China's New Social Governance

Abstract

This dissertation explores the sources and mechanisms of social policy change in China during the reform era. In it, I first argue that, starting in the late 1990s, China's leadership began shifting social policy away from the neoliberal approach that characterized the first two decades of the reform era towards a New Governance approach. Second, I ask the question why this policy transformation is taking place. I employ a political economy argument to answer this question, which locates the source of China's New Governance transition in diversifying societal demand for public goods provision. China's leadership is concerned about the destabilizing impacts of this social transformation, and has embraced the decentralized tools of New Governance in order to improve responsiveness and short up its own legitimacy. Third, I address how China's leadership is undertaking this policy shift. I argue that China's version of New Governance is being undertaken in such as way as to protect the Chinese Communist Party's monopoly over power. This double-edged strategy is aimed at improving the capacity consists of Social Construction, on the one hand, and Social Management Innovation, on the other. Social Construction aims to increase and diversity the supply of public goods provision by building the capacity of local governments and non-state organizations to address their own social problems. Social Management Innovation consists of parallel policies and institutions the party-state is creating to ensure its monopoly over social power in the face of Social Construction. The dissertation includes case studies of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong.