Abstract
Government may undertake policies with controversies, and there are significant gaps in policy implementation. As a result, various conflicts are unavoidable in the policy process. And the capacity of conflict resolution is a key aspect of political capacity at the individual, organizational and system level, and plays a key role in shaping political legitimacy, especially in authoritative systems like in China. What is the dynamic mechanism of collective incidents in contemporary China? How is the policy process during which collective conflicts are contained and defused? This article argues that the current political system in China is a pressure-oriented interest-led one, in which serious collective incidents happening frequently and increasing drastically during the social transformation. A pressure-oriented interest-led political system is characterized with its own dynamic mechanisms, i.e. (1) non-institutionalized environmental mechanism; (2) cognitive mechanism of pressure relief; (3) boundary-activated quick-start mobilization mechanism. Based upon detailed cases analysis, this article suggests that the resolution of collective conflicts is located within an internal structure that emphasizes the consciousness of pressure and interests faced both by the government and the mass in the local state. It is important to understand how the Chinese grassroots politics actually operates and to recognize the societal power and the direction in which it is heading.
This paper is funded by the “2013 International Research Grants for Field Study in Taiwan and China” and the 2015 Shanghai Social Science Special Research Program for Young and Middle-Aged Cadres, “Improving Grand Mediation Mechanism during the Rule-of-Law Process” (20153501).
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Appendix 16.1 Interviewees in the Three Cases
Appendix 16.1 Interviewees in the Three Cases
Number | Case no. | Name | Age | Sex | Interview date (D/M/Y) | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A-2008-1 | 1 | Huang’s father | 65 | M | 30/08/2009 | Villager of H Village |
A-2008-2 | 1 | Mr Lu | 35 | M | 30/08/2009 07/09/2009 | Party Secretary of H Village |
A-2008-3 | 1 | Mr Zou | 40 | M | 10/09/2009 | Previous Party Secretary of H Village and Huang’s very close friend |
A-2008-4 | 1 | Mr Tao | 50 | M | 15/09/2009 | Villager of H Village |
A-2008-5 | 1 | Mr Gu | 52 | M | 17/09/2009 | Head of L Town |
B-2007-1 | 2 | Mr He | 48 | M | 05/07/2010 | Businessman in the market/Protest Elite especially in decision making |
B-2007-2 | 2 | Mr Zhao | 62 | M | 21/07/2010 | Businessman in the market/Protesting eliteespecially in organizing and mobilizing people |
B-2007-3 | 2 | Mr Tao | 47 | M | 22/07/2010 | Businessman in the market/Responsible for drafting documents |
B-2007-4 | 2 | Mr Hu | 52 | M | 24/07/2010 | Director of the District Letters and Visits Office |
B-2007-5 | 2 | Ms Fang | 50 | F | 24/07/2010 | Leader of the Party Secretary in the Municipal Government |
C-2011-1 | 3 | Mr Huang | 42 | M | 01/07/2011 | Villager of J Village |
C-2011-2 | 3 | Ms Sun | 30 | F | 10/07/2011 | Official in Town Government |
C-2011-3 | 3 | Mr Du | 49 | M | 20/07/2011 | Vice Party Secretary in Town Government |
C-2011-4 | 3 | Mr Yao | 39 | M | 20/07/2011 | Director of Town Congress |
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Hu, J., Wang, G., Fei, J. (2018). Dynamic Mechanisms for Resolving Collective Incidents in China: A Policy Capacity Analysis. In: Wu, X., Howlett, M., Ramesh, M. (eds) Policy Capacity and Governance. Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54675-9_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54675-9_16
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