to restructure its governance systems to cope with the challenges and opportunities thereof. This chapter focuses on how China has modernized its systems and capabilities of governance through the perspective of a theoretical framework of the constitutional trinity of political state, market economy, and civil society in terms of polycentric governance. Specifically, polycentric governance means the separation and combination of corporate entities across public, private, and third sectors to form the unity and diversity of the ecological systems of governance. China in transition from a totalitarian regime lies in its corporatization rather than privatization with the Pareto-improved strategy of reforming public sector and having private and third sectors boomed. The incremental policy of reforming and opening up takes on institutional isomorphism across regions in terms of the distribution of diverse corporate entities based on the census data. A factor analysis as a decoupling method is thus applied to result in the emerging three clusters of corporate entities or the emerging polycentric pattern of governance, i.e., the cluster of enterprises, the cluster of governments and communities, and the cluster of associations and nonprofit organizations. No doubt, the emerging three clusters represent the three dimensions of institutional change from a totalitarian regime toward a market economy, a political state, and a civil society in contemporary China, which presages modernization of the systems and capabilities of governance under the rule of law.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Althusius J ([1603]1997) Politica (Ed and Trans: Carney FS). Liberty Fund, Indianapolis
Auyang SY (1999) Foundations of complex-system theories: in economics, evolutionary biology, and statistical physics. Cambridge University Press, New York
Bevir M (ed) (2011) The sage handbook of governance. Sage, London
Burawoy M (2005) 2004 american sociological association presidential address: for public sociology. Br J Sociol 56(2):259–294
Coleman J (1994) Foundations of social theory. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Dalberg-Acton JEE (1949) Essays on freedom and power. Beacon Press, Boston
Deng Z, Jing Y (1992) Goujian Zhongguo De Shimin Shehui (Constructing a Chinese civil society). Zhongguo Shehui Kexue Jikan [China Soc Sci Q] 1:1–60
DiMaggio PJ, Powell WW (1983) The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. Am Sociol Rev 48(2):147–160
Dowding K (1995) Model or metaphor? A critical review of the policy network approach. Polit Stud 43:136–158
Elazar D (1987) Exploring federalism. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa
Elazar D (1995) The covenant tradition in politics. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick
Elazar D (1998) Covenant and civil society: the matrix of modern democracy. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick
Evans P (1995) Embedded autonomy: states and industrial transformation. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Fukuyama F (1992) The end of history and the last man. The Free Press, New York
Fukuyama F (2014) Political order and political decay: from the industrial revolution to the globalization of democracy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
Gao H (ed) (2002) Fazhi: Linian Yu Zhidu (The rule of law: idea and institution). China University of Political Science and Law Press, Beijing
Giddens A (1998) The third way: the renewal of social democracy. Polity Press, Cambridge
Giddens A (2000) The third way and its critics. Polity Press, Cambridge
Gramsci A (1992) Selections from the Prison Books. International Publishers, New York
Granvovetter M (1985) Economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness. Am J Sociol 91(3):481–493
Hooghe L, Marks G (2003) Unraveling the central state, but how? Types of multi-level governance. Am Polit Sci Rev 97(2):233–243
Howell J (2012) Civil society, corporatism and capitalism in China. J Comp Asian Dev 11(2):271–297
Howlett M (2002) Do networks matter? Linking policy network structure to policy outcomes: evidence from four Canadian policy sectors 1990–2000. Can J Polit Sci 35(2):235–267
Jessop B (1998) The rise of governance and the risks of failure: the case of economic development. Int Soc Sci J 50:29–45
Jing W, Zhang H (2009) Zhidu Zhuanxing Yu Guojia Zhili Moshi Chonggou: Jincheng, Wenti Yu Qianjing (Institutional transitions and reconstructing the model of state governance: progress, problem and prospect). Tianjin Shehui Kexue (J Tianjin Soc Sci) 1:74–95
Kang X, Han H (2005) Fenlei Kongzhi: Danqian Zhongguo Dalu Guojia Yu Shehui Guanxi Yanjiu (Differentiated control: current state and society relationship research in Mainland China). Shehuixue Yanjiu (Sociol Stud) 6:73–89
Kooiman J (2003) Governing as governance. Sage, London
Li Q (2014) Zhili Sixiang De Zhongguo Biaoda: Zhengce, Jiegou Yu Huayu Yanbian (Chinese Expression of governance thought: the evolution of policy, structure and discourse). Central Compilation and Translation Press, Beijing
Lieberthal K (2003) Governing China: from revolution through reform. W.W. Norton & Co., New York
Lin JY (1992) Rural reforms and agricultural productivity growth in China. Am Econ Rev 82(March):34–51
Liu J, He W (eds) (1995) Shichang Luoji Yu Guojia Guannian (The logic of market and the idea of state). Sanlian Bookstore, Beijing
Mao S, Li M, Chen Y (1998) Xifang Zhengfu De Zhidao Biange (Governance reforms of western governments). China Renmin University Press, Beijing
Marsh D, Smith MJ (2001) There is more than one way to do political science: on different ways to study policy networks. Polit Stud 49:528–541
Martinich AP (1992) The two gods of Leviathan. Cambridge University Press, New York
Martinussen J (1997) Society, state and market: a guide to competing theories of development. Zed Books, London
McGinnis MD, Ostrom E (2011) Reflections on Vincent Ostrom, public administration, and polycentricity. Public Adm Rev 72(1):15–25
Naughton BJ (2013) Wu Jinglian: voice of reform in China. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
North D (1990) Institutions, institutional change, and economic performance. Cambridge University Press, New York
Osborne D, Gaebler T (1992) Reinventing government: how the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. Addison-Wesley, Reading
Osborne SP (ed) (2009) The new public governance. Routledge, London
Ostrom E (1990) Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge University Press, New York
Ostrom V (1973) Can federalism make a difference? Publius 3(2):197–237
Ostrom V (2008) The political theory of a compound republic: designing the american experiment, 3rd edn. Lexington Books, Lanham
Ostrom E (2010) Beyond markets and states: polycentric governance of complex economic systems. Am Econ Rev 100(3):641–672
Ostrom V, Ostrom E (1977) Public goods and public choices. In: Savas ES (ed) Alternatives for delivering public services: toward improved performance. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 7–49
Ostrom V, Tiebout CM, Warren R (1961) The organization of government in metropolitan areas: a theoretical inquiry. Am Polit Sci Rev 55(4):831–842
Polanyi K (2001) The great transformation: the political and economic origins of our time. Beacon, Boston
Putnam R (1994) Making democracy work: civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Qian Y, Weigast BR (1996) China’s transition to markets: market-preserving federalism, Chinese style. J Policy Reform 1:149–185
Qian Y (2003) Xiandai Jingji Xue yu Zhongguo Jingii Gaige (Modern economics and Chinese economic reforms). China Renmin University Press, Beijing
Rhodes RAW (1994) The hollowing out of the state: the changing nature of the public service in Britain. Polit Quart 65(2):138–151
Rhodes RAW (1996) The new governance: governing without government. Polit Stud 56:652–667
Rhodes RAW (1997) Understanding governance: policy networks, governance, reflexivity and accountability. Open University Press, Buckingham
Rosen S, Gries PH (eds) (2011) Chinese politics: state, society and the market. Routledge, London
Rosenau JN (1997) Along the domestic-foreign frontier: exploring governance in a turbulent world. Cambridge University Press, New York
Rosenau J, Czempiel E-O, Smith S (eds) (1992) Governance without government: order and change in world politics. Cambridge University Press, New York
Shinoda H (2000) Re-examining sovereignty: from classical theory to the global age. Macmillan Press, London
Stiglitz JE, Yusuf S (2000) Rethinking the East Asian Miracle. The World Bank, Washington, DC
Stoker G (1998) Governance as theory: five propositions. Int Soc Sci J 50:17–28
Teets JC (2015) The evolution of civil society in Yunnan Province: contending models of civil society management in China. J Cont China 24(91):158–175
Tonnies F ([1887]1957) Community and society. Michigan State University Press, East Lasing
Triglilia C (2002) Economic sociology: state, market, and society in modern capitalism. Blackwell, Oxford
Urio P (2011) Reconciling state, market and society in China. Routledge, London
Wang M (2011) Emerging civil society in China, 1978–2008. Brill, Leiden/Boston
Williamson O (1996) The mechanism of governance. Oxford University Press, New York
World Bank (1989) Sub-Saharan Africa: from crisis to sustainable growth. World Bank, Washington, DC
World Bank (1992) Governance and development. World Bank, Washington, DC
Wu J (2013) Gong Tianxia: Duozhongxin Zhili and Shuang Zhuti Faquan (The commonwealth: polycentric governance and the matrix of Citizen Recht and Local Recht). Guangxi Normal University Press, Nanning
Xi J (2014) Xi Jinping: the governance of China. Foreign Language Press, Beijing
Xiao G (2012) Chaoyue Zuoyou Jijin Zhuyi: Zouchu Zhongguo Zhuanxing De Kunjun (Beyond leftists and rightists: out of the Dilemma of China’s transition). Zhejiang University Press, Hangzhou
Yu J, Guo S (2012) Civil society and governance in China. Palgrave Macmillan, London
Yu K (2001) Zhili He Shanzhi: Yizhong Xin De Zhengzhi Fenxi Kuangjia (Governance and good governance: a new framework of political analysis). Nanjing Shehui Kexue (J Nanjing Soc Sci) 9:40–44
Yu K (ed) (2008) Zhongguo Zhili Bianqian 30 Nian (The thirty years of governance reforms in China, 1978–2008). Social Literature Publishing House, Beijing
Yu K (2014) Zouxiang Guojia Zhili Xiandaihua: Lun Zhongguo Gaige Kaifang Hou De Guojia, Shichang Yu Shehui Guanxi (Towards modernization of state governance: an essay on the relationships of the state, the market, and the society in post-reform China). Dangdai Shijie (Modern World) 10:24–25
Zhang X (2005) Coping with globalization through a collaborative federate mode of governance: the case of China in transition. Policy Stud 26(2):199–209
Zheng Y (2007) De Facto federalism in China: reforms and dynamics of central-local relations. World Scientific, Hackensack
Acknowledgments
This research is funded by the project of “985” in China. A previous version of this chapter was presented at the International Conference on Collaboration among Government, Market, and Society sponsored by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, May 26–27, 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zhang, X. (2016). Emerging Polycentric Pattern in Governing Transitional China. In: Foo, C. (eds) Diversity of Managerial Perspectives from Inside China. Managing the Asian Century. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-555-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-555-6_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-287-554-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-287-555-6
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)