Anna L. Ahlers

County and Township Cadres as a Strategic Group: “Building a New Socialist Countryside” in Three Provinces

County and township cadres as strategic actors in policy implementation have only recently become a topic of systematic study for China scholars; in most studies, they have been associated with clientelism and corruption, law-breaking, manipulation of the institutions set up to control them, suppression of local dissent and collective protest, and deficient policy implementation. Cai Yongshun, for example, claims that local cadres create an irresponsible state, “in which its politicians make decisions and allocate resources so as to serve personal political interests which take precedence over public concerns, thereby resulting in the waste of public resources”. Graeme Smith finds that informal cadre networks penetrate the institutional fabric of the county completely and build a “shadow state” which combines personalized rule and bureaucratism, is obsessed with quantitative output and engages in campaign-style,

Effective Policy Implementation in China’s Local State

Effective policy implementation is a core component of the Chinese political system’s adaptability and stability. A thorough investigation of local implementation mechanisms, however, is often hindered by an almost exclusive concentration on implementation efficiency. This article introduces a new analytical framework and suggests focusing on the interactions between the different administrative tiers—counties, townships, and villages—to understand local policy implementation in terms of procedural and outcome effectiveness. It argues that the triangle of central policy design, institutional constraints, and strategic agency of local implementers explains cases of effective policy implementation that can be observed throughout China. By way of studying the “Building of a New Socialist Countryside” in four cases, this article shows how effective policy implementation can be the result of what students of local governance have so far rather treated as obstructive factors, namely performance and cadre evaluation, financial scarcity, limited public participation, and the focus on models.

Whither local governance in contemporary China? Reconfiguration for more effective policy implementation

Abstract This article describes China’s reorganization of its local governance system since the early 2000s. Policy shifts, administrative restructuring and intensified public inclusion have considerably modified local governance, especially in the country’s vast rural areas and, we argue, have laid the groundwork for continuous and more effective policy implementation amidst increasing complexity and challenges. Based on years of fieldwork on new rural development policies, urbanization programs and private sector development in China, we start by briefly describing the most important developments in local governance, especially at the county level and below. We then concentrate on two aspects with particular relevance: first, we trace the reconfigured characteristics of internal governmental procedures of policy adjustment and implementation. Second, we find new types of external stakeholder inclusion, which we analyze based on the example of local government interactions with private entrepreneurs in promoting development blueprints and strengthening public goods provision. In conclusion, we contend that current Chinese local governance is a dynamic and delicate combination of expanding local administrative autonomy, external actor inclusion and the Party State’s re-emergent aim of pervasive steering. At a minimum, the resulting governance arrangements appear able to generally strengthen the political regime’s implementation capacities.

Breathe Easy? Local Nuances of Authoritarian Environmentalism in China's Battle against Air Pollution

The heavy smog suffocating China’s cities is increasingly being perceived as a threat by both the population and the authorities. Consequently, political action aiming at regulating ambient air pollution has become increasingly comprehensive and rigid in recent year. Even measures limiting consumption and production seem to become acceptable as China is facing an airpocalypse. Does this suggest a genesis of real “authoritarian environmentalism” (AE) in the PRC? Taking this as a heuristic point of departure, we present findings from research on the local implementation of air pollution control measures in Hangzhou City. We offer a critical examination of the concept of AE and, in particular, of policy implementation strategies vis-a-vis the general public. Altogether, we argue for different emphases in a potential Chinese model of AE. In a context where outcomes are sought at any cost, we observe more complexity and nuances than are usually captured by the AE concept.

Introduction: Chinese governance in the era of ‘top-level design’1

Since Xi Jinping took over at the helm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), observers have noted tremendous changes in the structure and operations of the Chinese political system. Reconfiguration...

Local environmental governance innovation in China: staging ‘triangular dialogues’ for industrial air pollution control

Abstract Studies of environmental governance in China mainly discuss bilateral encounters, such as popular protests against polluting companies, NGO collaboration with local authorities, or local government collusion with enterprises which can lead to the sabotage of effective pollfution controls. This article studies a case in which a communication mechanism involving multiple actors created a basis for the innovative and successful enforcement of air pollution regulation. Pressurized by popular protests and superior level policy mandates, the Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) in Hangzhou City started to employ a dialogue forum which ultimately brought residents, enterprises as well as government agencies together to implement local air pollution control measures. Through information-sharing, interest mediation and trust building in a gradually more horizontal process, the government-led multiple stakeholders’ dialogue helped to overcome the agency’s structural weakness, regulate the polluting companies and address residents’ complaints. We conclude that this case study can provide some insights into the ways in which opportunities for driving forward innovative and effective environmental governance strategies at the local level emerged against the background of recently enforced top-level environmental protection policies in China.