Loading...
Welcome to Governance Studies ! Today is Share:
$ex.waitFor()

Table of Content

    15 November 2025, Volume 41 Issue 6
    Development and Governance in China’s Counties: A Comprehensive Analysis Based on Economic-Social-Environmental Coordination
    Yan Jirong, Liu Lun
    2025, 41(6):  16-31. 
    Asbtract ( 107 )   HTML ( 15)   PDF (10926KB) ( 84 )  
    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

    As China enters a new development phase, “addressing weaknesses and enhancing coordination” has become crucial for achieving national rejuvenation. Against this backdrop, county-level development and governance that advances Chinese modernization has grown increasingly prominent. This study analyzes multi-source data from 1,866 Chinese counties across five key dimensions-population, economy, public services, social governance, ecological environment-to identify structural deficiencies and to propose improvement pathways. After classifying county development patterns into six distinct types, we propose the governance principle of “raising baseline standards while adopting tailored approaches.” We recommend pursuing smart economic development based on comparative advantages; implementing selective population contraction strategies aligned with economic opportunities; and, delivering high-quality public services to meet people’s aspirations for better lives.

    The Internal Logic and Construction Principles of the Responsibility System for Exercising Full and Strict Governance over the Party
    Liu Honglin, Wang Wenjing
    2025, 41(6):  32-45. 
    Asbtract ( 74 )   HTML ( 4)   PDF (1170KB) ( 50 )  
    References | Related Articles | Metrics

    The Responsibility System for Exercising Full and Strict Governance over the Party is a “subsystem” and an important component of the systems for exercising full and rigorous self-governance. In the new era, this responsibility system must be improved. Clear subjects and explicit requirements are essential. This can be accomplished by adhering to systematic thinking and dialectical thinking. An overall and systematic perspective on full and strict governance over the Party should be established. The goal is to understand the relationships among the five major constituent elements of the system for exercising full and strict governance over the Party so that any erroneous ideological tendencies such as addressing issues in isolation or starting afresh can be overcome. Once this perspective is established a view of the unity of power and responsibility within the Party can develop under the principle of democratic centralism. This will clarify the underlying logic and internal logic of the Responsibility System for Exercising Full and Strict Governance over the Party. Then, it will be possible to fully align with the Party's fundamental organizational principle, the view of the unity of power and responsibility within the Party, as well as the fundamental principles, basic purposes, and core goals of full and strict governance over the Party. From there, the basic principles and fundamental guidelines that must be upheld for improving the Responsibility System for Exercising Full and Strict Governance over the Party in the new era can be defined. The imperative here is to take adhering to and strengthening the Party’s overall leadership as the fundamental principle. This should reflect a limited view of the unity of power and responsibility within the Party under the principle of democratic centralism that balances incentives and constraints while systematically integrating all elements of the responsibility system for exercising full and strict governance over the Party. Full and strict governance over the Party comes from improving this responsibility system, continuously enhancing the Party’s leadership capacity and long-term governance capacity. Ultimately, this will contribute to the realization of social revolution centered on Chinese-style modernization through the Party’s leadership guided by self-reform.

    The Essentials of the Scientific Methodology of General Secretary Xi JinPing’s Thoughts on Party Building
    He Qi, Zhang Hao
    2025, 41(6):  46-62. 
    Asbtract ( 56 )   HTML ( 3)   PDF (1267KB) ( 20 )  
    References | Related Articles | Metrics

    General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thoughts on Party building contain a scientific way of thinking and working methods. From the perspective of thinking methods, the focus is on establishing and using strategic thinking, historical thinking, dialectical thinking, systematic thinking, innovative thinking, rule of law thinking, and bottom-line thinking to plan and promote party building in the new era. This fusion of established methods of thought seizes the law of party building from the complicated ruling environment while also enhancing the systematicity, synergy, creativity, and effectiveness of party building. From the perspective of working methods, this mode of thought has the flexibility to use a series of working methods that match today’s practice of party management and party governance. This includes adhering to problem-oriented and targeted therapy, paying attention to top-level design and overall planning, holding the “bull’s nose” and key breakthroughs, grasping the “key minority” and the above rate, advocating hard work and nailing nails, which effectively and efficiently solves the problem of party management and party governance in the new era. These scientific methods adhere to the Marxist world outlook and methodology. They carry the historical experience of party building in the new era, embody Xi Jinping’s methodological wisdom in the great practice of scientifically answering the question of “managing the party and governing the party,” and highlight the great and far-reaching theoretical, practical, and epochal significance.

    The International Experience and Path Optimization of Child-rearing Allowance Practice
    Lu Jiehua, Gu Yuchen
    2025, 41(6):  63-79. 
    Asbtract ( 90 )   HTML ( 4)   PDF (1340KB) ( 23 )  
    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

    A Child-rearing Allowance is an important economic policy for parental support. It can address the positive externality of fertility behavior in modern society. In the era of negative population growth, a Child-rearing Allowance is a realistic necessity with strategic importance. However, the implementation of China’s Child-rearing Allowance scheme is in its exploratory period of policy practice and academic research. The basic issues and principal framework have yet to be clarified. Therefore, the policy connotation and conceptual boundary of Child-rearing Allowance should be defined based on the externality of fertility behavior. Developed countries entered the low-fertility stage earlier than China. Some formed relatively comprehensive policy responses. This paper summarizes the basic logic of addressing the positive externality of fertility behavior by categorizing the main types of current international Child-rearing Allowance and discussing their advantages and shortcomings. These policies can be optimized for China by defining subsidy focus, subsidy object, subsidy form, and subsidy level that will ultimately reduce the positive externality of fertility behavior.

    Reality Orientation, Policy Mechanisms, and Governance Innovation in Services for the Elderly in the New Era
    WuYushao , Xiao Chunhui
    2025, 41(6):  80-91. 
    Asbtract ( 69 )   HTML ( 8)   PDF (1184KB) ( 32 )  
    References | Related Articles | Metrics

    The changes to elder services policy in the new era stem from the multiple evolutions of Chinese social characteristics. The purpose is to solve deep-rooted problems such as a lagging traditional service model and an imbalanced supply structure. It is also meant to respond to the strategic mission of the country and the needs of its aging society. In this context, the origin of the new era of elder service policy is rooted in China’s traditional virtues and history. The policy design highlights the advantages of the Chinese socialist system, while the policy stance adheres to people-centered values. Positioned in the national strategy of development, the policy has evolved to be in line with the objective requirements of Chinese modernization. The development of elder care services in the new era is holistic, long-term, and forward-looking. It manifests in six distinct characteristics: top-level design guiding the systematic advancement of elderly care services; orderly prioritization of key issues to address the differentiated needs of different developmental stages; clarification of the boundaries of rights and responsibilities among diverse stakeholders to promote the tiered optimization of service provision; concentrated efforts to resolve deep-seated structural issues and enhance the system's overall operational efficiency; expansive new governance approaches to reconstruct solutions for high-overlap governance challenges in an ageing society; and a fortified digital and intelligent foundation for the development of elder services. These policies have achieved a double breakthrough in top-level design and practice strategy as they comprehensively promote China’s modernization with multi-dimensional innovation in the governance strategy of serving its aging society.

    From Public Deliberation to Public Supervision: Returning to the People's Subjectivity in Rural Governance-A Study of Jingshan Town, Yuhang District, Hangzhou City
    Lang Youxing, Shu Chang, Wan Chun
    2025, 41(6):  92-105. 
    Asbtract ( 67 )   HTML ( 9)   PDF (1258KB) ( 37 )  
    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

    In the advancement of grassroots democratic self-governance, the exertion of the people’s subjectivity is of vital importance. The innovative practice of “supervision by all” in Jingshan Town answers the question of how to return to and realize the people's subjectivity in the process of village affairs supervision. The transformation from collective consultation to collective supervision not only enhances the efficiency and transparency of village governance but also boosts villagers’ sense of participation and belonging. More importantly, this change highlights the value of people’s subjectivity. Villagers become the main body of village governance and participate in all links of decision-making, implementation, and supervision. This is meant to balance professionalism and democracy in village affairs supervision.

    Institutional Supply, State Capacity, and Rural Revitalization: A Case Study of the Resident Village Instructor System in Keqiao, Zhejiang
    Wu Zemin, Zhang Changdong
    2025, 41(6):  106-122. 
    Asbtract ( 67 )   HTML ( 2)   PDF (1469KB) ( 26 )  
    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

    Rural decline amidst modernization is a global challenge. In the context of Chinese modernization, the Communist Party of China’s Rural Revitalization Strategy explores supply-side institutional innovations to foster integrated urban-rural development. Although demand-induced institutional innovations are known to drive regional development by aligning actor incentives, the mechanisms through which state-led supply-oriented innovations facilitate rural revitalization remain less understood. Drawing on the theory of Embedded Autonomy, this paper constructs an analytical framework of “Institutional Supply-State Capacity-Institutional Performance.” Using the Resident Village Instructor System in Keqiao, Zhejiang as a case study, this study examines the mechanisms linking institutional supply to rural revitalization. An in-depth examination of this local practice not only aids in its promotion and diffusion but also offers analytical insights for other state-led institutional innovations.

    Digitally Empowering Cross Departmental Collaboration:Analysis Framework and Empirical Reviewof the Mutual Construction of Technology and Institutions
    Chen Juan
    2025, 41(6):  123-139. 
    Asbtract ( 279 )   HTML ( 18)   PDF (1451KB) ( 73 )  
    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

    With the large-scale promotion of integrated reforms such as“One Network for All” and “One thing at a time Efficiently,” digital technology empowering cross departmental collaboration has become a new paradigm of governmental operations. It is a new practice for promoting institutional remodeling and governance model changes. This study constructs a three-dimensional analysis framework comprised of “institution absorbing technology-technological empowerment of organizations-technological institutionalized operation” which provide the mutual construction of technology and institutions. Taking the “Full Life Cycle Safety Online” of hazardous chemicals in Zhejiang Province as a case study, this paper explores the cross departmental collaborative mechanisms of the interactions between technology and institutions. It shows that the institutional self-regulation and absorption of technology are prerequisites for digital empowerment. Digital technology empowers organizational collaboration through collaborative technology architecture design and business process reengineering. The institutionalized operation of cross collaboration scenarios become self-organizing and collaborate between departments and across levels and systems. The experiences of the “Full Life Cycle Safety Online” of hazardous chemicals in Zhejiang Province present a pathway to accelerating some new thinking. This includes reshaping the institutional environment for digital empowerment, empowering changes to the organizational structure through collaborative technology diffusion and applications, deepening the institutionalized operation of digital collaborative business processes, etc.

    A Cost-Benefit Study of the Brussels Effect in the Context of the Reform of the Global Governance System
    Zhao Jun, Wang Yuxin
    2025, 41(6):  140-157. 
    Asbtract ( 63 )   HTML ( 3)   PDF (1421KB) ( 22 )  
    Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

    The contemporary global governance architecture is undergoing profound transformation. The diversification of governance actors, with multinational corporations and other non-state entities emerging as significant participants, has been accompanied by the increasing fragmentation of governance mechanisms. The rapid iteration of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence not only furnishes new modalities of regulatory capacity but also engenders unprecedented risks and systemic challenges. The so-called “Brussels Effect,” centered on the unilateral export of the EU’s stringent regulatory standards, has secured for the EU a distinct position of normative and regulatory advantage within the realm of global governance. Based on a political, economic, and social indicator framework, a dialectical analysis from a cost-benefit perspective reveals that the negative aspects of the Brussels Effect significantly outweigh its positive value. At the corporate level, escalating compliance expenditures surpass the dividends of market access; at the national level, particularly for low-income states, the legislative adaptation and institutional restructuring costs are prohibitively high, thereby aggravating distributive inequalities within the global regulatory order. Accordingly, the Brussels Effect cannot be regarded as a viable paradigm for governance emulation, especially for developing states. Against this backdrop, China should reaffirm the core principle of multilateralism, actively construct universally beneficial and inclusive cooperative mechanisms, and improve the legal safeguards for steadily expanding institutional opening-up. Meanwhile, enterprises should strengthen their compliance awareness while leveraging both domestic and international markets, so as to jointly promote the equitable provision of global public goods.