Social Sciences in China, 2022

Vol. 43, No. 1, 2022

 

The State Logic of Modernizing the Governance System

 

Chen Jinhua

 

Abstract：The governance system is the institutional carrier and mechanism guaranteeing the operation of the state. The Western governance dilemma and China’s governance practice show that state dominance is the intrinsic logic behind the modernization of the governance system. As a worldwide issue, the core question in the logic of state modernization of the governance system is to develop governance rules, procedures and orders that effectively respond to and resolve the problems of the state-society relationship. In other words, state logic is rooted in the historical process of the dynamic evolution of the building of the state- society relationship community, and looks toward practice in solving the issue of balanced national development. In advocating a modern governance system led by state logic, China does not simply wish to continue the master page of its history and culture, but to hold fast to being guided by the issues and focusing on the transformation of the principal contradictions of Chinese society to bring about good governance that is oriented toward the people, in order to systematically respond to the major adjustments in national governance variables brought about by IT development and globalization. In the current context in which governance solutions dominated by the logic of capital have difficulty coping with global problems of development, adhering to the logic of the state in modernizing the governance system not only helps us break away from “polycentric governance” and correctly ensures that the state plays an authoritative and leading role in the governance system while also providing an institutional framework and mechanism that achieves social justice, improves market efficiency and fosters social autonomy, thus forging a new type of civilization for national and global governance on a global scale.

 

Keywords: governance system, governance capacity, modernization, state logic