DEPT OF POLITICS & PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
| Researcher : Burns JP |
| Project Title: | Translation and up-dating of Government Capacity and the Hong Kong Civil Service |
| Investigator(s): | Burns JP |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Run Run Shaw Research and Teaching Endowment Fund - Teaching Grants |
| Start Date: | 08/2005 |
| Abstract: |
| To prepare a high quality translation from English to Chinese of my book, Government Capacity and the Hong Kong Civil Service (Hong Kong Oxford University Press, 2004) xvi + 468 pp. |
| Project Title: | Policy coordination in three Chinese cities: Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei |
| Investigator(s): | Burns JP, Lam WF, Peters BG |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 01/2006 |
| Abstract: |
| To investigate the relative impacts of regime type and policy area on policy coordination; to examine coordination in three different regimes (one-party authoritarian [Beijing]; multi-party democratic [Taipei]; and pluralistic, soft-authoritarian [Hong Kong]; to examine three policy areas: food safety, public health, and infrastructure development; to train graduate student(s). |
| Project Title: | Changing Governance Structures and the Role of Bureaucrats and Politicians in Policymaking in Hong Kong |
| Investigator(s): | Burns JP, Lam WF, Peters BG |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 01/2008 |
| Abstract: |
| To investigate the impact of changed governance structures and in particular the impact of the principal official accountability system (POAS) introduced in 2002 on bureaucrat-political executive relations in Hong Kong. To explain the impact of these changes in governance structure by examining the incentives and hence patterns of action and interaction between bureaucrats and political executives in policymaking in Hong Kong. |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Burns J.P. and Wang X., Civil Service Reform in China: Impacts on Civil Servants' Behavior, The China Quarterly. 2009, 201. |
| Wang X. and Burns J.P., Food Safety Policy Coordination in Three Chinese Cities: Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong, the third Biennial Conference of the European Consortium on Political Research Standing Group on Regulatory Governance, Dublin, Ireland. 2010. |
| Researcher : Chan EYM |
| Project Title: | Social Cohesion and New Forms of Association and Participation in Hong Kong |
| Investigator(s): | Chan EYM |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 01/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| 1) Accumulation of social cohesion data in terms of a social cohesion data bank; 2) Development and fine tuning of social cohesion indexes; 3) Charting the state of social cohesion in Hong Kong, and make comparison to data gathered in 2003. |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Lee E.W.Y., Chan J.C.W., Chan E.Y.M., Cheung P.T.Y., Lam W.F. and Lam W.M., Civic Engagement and the Public Policymaking in Postcolonial Hong Kong, the 6th International Society for Third Sector Research Asia and Pacific Regional Conference, Taipei, November 2-4.. 2009. |
| Researcher : Chan JCW |
| Project Title: | Social organizations and civic engagement: a typological study of organizational altruism and collaboration |
| Investigator(s): | Chan JCW |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Small Project Funding |
| Start Date: | 11/2002 |
| Abstract: |
| To study the relation between social organizations and civic engagement. |
| Project Title: | Confucian Political Philosophy: A Critical Reconstruction for Modern Times |
| Investigator(s): | Chan JCW |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 01/2009 |
| Abstract: |
| 1) Reconstruct Confucian political philosophy with regard to three major sets of issues in political philosophy: (a) politics and authority: the relation of ethics and politics, political legitimacy, and democracy; (b) the state and the individual: human rights, civil liberties, and toleration; and (c) distribution of resources and opportunities: social justice, welfare, and equal opportunities. 2) Examine the strengths and weaknesses of the reconstructed Confucian views on the above issues in comparison with contemporary schools of thought, especially liberalism and democratic theory. 3) Determine which elements in Confucian political philosophy are still viable and which are dead; which should be dropped, revised, kept as they are, or further developed, and how. 4) Explore possible policy or institutional implications of the Confucian views that survive scrutiny. 5) Evaluate whether a coherent reconstructed Confucian political philosophy can function in modern times, as judged by such standards as philosophical sophistication, normative attractiveness, and continuation with tradition. |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Lee E.W.Y., Chan J.C.W., Chan E.Y.M., Cheung P.T.Y., Lam W.F. and Lam W.M., Civic Engagement and the Public Policymaking in Postcolonial Hong Kong, the 6th International Society for Third Sector Research Asia and Pacific Regional Conference, Taipei, November 2-4.. 2009. |
| Researcher : Chan KN |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Chan K.N., Institutions, Policy Networks and Agenda Setting: Heritage Conservations in Hong Kong, 1970-1997. 2009, 213pp. |
| Researcher : Cheung PTY |
| Project Title: | 2000 Annual Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Implementing the 1994 Fiscal Reform in China's Provinces |
| Investigator(s): | Cheung PTY |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 03/2000 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| Project Title: | Cross-boundary Cooperation between Hong Kong and Guangdong Province after the Introduction of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement |
| Investigator(s): | Cheung PTY |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Small Project Funding |
| Start Date: | 12/2007 |
| Abstract: |
| This project aims to analyze the new developments in cross-boundary cooperation between Hong Kong and Guangdong province since 2004. My earlier RGC project on this issue was completed in 2002, but since the introduction of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and the expansion of Hong Kong’s interests into the Pan-Pearl River Delta since then, the intergovernmental relations between Hong Kong and Guangdong has further developed to a much higher level. For instance, there is now a consolidated Mainland Affairs Liaison Office in the Constitutional Affairs Bureau (CAB) in Hong Kong overseeing cross-boundary cooperation and there are over a dozen of expert panels driving different areas of social and economic cooperation between Hong Kong and Guangdong. The Hong Kong SAR Government’s conclusion of an economic summit earlier this year in order to take advantage of the new development priorities of China’s 11th Five Year Plan further suggests that Hong Kong is seeking closer integration with the Chinese economy in a wide variety of sectors. Since 2004, the Hong Kong SAR Government has thus pursued a proactive strategy in achieving better economic cooperation and infrastructural coordination with the Mainland, especially Guangdong. My research focus will be on the following questions: 1. what are the key challenges and difficulties in cross-boundary cooperation in this new phase of development since 2004? Are there still competing perspectives on both sides about the priorities of cooperation that inhibit more cooperation? Or are the challenges mainly the divergence of interests or bureaucratic inertia? 2. what has been the role played by the central government in cross-boundary cooperation between Hong Kong and Guangdong since 2004? Has there been a change as a result of the shifts in central policy toward Hong Kong? 3. how has the role of government changed, especially in Hong Kong’s case, as a result of the proliferation of intergovernmental initiatives and mechanisms in managing cross-boundary cooperation? How has this affected the changing relations between government and economy in Hong Kong? My focus will be on the issues of economic cooperation and infrastructural development, which are the key themes of the cross-boundary cooperation since 200. The key issue in the economic sphere concerns cross-boundary economic cooperation after the implementation of CEPA. Nonetheless, this project does not attempt to carry out a systematic evaluation of the implementation and effects of CEPA, which demands a much bigger project in future, because this policy framework covers almost all of Hong Kong’s manufacturing and service sectors. But I do plan to arrange interviews with Hong Kong’s manufacturing and business service associations as the source of information on CEPA’s impact on the Hong Kong business community and similarly, attempt interviews with business associations, researchers and officials in Guangdong regarding CEPA’s impact on Guangdong. The key theme in infrastructural development concerns the competition over logistics and the development of two projects (the bridge linking Hong Kong, Macao and Zhuhai, and the express rail 6link between Hong Kong and Guangzhou). This small project does not aim to build up a new data archive on Hong Kong-Guangdong cooperation because I have already collected a considerable amount of data over the past few years (including newspaper cuttings, government documents, statistics, as well as interview data). Rather, I would like to get the necessary research assistance and support for field trips so that I can update my existing data in order to provide a clearer picture of what has been achieved in the new phase of Hong Kong-Guangdong cooperation. |
| Project Title: | 51st ISA Annual Convention The Changing Relations between Hong Kong and Mainland China since 1997: The Precarious Search for Political Autonomy amid Economic Integration |
| Investigator(s): | Cheung PTY |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 02/2010 |
| Completion Date: | 02/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Cheung P.T.Y., Civic Engagement and the Policy Process in Hong Kong since 1997, Symposium on Governance and Civic Engagement in the Asia-Pacific Region, Co-organized by the Centre for Civil Society and Governance, The University of Hong Kong and Public Administration and Development, . 2010. |
| Cheung P.T.Y., Review of Kjeld Erik BRODSGAARD, Hainan: State, Society, and Business in a Chinese Province (London: Routledge, 2009), China Information. Sage, 2009, Vol. 23: 503-504. |
| Cheung P.T.Y., The Changing Relations between Hong Kong and Mainland China since 1997: The Precarious Search for Political Autonomy amid Economic Integration, The International Studies Association Annual Convention, New Orleans, USA. 2010. |
| Cheung P.T.Y., The Changing Relations between the Central Government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since 1997, 2009 Korean Public Administration Association/Asian Public Administration Forum Annual Meeting. 2009. |
| Cheung P.T.Y., Understanding Cross-boundary Cooperation In South China, Progress in Planning. Oxford, Elsevier, 2010, Vol. 73, Part 1, 2010: 50-54. |
| Lee E.W.Y., Chan J.C.W., Chan E.Y.M., Cheung P.T.Y., Lam W.F. and Lam W.M., Civic Engagement and the Public Policymaking in Postcolonial Hong Kong, the 6th International Society for Third Sector Research Asia and Pacific Regional Conference, Taipei, November 2-4.. 2009. |
| Researcher : Han R |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Han R., Luck Egalitarianism: Criticisms and Alternatives. 2009, 220pp. |
| Researcher : Hu RW |
| Project Title: | Transnational linkages in cross-strait relations: the case of Tai Shang |
| Investigator(s): | Hu WR |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 12/2006 |
| Completion Date: | 10/2009 |
| Abstract: |
| (1) To study transnational linkages across the Taiwan Straits with a detailed case study on Tai Shang (Taiwanese businessmen in the mainland). (2) To conduct a comprehensive opinion survey of Tai Shang in the mainland with a randomly selected sample of 500 - 1,000 people (originally proposed sample was "500-600" people). (3) Because of the political sensitivity of conducting opinion survey in the mainland, the PI will seek substantive collaboration with some scholars, research centers, and universities in the mainland in this project. |
| Researcher : Jordan SR |
| Project Title: | Sourcebook of Global Ethics for Public Administrators |
| Investigator(s): | Jordan SR |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Small Project Funding |
| Start Date: | 08/2007 |
| Abstract: |
| The goal of this proposal is to fund the compilation of necessary materials for the development of a monograph entitled "A Sourcebook of Global Ethics for Public Administrators". This work shall address two key issues of interest to researchers and lecturers in the field of public administration, specifically public administration (or civil service) ethics. Firstly, the purpose of this manuscript is to provide a single volume that combines carefully selected primary sources, introductions to the major ethical tenets of multiple ethical traditions, and a clear, direct analysis of the implication of various global traditions of ethics for public service. This work serves as a companion to, but a clear advancement beyond, the contribution of three well-known and well-regarded works in the field, Ethics and Public Administration, Ethics in Public Management (both of ME Sharpe), and A Handbook of Ethics for Public Administrators (published by Marcek Dekker). This work shall provide both background knowledge necessary to contextualize the issues raised by contributors to these volumes and will develop further arguements for the importance of a code of public service ethics that recognizes and incorporates multiple traditions. To do so, this project includes an abbreviated and appended compendium of vital traditions in western—and, most uniquely, non-western—traditions of ethical thought. Unlike its predecessors mentioned above, this project starts with the clear intention of developing the use of such theories in public administration ethics research and practice. This work will fill a significant and troubling gap in education in MPA and MPIA programs, both in Hong Kong and abroad. Secondly, this volume shall stand alone as a source book for ethics research and teaching that is in the tradition of the Oxford Handbooks, but with more emphasis placed upon the direct application of the material to research and teaching in public administration, public affairs, public management, and applied ethics. This work would reach beyond the concerns of nations in the North Atlantic corridor and address issues of ethical behavior and ethical philosophy for international governance, to include the emerging problem of a blurring line between the ethics of private life and the ethics of public life. The content of the work seeks to go well beyond the traditional perspectives offered by scholars steeped in the tradition of western ethics to include texts from the traditions of China, Japan, Russia, India, and some African traditions. The primary problem that completion of this research project addresses is the lack of global perspective in research and education in public administration ethics. Whether in the "West" or the "East', the standards of ethics for government are decidedly western. This book is intended to fill a vacuum left by scholars in the field that are preoccupied with the western tradition. Additionally, this book will serve the pedagogical purpose of providing course material for use in ethics courses in internationally recognized MPA and MPIA programs, such as ours at the University of Hong Kong. |
| Project Title: | Association for Political Theory (APT) Conference 2007 Public Administration Beyond Liberal Democracy (Paper) |
| Investigator(s): | Jordan SR |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 10/2007 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Jordan S.R., "The Meaning of Integrity in Civil Service", delivered to the Hong Kong Police Force, 2009. |
| Jordan S.R., A View of Lake Placid from a Hong Kong Hillside What Does the World of Public Administration Scholarship Get from Another Minnowbrook?, Administrative Theory and Praxis. 2009. |
| Jordan S.R., Accountability in two non-western contexts, In: Mel Dubnick and H. George Frederickson, The promises and prospects of accountability. M.E. Sharpe, 2010. |
| Jordan S.R., Network Public Management and the Challenge of Biodiversity Management in China, In: Joel Kassiola, China's Environmental Crisis. Springer, 2010. |
| Researcher : Lam WF |
| Project Title: | Understanding the Effects of Governance on Policy Agenda Dynamics in Hong Kong |
| Investigator(s): | Lam WF, Cheung PTY |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 01/2009 |
| Abstract: |
| 1) To map the policy agenda dynamics in Hong Kong, and identify patterns of dynamics in relation to changes in Hong Kong's governance from 1945-2007. 2) To explain how Hong Kong's governance structure affected policy agenda dynamics by examining the incentives embedded in the governance structure, and the ways they influenced policy actors' framing of policy problems and solutions over time. |
| Project Title: | Institutional Nesting and Robustness in Common-Pool Resource Management: A Comparative Study of Irrigation Institutions in Nepal and Taiwan |
| Investigator(s): | Lam WF |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research |
| Start Date: | 03/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| Asian irrigation at the turn of the new millennium is facing tremendous challenges. As a result of globalization and rapid social-economic development, irrigation management is increasingly integrated with the broader social-economic, political, and global systems. The increasing integration has not only generated high degrees of complexity and uncertainty for irrigation managers and users, but also brought about drastic changes to the context in which irrigation is managed. First, as the economy develops, agriculture has lost its economic viability. Farmers who face increasingly less incentive are becoming more and more reluctant to contribute to irrigation management (Barker and Molle, 2005). Such a lack of incentives is not confined to farmers; governments in many Asian countries are now more ready and willing to re-allocate water resources to the industrial and domestic uses that can generate higher economic values that agriculture. On the other hand, as the economy diversifies and becomes more complex, irrigation management nowadays involves more than simply delivering water to the fields in an orderly manner. Issues such as pollution and water rights have become thorny problems for irrigation managers and users (Lam, 2006a). Second, the increasing integration of irrigation management with the macro political system has in many instances exacerbated tensions between the state and local communities in irrigation governance. By the early 1980s, it had become obvious that the bureaucratic mode of irrigation management was no longer adequate for achieving high levels of irrigation performance (Chambers, 1988; Tang, 1992; Lam 2006b). Since then there has been a search for institutional arrangements that can draw upon and reconcile the professional expertise and resources of the state on one hand, and the local knowledge and social capital of local communities on the other. Research has suggested that a synergy between the state and local communities can generate and sustain collective action in the management of common-pool resources including irrigation systems (Evans, 1996; Moore, 1989; Lam, 1996a, 1996b; Dasgupta and Serageldin, 2000). Institutions that can relate the state to local communities effectively is instrumental to successful irrigation management. Third, the increasing global integration as reflected in the thriving of international trade has inevitably connected local agriculture to the global political economy. While international trade has allowed better utilization of the comparative advantages of nations and hence brought about many social-economic benefits, it has also generated tremendous economic pressure for the agricultural sector in countries that have failed to adjust to the international competition. In many Asian countries where small-scale paddy production still dominates the agricultural sector, the opening up of local markets to international competition has often resulted in a substantial fall in grain prices. For farmers in the more developed economies such as Taiwan where alternative economic opportunities are available, many of them can afford, and in fact have decided, to give up full-time farming (Lam, 2001, 2006a). Farmers in the less developed economies are in a less fortunate situation; the falling grain prices often directly affect their incomes and hence their livelihood (Pingali et al, 1997). In the past decade, much research has been done to examine how local irrigation institutions have responded to the changing contexts described above (Shivakoti et al, 2005; Meinzein-Dick, 2007; Lam and Ostrom, 2009; Lam, 2010). While prior research has generated a good body of knowledge about institutional change, it has largely stopped short of addressing the core question of how integration, particularly its magnitude and forms, might affect local irrigation institutions’ ability to adapt to the changing macro environment. In particular, decades of research of common-pool resources (CPR), including irrigation systems, has suggested that local self-governing institutions tend to be more robust to external disturbances if they are nested within institutions at higher jurisdictions that deal with problems of a larger temporal and spatial scale and a broader scope (Ostrom, 1990). Empirical evidence suggests that nesting of different sorts poses very different opportunities and constraints to local self-governing institutions—some facilitate synergies between institutions across jurisdiction levels, others suffocate self-governance (Berkes and Folke, 1998; Lam, 1998; Ostrom, 1992). The questions of whether and how institutional nesting affects system robustness lie at the core of understanding how irrigation management can maintain its vibrancy amid rapid macro changes. This research will address these important questions head on. Management of irrigation systems, like many other types of common-pool resources, involves a large array of social-ecological activities of various temporal and spatial scales. For instance, farmers sharing waters from a lateral develop an order of water distribution and appropriation. Such a local irrigation order, however, is sustained by the larger concerns of managing the main canal and coordinating the distribution of water among laterals. The management of the physical infrastructure is in turn conditioned by the way irrigation management relates to the broader issues of water resource management and economic development—issues that are often managed in the context of national governance. Processes of different scales on different levels tend to have very different spatial and temporal attributes. Hence, effective irrigation management involves institutional arrangements of multiple scales, each with different design imperatives (Gunderson & Pritchard, 2002). A core issue of institutional nesting is how local resource management can be aligned and made complementary to larger-scale institutions at higher jurisdictional levels without losing its vibrancy at the local level. How can institutions be nested so that institutions and collective action at different levels facilitate rather than suffocate each other? To address such an important question of how institutional nesting affects system robustness, this research will conduct a series of extensive in-depth case studies of irrigation systems in two Asian countries—Taiwan and Nepal. The two countries are chosen because (1) they have a significantly large irrigation sector which constitutes a major component of the political economy of these countries; (2) they are representative of the two ends of the spectrum of varying degrees of economic development in the Asian continent; (3) they have very different macro irrigation management regimes, with Nepal famous for its farmer-managed systems, and Taiwan renowned for its semi-governmental irrigation associations. |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Lam W.F., Icon of Honor, in recognition of outstanding contribution to the study of self-governance in water management., Farmer Managed Irrigation Systems Promotion Trust, Nepal. 2010. |
| Lam W.F., Keynote Speaker, the International Conference of Farmer-Managed Irrigation Systems Research, Kathmandu, Nepal, March 25-26, 2010., 2010. |
| Lam W.F., Member of Editorial Committee, International Review of Administrative Sciences. 2009. |
| Lam W.F., Member of Editorial Committee, Public Administration Review. 2010. |
| Lam W.F. and Ostrom E., “Analyzing the Dynamic Complexity of Development Interventions: Lessons from an Irrigation Experiment in Nepal", Policy Sciences. 2010, 43: 1-25. |
| Lam W.F. and Ostrom E., “Analyzing the Dynamic Complexity of Development Interventions: Lessons from an Irrigation Experiment in Nepal.”, Policy Sciences. 2009. |
| Lam W.F., “Governing the Commons.” , In: Mark Bevir, Handbook of Governance. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publications, 2010. |
| Lee E.W.Y., Chan J.C.W., Chan E.Y.M., Cheung P.T.Y., Lam W.F. and Lam W.M., Civic Engagement and the Public Policymaking in Postcolonial Hong Kong, the 6th International Society for Third Sector Research Asia and Pacific Regional Conference, Taipei, November 2-4.. 2009. |
| Researcher : Lam WM |
| Project Title: | 50th Annual Convention of ISA Sustaining Cosmopolitanism: The Role of International Organizations in Hong Kong |
| Investigator(s): | Lam WM |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 02/2009 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| Project Title: | 51st ISA Annual Convention The Changing Forms of Political Participation and Their Implications for Governance in Hong Kong |
| Investigator(s): | Lam WM |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 02/2010 |
| Completion Date: | 02/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Lam W.M. and Lam K., Cultivating Dependence: China’s Hong Kong Policy after Political Resumption , China's Policies on Borderlands and Their International Implications, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Macao, Macao, March. 2010. |
| Lam W.M. and Hung E...P...W..., Lost and Found: The Changing National Identity of the Working Class amidst the Economic Reforms in China, 2009 ISA - ABRI Joint International Meeting (Diversity and Inequality in World Politics), July 22-24. 2009. |
| Lam W.M., Post 2003 Social and Political Mobilization in Hong Kong, In: OurTV.hk, Our July 1: Insight into the Civil Society in Hong Kong in the 21st Century (in Chinese). Hong Kong, Yipin Publishing, 2009. |
| Lam W.M., Promoting Hybridity: The Politics Of The New Macao Identity, The China Quarterly. 2010, 203: 656-674. |
| Lam W.M., The Changing Forms of Political Participation and Their Implication for Governance in Hong Kong, ISA Convention, New Orleans, USA, Feb . 2010. |
| Lee E.W.Y., Chan J.C.W., Chan E.Y.M., Cheung P.T.Y., Lam W.F. and Lam W.M., Civic Engagement and the Public Policymaking in Postcolonial Hong Kong, the 6th International Society for Third Sector Research Asia and Pacific Regional Conference, Taipei, November 2-4.. 2009. |
| Researcher : Lee E |
| Project Title: | Information Disclosure as a Tool for Pollution Abatement |
| Investigator(s): | Lee E |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 08/2008 |
| Abstract: |
| 1) To explain how and why regulated entities in different settings have adjusted, or failed to adjust, newly launched information-based environmental regulations. 2) To identify critical factors that facilitate successful implementation with focus on the role of environmental NGOs and community groups. 3) To estimate the potential of information-based environmental regulation for reducing urban and industrial pollution in developing countries. |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Lee E., Information, Interst Intermediaries and Regulatory Compliance, In: Craig THOMAS, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 2010. |
| Lee E. and Han S., The Influence of the Progressive Movement on Neighborhood Council Formation in the City of Los Angeles, Journal of Regional Studies and Development. 2009. |
| Researcher : Lee EWY |
| Project Title: | The Politics of Social Policy Development in Hong Kong: Societal Mobilization in a Semi-Democracy |
| Investigator(s): | Lee EWY |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 01/2009 |
| Abstract: |
| 1) to understand how societal mobilization has affected social policymaking in Hong Kong through examining how societal actors have formed coalitions, framed social policy issues, offered policy alternatives, and fostered the state's policy learning. Also relevant to the study would be an examination of how societal actors collaborate or contend with state and political actors, and with what outcome. 2) to examine how the liberal autocratic, semi-democratic setting of Hong Kong's political system has affected state actors’social policymaking, specifically paying attention to their reliance on the support of sectoral interests and good policy performance as the basis of their legitimacy. 3) to study how electoral competition under a semi-democratic setting has affected political actors' construction of socio-economic cleavages; 4) generalizing 1) to 3), to theorize the logic of social policy change in a semi-democratic setting, and the significance of social mobilization in affecting the development of social and political citizenship. |
| Project Title: | 14th Annual Conference of the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) The New Public Management Reform of Social Service Nonprofit Organizations in Hong Kong: Nonprofit Regime Change and the Changing Politics of Welfare |
| Investigator(s): | Lee EWY |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 04/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Lee E.W.Y., "Minimum Wage Legislation in Hong Kong: A Paradigmatic Policy Change Amidst the Crises of Neoliberal Globalization", Korean Association for Policy Studies 2010 International Conference, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 18-19 June. 2010. |
| Lee E.W.Y., Chan J.C.W., Chan E.Y.M., Cheung P.T.Y., Lam W.F. and Lam W.M., Civic Engagement and the Public Policymaking in Postcolonial Hong Kong, the 6th International Society for Third Sector Research Asia and Pacific Regional Conference, Taipei, November 2-4.. 2009. |
| Lee E.W.Y., The Impact of the Financial Tsunami on NGOs in Hong Kong, International Society for Third Sector Research Planning Workshop . 2009. |
| Lee E.W.Y., The New Public Management Reform of Social Service Nonprofit Organizations in Hong Kong: Nonprofit Regime Change and the Changing Politics of Welfare, The 14th Annual Conference of the International Research Society for Public Management, University of Berne, Switzerland, 7-9 April. 2010. |
| Researcher : Li J |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Li J., Policy Coordination in China: The Case of Infectious Disease and Food Safety Policy. 2009, 186pp. |
| Researcher : Lin SS |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Lin S.S., National Identity, Economic Interest and Taiwan’s Cross-Strait Economic Policy, 1994-2009. 2009, 265pp. |
| Researcher : Liu HK |
| Project Title: | An Investigation of Relationships Between Open Source Communities and Public Participation |
| Investigator(s): | Liu HK |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research |
| Start Date: | 04/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| People become engaged in civic and political affairs through communal connections (Putman 1995), such as clubs, membership associations, and town-hall meetings. Those communal connections have been changing from time to time. In the recent years, an open source concept has become a widespread movement that successfully engages the public to participate in joint production, knowledge generation, and information sharing. For instance, President Obama’s administration began an Open Government Initiative and launched a new Web site, Recovery.org so that the citizens can monitor local governments’ implementation and participate in policy-making process (Bingham 2010). In the philanthropic sector, Changemakers.org, has initiated projects (Please see Table 1 for project examples) to connect organizations from around the globe to generate ideas or proposals for solving social issues (Berger 2008). “Open source” community has become a new alternative communal connection for civic and political engagement. It is important to further understand this new phenomenon and the linkages between this emerging open source community and its facilitation of political and civic participation. Previous studies have focused on the development of open source community in the software industry (Wallich 1999; Tapscott and Williams 2006; Lerner and Tirole 2002). One of the best-known cases is the collaborative development of a computer operating system, called Linux. Another case surfaced in 1999, when the scientific community started its own open source project to map human DNA by freely sharing research databases among different institutes (Collins, Morgan, and Patrinos 2003). Two unique features of the current open source movement are identified in the literature: (1) transparency and (2) social interaction among participants without spatial and time restriction. A communal connection that is based on the open source model is different from the traditional ones—such as clubs, associations, and companies—because it does not restrict its participants based on their identities or memberships. Also, participants can interact and respond to others within the community freely without restriction from a geographic location or time differences. There is now a good deal of literature explaining this new phenomenon in the private sector. However, relatively little is known about this new concept in the public and philanthropic sector. The purpose of this research project is therefore to investigate what new features of an open source community in the government and philanthropic sector are and to what extent those new features are related to public participation of civic and political affairs. To examine new features present in the public and philanthropic sector, we plan to select four organizations that have adopted the open source models in the public and philanthropy sector. Potential candidates are Recovery.org, Environmental Protection Agency, Changemakers.org, and Innocentives. Then, we focus on examine the relationships between these new features and political and civic participation. There are two streams of literature that provide some insights toward understanding how those new features of an open source community are associated with public participation. Lerner and Tirole (2002) identify three primary conditions for designing and operating a successful open source community that facilitate public participation: (1) a relevant audience, (2) skill specification, and (3) performance measurement. They argue that the transparent feature of an open source community allows participants to send signals to their future employees about their potentials. However, their study is based on the assumption that participants are self-interested while that might not be true to all. The second stream of literature focuses on social interaction factor. Gould (1993), without emphasizing the self-interested assumption, proposes that participants would be willing to contribute to a collective action if they are sure that their contributions will not be wasted. He argues that the structure of social interaction within a community or movement sends out a signal to the future participants about the meaningfulness of their actions. An open source community tracks social interaction among participants and demonstrates a unique structure of social interaction that allows researchers to understand how the structure of interaction is associated with participation according to Gould’s theory. To investigate the extent to which those new features are related to public participation, we will empirically test Lerner and Tirole’s (2002) and Gould’s (1993) theories and utilize an online archive database from those four organizations. We will then generate panel data set that tracks participation of those four organizations throughout different times. We summarize our objectives as the following: To identify how government agencies and philanthropic entities adopt open source concepts to create a community that facilitates political and civic participation. To identify new features of an open source community that is adopted by government agencies and philanthropic entities. To explain how and to what extent those new features of an open source community are associated with political and civic participation. To provide cases and empirical evidence for public and nonprofit organizations to implement an open source community. |
| Researcher : Mok KTF |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Mok K.T.F., Being Vulnerable and Being Responsible: The Moral Responsibility of the Participants in the Cultural Revolution of China. 2009, 263pp. |
| Researcher : Sohn IJ |
| Project Title: | China's Multilateral Diplomacy toward the Developing World |
| Investigator(s): | Sohn IJ |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research |
| Start Date: | 01/2008 |
| Completion Date: | 01/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| Why does a rising China actively promote multilateralism in the developing world? This research focuses on China’s new multilateral diplomacy toward Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. In the past decade, Beijing has not merely joined the existing multilateral institutions (e.g. the World Trade Organization), but also created new multilateral forums and ties in the developing world. The China-Africa forum, the China-Andean Community consultation, and the China-Arab Nations Cooperation Forum are among the new Beijing-led multilateral arrangements in the early 21st century. This issue has an important bearing on a broader phenomenon that has emerged in Chinese foreign policy since the late 1990s—China’s increased tendency to engage multilateral institutions and arrangements at both the regional and global levels. It is a striking departure from China’s long-time emphasis on autonomy and independence. In the past, China displayed its concern that in multilateral settings China would be outvoted and its bargaining power decreased. China therefore took minimalist and passive approach to multilateral cooperation. Beijing’s proactive multilateralism is also a historical anomaly. No non-Western powers have ever pursued institutional strategies to expand their multilateral ties all over the world. Why does the rising China of the early 21st century more actively pursue multilateral and institutional options while the rising Japan of the early 20th century chose unilateral and imperialist solutions to seek for security and prosperity? Will Beijing’s new multilateralism challenge the existing international rules and norms? It is rare when a pressing policy issue connects so directly to a significant scholarly hole in the field of international relations. Such is the case with the causes and consequences of China’s new multilateral diplomacy toward the developing world outside Asia. This topic has been seriously overlooked, especially, when compared to other China-related foreign policy issues and general international affairs. It might be too early to systematically evaluate the explicit impact of the recent China-centered regional multilateral arrangements on world politics. Yet an understanding of Beijing’s motivation may help us to explain and predict the future trajectory of international order. To this end, this study will primarily examine the perceptual sources of Chinese multilateral diplomacy by employing two seemingly competing hypotheses: learning (or ideational) and adaptation (or structural) theses. The learning thesis would emphasize a substantial shift in Chinese collective beliefs for foreign policy and international order while the adaptation thesis might dismiss China's shift as a temporary tactic and maneuver in response to changing material environment, whether domestic or foreign. This study will employ some indicators to distinguish learning from adaptation in terms of source of ideational change and consequence of policy change. Unlike the adaptation hypothesis, for instance, the learning hypothesis predicts the transmission of new ideas through transnational epistemic community (or international policy network) or the presence of intensive intra-government debates over past policy failure or success (source of ideational change). The learning hypothesis also expects a higher degree of institutionalization of newly introduced policy than the adaptation hypotheses (consequence of change). Data generated from the project will offer a solid foundation for historical and comparative studies on power transitions in international relations – the rise and fall of great powers and subsequent impact on international conflict and cooperation. This China project is part of the ongoing Princeton project entitled “Power Transition, Security Cooperation, and International Order,” on which I worked closely with faculty associates at Princeton University during my 2006-07 post-doctoral fellowship. This project seeks to illuminate the theoretical, historical, and contemporary political character of power transitions and the changing rules and institutions of international order. Given the growing importance of reemerging China, my findings will be of interest to both scholars and policy makers. |
| Project Title: | The Politics of the Sovereign Wealth Fund in East Asia |
| Investigator(s): | Sohn IJ |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research |
| Start Date: | 03/2009 |
| Abstract: |
| One of the most remarkable financial developments in recent years is the rise of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) – large state-owned investment fund, which are growing rapidly in both size and number. SWFs make their home governments critical players in global capital markets. SWFs are already managing assets in excess of USD 3 trillion (i.e. twice as much as the global hedge-fund industry). Why do SWFs emerge (institutional genesis), and what explains their variation in design (institutional design)? SWFs raise a new important question for global financial governance in the time of global financial crisis and economic recession. At issue are two competing concerns—realist and liberal ones. One issue of concern to many host countries (the countries that receive the investments of SWFs) is that some SWFs might be used for political purpose. In this realist view, SWFs become a new tool of foreign policy. This raises legitimate national security concerns over a potential sale of strategic asset, a transfer of vital industrial knowledge and expertise, or issues of public security. Another concern is that fears of an instrumental use of SWFs could generate a growing wave of financial protectionism in recipient countries. Liberals emphasize the world community’s common interest in sustaining the openness of capital markets. From the liberal perspective, countries should safeguard opportunities for productive international investment to promote prosperity. Although there is the growing literature on international regulation regarding the SWF industry (Cohen 2008; Edwin 2008; Joshua and Glick 2007; Deutsche Bank Research 2007; IMF 2008; OECD 2008), less is known about the internal structure and management of newly emerging SWFs particularly in East Asia. In order to explore possible answers to regulatory challenges, it is important to better understand the purpose and nature of the SWFs in the emerging markets. The empirical focus of the proposed research is centered on three SWFs in East Asia. They are China Investment Corporation, Hong Kong Monetary Authority Investment Portfolio, and Korea Investment Corporation. The proposed research will closely examine the purpose, structure, strategy, and decision-making process of the three East Asian SWFs. This study will employ a process-oriented case study approach that relies on content analysis and elite interviews. Specifically, the project seeks to (1) explain why the East Asian SWFs emerged in the early 21st century (institutional genesis); (2) identify critical factors that determined the design of the SWFs (institutional design); and (3) evaluate the extent to which the Asian SWFs may challenge and complement the American-led international monetary order (future international monetary order). |
| Project Title: | The Genesis and Design of China-centered Regional Institutions in the Developing World |
| Investigator(s): | Sohn IJ |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | General Research Fund (GRF) |
| Start Date: | 12/2009 |
| Abstract: |
| 1) To explain why the China-led regional institutions emerged in the developing world outside Asia (institutional genesis). 2) To identify critical factors that determined the design of the China-centered institutions (institutional design). 3) To evaluate the extent to which the China-centered institutions may challenge and complement the American-led international institutions and international order (future international order). |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Sohn I.J., International and Regional Institutions, The Warwick Commission on International Financial Reform: In Praise of Unlevel Playing Fields. 2009, 50-58. |
| Researcher : Steinhoff UB |
| Project Title: | 7th Global Conference War and Peace: Probing the Boundaries In Defence of Warlords |
| Investigator(s): | Steinhoff UB |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 04/2010 |
| Completion Date: | 05/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Steinhoff U.B., Defusing the Ticking Social Bomb Argument: The Right to Self-Defensive Torture , In: Global Dialogue 12(1) (2010), http://ftp4.dns-systems.net/orlddiag/index.php., Global Dialogue. Nikosia, 2010, 12. |
| Steinhoff U.B., In Defence of Guerrillas, Diametros. 2010, 23. |
| Steinhoff U.B., In Defence of Warlords, Asymmetric Wars, International Relations, and the Just War Theory, University of Belgrade. 2010. |
| Steinhoff U.B., In Defence of Warlords, War and Peace Conference: Probing the Boundaries, Prague. 2010. |
| Steinhoff U.B., Jeff McMahan: Killing in War, Cambridge Review of International Affairs. 2009, 22: 245-246. |
| Steinhoff U.B., On Not Believing in Justified Wars without Being a Pacifist, American University of Beirut. 2010. |
| Steinhoff U.B., The Philosophy of Jürgen Habermas: A Critical Introduction. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009. |
| Steinhoff U.B., When Is Killing in War Morally Permissible?, Compass: The soldier in the church and in the world (Kompass: Soldat in Kirche und Welt). 2009, 10. |
| Steinhoff U.B., When is Killing in War Morally Justified? , In: Hamburg Institute for Theology and Peace, Hamburg Institute for Theology and Peace. 2009. |
| Researcher : Tang JTH |
| Project Title: | Trust and identity in Southeast Asia: an empirical study |
| Investigator(s): | Tang JTH, Thomas ND |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Small Project Funding |
| Start Date: | 11/2004 |
| Abstract: |
| To conduct a pilot survey on trust in a number of selected Southeast Asian states; to quantifiably understand the impact regionalisation in Southeast Asia has had on individuals and societies; to explore the development of a truly regional identify in Southeast Asia. |
| Project Title: | International Studies Association Annual Convention, 2008 From Traditional to Non-Traditional Security: Energy in China's International Relations |
| Investigator(s): | Tang JTH |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 03/2008 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| Researcher : Wang KQ |
| Project Title: | World Congress of Political Science Constructivism, Socialization and Hegemony: Postwar Japan's China Policy and the United States |
| Investigator(s): | Wang QK |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 08/2000 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| Project Title: | 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Integration into the World Economy and China's New Reforms: Explaining The Sino-US Agreement on China's Accession to WTO |
| Investigator(s): | Wang QK |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 08/2002 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| Project Title: | The prospect of a Sino-Japanese free trade area |
| Investigator(s): | Wang QK |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Seed Funding for New Staff |
| Start Date: | 10/2002 |
| Abstract: |
| To investigate the feasibility of the free trade area between the two countries and providing an initial assessment of the prospect of the free trade area. |
| Researcher : Wang QK |
| Project Title: | World Congress of Political Science Constructivism, Socialization and Hegemony: Postwar Japan's China Policy and the United States |
| Investigator(s): | Wang QK |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 08/2000 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| Project Title: | 2002 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA) Integration into the World Economy and China's New Reforms: Explaining The Sino-US Agreement on China's Accession to WTO |
| Investigator(s): | Wang QK |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 08/2002 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| Project Title: | The prospect of a Sino-Japanese free trade area |
| Investigator(s): | Wang QK |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Seed Funding for New Staff |
| Start Date: | 10/2002 |
| Abstract: |
| To investigate the feasibility of the free trade area between the two countries and providing an initial assessment of the prospect of the free trade area. |
| Researcher : Wang X |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Burns J.P. and Wang X., Civil Service Reform in China: Impacts on Civil Servants' Behavior, The China Quarterly. 2009, 201. |
| Wang X. and Burns J.P., Food Safety Policy Coordination in Three Chinese Cities: Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong, the third Biennial Conference of the European Consortium on Political Research Standing Group on Regulatory Governance, Dublin, Ireland. 2010. |
| Researcher : Yan X |
| Project Title: | The Political Consequences of Economic Reforms in Rural China |
| Investigator(s): | Yan X |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research |
| Start Date: | 04/2009 |
| Completion Date: | 03/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| After three decades of aggressive market-oriented economic transformation, China now has a unique combination of a free market economy and an authoritarian regime under which the Chinese Communist Party tightly controls the country’s politics and society. Despite constant complaints from politicians and scholars about the lack of appropriate progress of political reform, noticeable political changes and significant institutional reforms are still underway in China, particularly in the rural areas at the grassroots. In rural China, gradual but impressive political progresses in terms of improved governmental accountability, predictability, transparency and efficiency have fundamentally transformed China’s local political scene. If political changes in China are so visible and influential, what are the dynamics behind them? Given the numerous economic, social and political forces that have been unleashed by the ongoing market reforms, it is only natural for political scientists and China observers in other disciplines to track and evaluate the political implications of the tidal wave of economic transformation, hypothesizing a strong link between economic transformation and political change. The relationship between economic change and political transformation has attracted scholars’ attention for nearly half a century. Earlier theorists operating from very different perspectives emphasize the importance of various concomitants of modernization—industrialization, urbanization, wealth and education—as necessary conditions for democratic political change. (Lipset 1959, 1981; Moore 1966; Dahl 1971). Using statistical analysis, scholars of the 1970s consistently confirmed the correlation between economic change and democratic transition, although not necessarily in the form earlier political scientists had predicted. (Jackman 1973; Burkhart and Lewis-Beck, 1994). In the meanwhile, additional variables are also introduced into this framework —such as timing (Gerschenkron 1962), government control (Bollen 1979), the nature of the economy (Bates 1991), economic crisis (Haggard and Kaufman 1997), phase of economic transition (Hellman 1998), political leadership (Varsheney 1998), living standard (Barro 1999), the nature of the previous authoritarian regime (Geddes 1999)—to qualify an overly simplistic correlation between economic and political development. Attempting to identify the driving force of democratization specific to China, three theoretical approaches are salient. First, scholars in the China field have overwhelmingly emphasized the important role played by political leaders at various levels and presented numerous leadership-centered explanations. (For example, Dickson 1998; Friedman 2005; Shi 1999; O’Brien 1994). Second, from a political mobilization perspective, scholars also offered many society-based explanations by arguing that the driving force behind democratic development in rural China is the rising political consciousness of the peasantry and the political pressure they have hitherto brought to the communist party-state (Kelliher 1992, 1994; Zhou 1996; Lianjiang Li 1995, 1996; Kevin O'Brien 2006; Jennings 1997; Tsai 2007). Third, Influenced by the modernization school, another group of scholars have attempted to establish some kind of direct links between wealth and political changes in China (Pei 1998; Rowen 1996; Epstein1996; Zweig 1997; Shi 1999). The existing literature has focused on identifying the causal links between economic development and democratic political. However, several crucial points are missing here. First, it is not clear what causal mechanism actually links economic development and liberalization to political changes. As Bruce Dickson argues, “[e]conomic development and modernization may facilitate democratization, but not directly and not always immediately. Democratization is not a natural result of economic growth, it is a political process fraught with conflict, negotiations, and occasionally setbacks.” (2003: 12) The mechanism through which economic forces of change are actually transmitted into political progress should not be overlooked. Second, compared to the Chinese cities, the many pre-conditions that are believed to be crucial for democratization are relatively weak or non-existent in rural China. Most of the rural residents in China are poorer than their urban counterparts in general. The level and quality of education in the countryside is much lower. Urbanization has not taken place in many areas and people still live in villages that are deeply embedded in traditional social networks. Property rights play a minimal role in the everyday life of ordinary peasants. If the predictions of the modernization theorists are right, rural China oughts to be the least likely place to embrace democratic changes. However, political reforms in China since the 1980s have proved exactly the contrary. This makes one wonder if there is some other mechanism at work besides the modernization theorists’ social fabrics hypothesis? Third, the classic approaches tend to focus on either pure structural conditions or pure leadership-center approaches but have generally overlooked the institutional factors. Under an authoritarian regime, because the party-state apparatus is playing a central role in the political system, “the prospects for political change are very much related to the party’s own leaders and policy preferences” (Dickson 2003) . If we want to understand the impact of economic reform on the Chinese polity, it is important to bring the party-state back in and look closely into how economic reforms have exerted impact on the ruling communist party and how the Party responded to these challenges. In light of this, this research seeks to answer the following key questions: under the unprecedentedly large-scale transition from a central command economy to a market economy, how have the various economic forces unleashed by economic reforms affected China’s authoritarian political system? Have economic forces pressed the Chinese party-state toward welcoming more transparent and democratic governance? If so, in what way? What is the role played by the communist party-state during this transformation? From a comparative perspective, how have these forces worked under different socio-economic settings? |
| Project Title: | United Front under Market Reforms: The Political Consultative Conference in Post-Mao Chinese Politics |
| Investigator(s): | Yan X |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | Small Project Funding |
| Start Date: | 01/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| Two decades after the collapse of the communist regimes in East Europe and the Soviet Union, comparative communism study has entered into a new era. After twenty years of pathological inquiry into the acute failure and demise of Stalinist communism in Europe, scholarly attention has turned to a more puzzling question: what makes the Chinese style communism or authoritarianism survive and flourish? Or more specifically, how did the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) successfully adapt itself to the changing socio-political environment? What are the unique institutional structures that have helped the CCP to remain in power and avoid a similar fate as that of its European counterparts? In the past ten years, although students of non-democratic regimes have recognized the importance of scrutinizing the mechanisms that have kept certain authoritarianism alive, little empirical work has been conducted so far—this is largely due to limited resource and—more crucially— restricted access to the secretive political processes within the existing authoritarian regimes. As Andrew J. Nathan, a prominent political scientist from Columbia University, comments in the latest issue of the Journal of Democracy, “[t]here are surely more types of authoritarian regimes than of democracies, even though the latter absorb so much of our scholarly attention.” (2009,37) In fact, the questions of how certain authoritarian regimes manage to keep themselves in power and how they change in new environment have attracted students of comparative communism for nearly half a century (Nathan, 2009; Oksenberg 2001). The resilience of the Chinese authoritarianism in the early 21st century has given new light to this long-held puzzle. In order to understand the CCP’s fascinating adaptive survival, it has become necessary for scholars to look deeply into the defining features of the Chinese regime that distinguish it from other authoritarian systems and the unique internal working mechanisms that have effectively kept the Party in power, under the fast changing socio-political environment shaped by the ongoing market reforms. By closely examining the power structure and political role of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in the nation’s local politics, this project seeks to explore the adaptation and development of one of the primary internal working mechanisms of the CCP—the United Front (tongzhan), which has yet received adequate scholarly attention. Through the observation and study of China’s local CPPCC—a crucial platform for the Party’s United Front works—this project aims at answering a series of important questions concerning this unique Chinese institution under the economic reforms: how had the CCP implemented its United Front policies through the operation of the CPPCC? How are CPPCC members selected and appointed? What are the multi-faceted roles played by CPPCC members in Chinese politics? In what way has the communist party exerted its decisive influence within the framework of the CPPCC? How had the Party’s practice concerning the United Front and the CPPCC changed and evolved under the influence of the market reforms? And how had the Party responded and adapted to the changing economic, political and social environment in terms of its United Front mechanism? And what role did the CPPCC play for the Party’s survival and governance, despite of the increasing social inequality and unrest? How have the development of CPPCC reflected the overall adaptation efforts of the Chinese Communist Party and its United Front practices? Since the 1930s, United Front has been highly recognized by the CCP itself as one of the “three treasures” that ensured the communist victory in China. However, scholarly works on this very important policy area has been inadequate at best. Lyman van Slyke’s book Enemies and Friends—published in 1967—is the first academic work that systematically examined the evolution of the CCP’s United Front policies and working mechanisms up to that time. (1967) Warren Kuo’s 1968 book, Analytic History of Chinese Communist Party provided limited yet important materials and insights concerning the development of the CCP’s United Front policies in general. (1968) Shum Kui-kwong’s book The Chinese Communists' Road to Power examined specifically the Anti-Japanese National United Front during the Sino-Japanese War (1935-1945). (1988) Gerry Groot also has completed a thesis at the University of Adelaide in 1997, devoted to the study of CCP’s United Front policies and its impact on China’s minor (non-communist) parties and their relationship with the CCP. (1997) On the other front, to explain the dynamics and process of authoritarian regimes’ adaption, Katrina Burgess and Steven Levitsky developed a two level framework that emphasizes both the environmental incentives and the adaptive capacity of the authoritarian party. (2003) Bruce J. Dickson, on the contrary, stresses the importance of the agency of political actors over structural conditions and suggests that environmental factors may accentuate the pressures on authoritarian parties to adapt but they do not automatically cause adaptation to occur (Dickson 1997). Similarly, by comparing the transition of ex-communist parties within the Soviet bloc, John T. Ishiyama argues that “the evolution of the ex-communist parties is a product of the interaction of the dynamics of intraparty struggle…with the political environment which these parties face.” (Ishiyama 1995: 164) Nevertheless, despite of all the extremely useful theoretical discussions, empirical studies on communist parties’ adaptation around the world have been extremely limited and merely focused on the adaptive change of various authoritarian political parties’ recruitment criteria over time—a transformation of elite recruitment criteria from political loyalty to education or technical competency, and most recently, to personal wealth and entrepreneurial capacity. (Hanley 2003, Walder et. al. 2000, Bian et. al. 2001, Li & Walder, 2001, Dickson 2003, 2005, 2008, Huang 2008) The existing literature on the CCP’s United Front and the adaptation of communist parties constitute a useful ground for further academic pursuit on these subjects. However, the weaknesses of the existing literature are apparent too: First, the literature on the party’s United Front has been only historical description of the CCP’s general United Front policies and strategies on the very macro-level. Little academic attention has been paid to the concrete working mechanism through which the CCP’s various United Front policies are actually implemented and integrated into bases for the Party’s political survival. Second, the existing literature on the CCP’s adaptation has only narrowly focused on the Party’s changing recruitment criteria while overlooked the Party’s many other important institutional adaptation in response to the changing environment, like that of the CPPCC. Third, the existing literature is quite limited in linking the study of the party’s United Front and adaptation. Available researches largely failed to address the issue of the adaptive efforts of the CCP’s United Front policies and practices under the ongoing market reforms; nevertheless, it apparently is one of the most crucial component of the Party’s overall effort in reforming itself within the changing socio-political environment. I hope, under the University’s financial support, this project will make an important contribution to the study of the Chinese Communist Party, its United Front policies, comparative communism as well as the adaptation of authoritarian political parties and regimes. |
| Project Title: | 68th Annual Mid-West Political Science Association National Conference Economic Liberalization, Financial Hardship and Democratic Reforms in China: The Case of Q County |
| Investigator(s): | Yan X |
| Department: | Politics & Public Administration |
| Source(s) of Funding: | URC/CRCG - Conference Grants for Teaching Staff |
| Start Date: | 04/2010 |
| Completion Date: | 04/2010 |
| Abstract: |
| N/A |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Yan X., Economic Liberalization, Financial Hardship and Democratic Reforms in China: The Case of Q County, The 68th Annual Mid-West Political Science Association National Conference. 2010. |
| Yan X., Market Reform, Financial Hardship and Political Participation: The Government Reform in Q County, The Beijing Forum. 北京論壇, 2009. |
| Researcher : Zheng Y |
| List of Research Outputs |
| Zheng Y., Coordination of A Distributive Policy: The Case of Infection Control in Hong Kong. 2009, 361pp. |