Abstract:

Party leadership as an essential feature of grassroots social governance in contemporary China is reflected not only in the practical dimension of party building leading social governance, but also in the theoretical innovation of the party as the core of leadership at the level of the governance model. The concept of Party led co-governance, based on the idea of the “political party-state-society” relationship, is not only a descriptive generalisation of the grassroots social governance pattern of “one core and several subjects” under the party system, but also a theoretical explanation of how political parties can lead several subjects to realize social co-governance. Its constructive logic is rooted in the legitimacy logic of the Chinese Communist Party’s governance and the historical process of its leadership in social governance. In contrast to polycentric and hierarchical governance models, Party led co-governance presents its logic of applicability in the Chinese context in terms of authority distribution, decision-making mode, organizational structure, governance mechanisms, and value goals. Operationally, Party led co-governance is mainly carried out through the three mechanisms of political unity, organizational embeddedness, and social integration. This realizes the integrated leadership of governance authority, the interconnection of governance networks, and the collaborative governance of governance subjects in the grass-roots social arena.

Key words: party led co-governance, grassroots social governance, “party-state-society” relationship, realization patterns