Campaign-style governance is rooted in traditional Chinese politics. It has also become the keyword of Chinese public administration with its widespread presence in contemporary Chinese national and local governance. There is a relationship between campaign-style governance mechanisms and hierarchical governance, which includes substitution, complementarity, and synergy. This association is an important experience in the revolution, construction, and development of contemporary China, reflecting the institutional advantages and governance effectiveness of Chinese state governance. However, campaign-style governance mechanisms also face the dilemma of effectiveness and the paradox of legitimacy caused by the layering of targets and the distortion of goals. A future pathway will embrace an institutionalized governance that is standardized, observe the rule of law, and focus on long-term effectiveness. Accordingly, campaign-style governance mechanisms will restrict public goals as well as provide technical, normative, and procedural constraints. Although campaign-style governance has distinctive Chinese characteristics, it is deeply related to bureaucratic governance, mobilization politics, and holistic governance. It has a wide range of applicability in both developing countries and developed countries. As both a theoretical concept and a governance mechanism, it is both country specific and universal regarding global public governance.
