Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.5, 2019

The Logic of the State in the Modernization of the Governance System

(Abstract)

Chen Jinhua

The governance system is the institutional carrier and mechanism guarantee for the operation of the state. Western governance dilemmas and China’s governance practices show that state dominance is the inherent logic in the modernization of governance system. As a worldwide issue, the core of state logic in the modernization of the governance system is to build governance rules, procedures, and order that effectively address and resolve the problem of the relationship between the state and society. In other words, state logic is not the subjective will of state power, but a historical process of dynamic evolution rooted in the construction of the state-society community; it is a problem-solving oriented approach that addresses the balanced construction of the state. China’s advocacy of a modern governance system dominated by state logic does not mean simply the continuation of the master copy of Chinese history and culture. Instead, it insists on a problem orientation, a focus on the transformation of the main contradictions in Chinese society, and the formation of good national governance oriented towards governance by the people, so as to systematically respond to the major adjustments in national governance variables brought about by informatization and globalization. In the context of the inability of governance solutions dominated by the principle of capital to resolve problems in global development, adhering to the logic of the state in the modernization of governance not only helps us to rid ourselves of the myth of “multi-center governance” and give full play in the correct manner to the authoritative leading role of the state in the governance system, but also provides an institutional framework and mechanism guarantee for realizing social justice, improving market efficiency, and fostering social autonomy. This approach opens up a new type of civilization for national and global governance.