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    15 September 2025, Volume 41 Issue 5
    On the Modernization of the National Economic Governance System:Synergyzing an Effective Market and A Proactive Government
    Hong Yinxing
    2025, 41(5):  4-16. 
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    The modernization of the nation’s governance system and governance capacity is an important aspect of China’s path to modernization. Governance of the socialist market economy encompasses multiple aspects such as government governance, market governance, social governance, and corporate governance. But at its core is the proper handling of the relationship between government governance and market governance. Building an effective market and a proactive government, and enabling them to synergize, is a hallmark of the modernization of the national governance economic system and governance capacity in the socialist market economy. The integration of an effective market and a proactive government is a worldwide economic challenge that needs to be addressed in practice. In the Chinese context, solving this problem means coordinating the relationship between an effective market and a proactive government to form an economic order that is both flexible and controllable. From the perspective of the national governance system, the subject and object of regulation are the government and the market, respectively; market flexibility and control rely on the governance capacity of the country. The modernization of the national governance system includes the modernization of the market economy system that regulates resource allocation. Proactive government does not mean replacing or controlling the effective operation of the market, but rather acting in areas where the government should play a role, including overcoming market failures and regulating market order. A proactive government needs to avoid government behavior failures and build an efficient government in its own reform.

    Grid Management and the Policy Implementation at the Grassroots: Case Analyses from the Policy Network Perspective
    Ding Huang, You Hongbin
    2025, 41(5):  17-35. 
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    As a special construction of China’s governance at the grassroots, grid managementcan deliver the last mile of policy implementation. However, a theoretical blind spot still exists in how it promotes the implementation of public policies at the grassroots. Using policy network theory, this paper examines B Community in W City as a typical case to deconstruct in detail the internal mechanism of how grid management promoted the implementation of public policies at the grassroots. The study found that grid management achieves the precise implementation of public policies at the grassroots through a four-dimensional coordination mechanism. 1) Structural coordination allows grid management to dynamically adapt the policy network structure of the “intergovernmental network-problem network” as required by the rigidity of the policy goals, resource distribution, and power balance threshold. 2) Process coordination provides grid management with the tools to absorb and transform existing game strategies among actors through rule internalization, power adjustment, and value reshaping, driving the evolution of the policy networks. 3) Technical coordination empowers grid management to control processes through digital technology to eliminate information barriers, algorithm technology to constrain administrative discretion, blockchain technology to build a trust chain, and intelligent technology to improve response accuracy, reshaping network interaction regulation. 4) Effectiveness coordination in grid management is reflected in the dynamic balance between the efficiency and legitimacy of policy networks. This research not only supplements policy network theory on the dynamic adaptation mechanism of network structure, but also expands the theoretical cluster to the peripheral execution of public policy in China.

    Gatekeeping Governance: The Dynamic Logic and Differentiated Efficacy of Local Government Innovation Policy Diffusion
    Wang Jingyao, Dong Shiyi
    2025, 41(5):  36-50. 
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    Gatekeeping governance serves as a critical lens for examining the sustainability of innovation policies in China’s local governments. As a conceptual framework for understanding the dynamic logic of policy diffusion, it systematically influences the breadth and depth of policy dissemination. Drawing on the homology between Policy Process Theory and Gatekeeping Theory in communication studies, along with four case studies reflecting differentiated diffusion efficacy, this research reveals the mechanism and outcomes of gatekeeping governance in innovation policy diffusion. The study finds that local governments: 1) establish thresholds through legitimacy gatekeeping during the policy access phase, 2) screen policies compatible with local resources through efficacy gatekeeping in the adaptation phase, and 3) determine policy adoption methods through coordinative gatekeeping in the implementation phase. Diffusion efficacy manifests in various forms such as discontinued diffusion, obstructed diffusion, superficial diffusion, and deepened diffusion. Thus, gatekeeping governance, as a governance mechanism, is deeply embedded in local policy diffusion processes, reflecting the wisdom of local governments as active gatekeepers in balancing innovation risks and governance stability.

    Comprehensive Governance: The Practical Logic of Dispute Governance in China
    Dong Leiming, Zhang Xulijing
    2025, 41(5):  51-71. 
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    hina is building a Safe China and a Law-Based China. During this process, a comprehensive governance system has formed in its grassroots society. This system is characterized by high integration, embeddedness, and regularity. It reflects the institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Comprehensive governance integrates information, relationships, and regulatory resources from both the Party-government system and local communities. This integration occurs within the framework permitted by law. It enables context-sensitive approaches to complex issues. The actors in such governance often hold pluralistic authority. Through an all-scenario embedded working mechanism, they grasp the routine practices and behavioral logics of local communities. As a result, comprehensive governance overcomes the limitations of professional governance. It bridges the gap between formal institutions and everyday life. It also mitigates the challenges in power-responsibility asymmetries. Ultimately, it achieves the overarching goal of promoting good governance through sound laws and ensuring long-term social stability.

    How Grassroots Consultative Democracy Operates Effectively
    Xie Anmin
    2025, 41(5):  72-87. 
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    As the foundational project of the consultative democracy system, grassroots consultative democracy is also conducive to strengthening the vitality of the whole-process people's democracy rooted at the grassroots level. However, the effective forms of grassroots consultative democracy and the necessary conditions for its realization are rarely examined. A case study of communities in Z Province reveals that the value of grassroots consultative democracy lies in guarding the interests of ordinary people through democracy and governance efficiency. The power structure of grassroots consultation determines whether grassroots participation will be efficient. Put another way, the strength of the grassroots public opinion organs in political transmissions and the the strength of the grassroots administrative organs administrative execution determine, respectively, the intensity and efficiency of grassroots participation. The effectiveness of grassroots consultative democracy is fundamentally tied to the efficiency with which the people’s interests are protected. Effectiveness lies in the government mechanisms that match the public’s interests with efficiency. In the future, complex grassroots consultation will be required to demonstrate the applicability of the effective negotiation analysis framework for interest protection.

    The Modernization of Urban Community-level Governance through Party Building: Requirements, Challenges, and Pathways
    Zhao Shumei, Chen Wentian
    2025, 41(5):  88-100. 
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    Party building leads the modernization of urban community-level governance. This is a crucial aspect of China’s continuing drive to modernization. Amidst further comprehensive reform, three Party-building requirements are crucial. 1) Ensuring the Party’s overall leadership over urban community-level governance through high-quality primary-level Party building. 2) Enhancing Party building’s leading role in improving the social governance system. 3) Enabling Party organizations at all levels to lead efficiency reforms at the primary level. These requirements can be met through strengthening the systematic development of urban primary-level Party building; enhancing the Party’s role in building a robust urban primary-level governance community; and upgrading the mindset and capabilities of Party members and cadres. Party building that leads the modernization of urban primary-level governance can be accomplished by establishing the institutional framework of the Party’s overall leadership over primary-level governance with systematic thinking; optimizing the urban primary-level Party organizations’ operational mechanisms for quality and efficiency; building capacity among urban primary-level cadres and Party members; and, leveraging smart Party building to expand the space for upgrading urban community-level governance.

    Promoting the Modernization of Political Party Governance through the Self-Revolution of the Party
    Wang Chunxi, Yang Zhonglin
    2025, 41(5):  101-113. 
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    The modernization of political party governance is an important goal for the development of political parties; but the driving force behind this goal is the self-revolution of the Party. This self-revolution of the Party contains the inherent logics of “why is it necessary”, “how is it possible”, and “how can it be achieved”. Why promote the modernization of political party governance through the self-revolution of the Party? Because the leadership of the Party is the fundamental guarantee of the Chinese path to modernization. The Party has the overall responsibility and must therefore coordinate all parties in national governance. The Party's self-revolution is directly related to the future and destiny of national modernization. Why can the CPC promote the modernization of party governance with self-revolution? The self-revolution of the Party demonstrates the political endowment of Marxist political parties, it is the “second answer” that breaks out of the historical cycle of chaos and decline, and it summarizes the experiences of party governance modernization. In the new era, promoting the modernization of political party governance through the self-revolution of the Party begins by enhancing the people-oriented and systematic nature of political party governance, and continues by advancing the institutionalization, democratization, and intelligence of political party governance.

    The Connotations and Action Pathways of the Modernization of Internet Governance
    Li Yi
    2025, 41(5):  114-124. 
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    The development of digitization, networking, and intelligence has shaped the internet and profoundly changed human social life. The governance of the internet and its modernization are not only inherent needs for the development of society and the progress of civilization, but also important guarantee conditions. Based on the analysis of the two major life domains inside and outside cyberspace, and combined with the explanation of the inherent relationship between the two concepts, this paper summarizes the connotation of modernization of social governance on the internet. Based on specific value goals, the continuous improvement of the internet’s social governance system and the continuous enhancement of those governance capabilities can be achieved. This requires a dynamic process of promoting governance action systems, adjusting and optimizing governance processes, comprehensively improving governance effectiveness, and continuously advancing civilization on the internet. Based on this, five action paths are summarized, including goal guidance and comprehensive planning, responsibility strengthening and multi-party collaboration, rule of law guarantee and standardized implementation, dual domain linkage and rights protection, development assistance and subject growth.

    Social Ecological Construction of Ethical Governance in Digital Technology: China’s Practice and Optimization Direction
    Xiao Hongjun, Zhang Lili, Zhang Hongying
    2025, 41(5):  125-140. 
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    The social ecology of ethical governance in digital technology is composed of social forces. These include digital technology social groups, the media, and the general public, which mainly serve as a collective for external ethical supervision. The social ecology of ethical governance in digital technology plays an ethical governance role through social supervision mechanisms, such as value guidance and behavioral norms, public opinion guidance and supervision, and ethical governance technology innovation and information feedback. However, shortcomings remain and the overall governance of the social ecology of ethical governance in digital technology requires improvement. Areas of concern are “soft constraints”, weak ethicalization of digital technology social groups, lagging media supervision, fragmentation of digital technology ethics education, and an imbalance in ethical literacy in public digital technology. To further optimize the social ecology of ethical governance in China’s digital technology, at the overall level, the formation of a participatory collaborative ethical governance model that combines broad participation and collaborative governance should be promoted. At the group level, digital technology social groups should be strengthened so as to optimize the content quality of media, and improve information communication and feedback mechanisms. At the individual level, the ethical literacy of the general public can be fortified through formal education and social messaging so that a national defense line can be built for ethical governance of digital technology.

    Theoretical Reflection on the Gatekeeper System in the Context ofthe Competitive Governance of Large Platforms and the Chinese Response
    Ye Ming, Yan Jing
    2025, 41(5):  141-157. 
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    Controllingthe market power of large platforms through a gatekeeper system has become a realistic choice for some countries. Yet the theoretical controversies surrounding the system continue. Extra-territorial studies show that the gatekeeper system tends to be static in form and inefficient in substance. The innovative advantages of the macro-paradigm have failed to fully cover the imbalance in the construction of the rules. And it is difficult to speak of a direct reference to such an intentional preference in legislative intent and normative expression. Whether and how to establish a gatekeeper system in China depends fundamentally on the local environment. Although the discrepancy between regulatory demand and legal supply justifies the creation of the gatekeeper system, it is still necessary to reshape the positioning of the system to achieve integration and balance in the social and the economic spheres that also simultaneously provides certainty and flexibility. Accordingly, China’s gatekeeper system should maintain a basic respect for market facts and juridical logic. With one hand, it should promote a rational construction of legislative texts, with a focus on establishing subject identification rules based on“ecosystem control” and an obligation system combining “principles+rules+exceptions”.But the other hand should facilitate a diversified configuration of practical mechanisms, explore a system operation path oriented in participatory law enforcement and authoritative justice, and help the formation and improvement of an independent knowledge system for Chinese platform competition rule of law that effectively regulates large platforms.