Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.9, 2017

Adaptive Reform and Limitations of the Public Policy Process in the Course of Transition

(Abstract)

Xue Lan and Zhao Jing

The temporal dimension of the policy process is a theoretical cut-in point for understanding public policy process and domestic governance in China. The public policy process in China’s transition shows new characteristics: decision-making links have been simplified, and the implementation of policies, which supplements the making of decisions, appears as a process of balancing and negotiation. The flexible model of “simplifying decision-making links—negotiating about implementation” is a transitional institutional arrangement in the circumstances of the contemporary emergence of a large number of policy issues in China. Eliminating or simplifying decision-making links enables the government to effectively deal with social pressures and multiple interests in the decision-making process and enhances its capacity to make public policy and cope with external pressures. The implementation-negotiation mechanism allows policy programs to be refined step by step, internalizing the resolution of conflicts of interest and guaranteeing the furtherance of reform and the systemic stability of government governance. This policy process mode is suited to the contemporary governance environment of Chinese public policy and fosters the enhancement of policy reform in some fields.