Autonomy and Coordinating Mechanisms of State-Society Boundary Organizations in Mainland China

Source:
By:Author(s)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/mmpp.v3i4.4247

Abstract:

State-society boundary organizations face the challenge to maintain autonomy as well as flexibilities to respond to various goals and needs of state and non-state actors. Chinese state used to exert much control over intermediary NGOs (boundary organizations) and some have become bureaucratized. Recent reforms have sought to transform them to be more autonomous from the government and more responsive to NGOs. This paper investigates the managerial autonomy and coordinating mechanisms of 29 intermediary NGOs in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong. Regardless whether they are initiated by the state or non-state actors, as boundary organizations, they can effectively play a bridging role when they simultaneously deploy multiple mechanisms to sustain autonomy and at the same time integrate differences of interests between state and non-state actors.

References:

[1] Metze, T.A.P., 2011. Deliberative governance in synergy with government: a case study of credible environmental improvements in the Dairy Gateway, USA. International Review of Administrative Sciences. 77(1), 31-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852310390446 [2] Noble, G., Robert, J., 2006. The Role of Boundary-Spanning Managers in the Establishment of Public-Private Partnerships. Public Administration. 84(4), 891-917. [3] Quick, K.S., Martha, S.F., 2014. Boundaries as Junctures: Collaborative Boundary Work for Building Efficient Resilience. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 24, 673-695. [4] Medvetz, Th., 2012. Murkey Power: ‘Think Tanks’ as Boundary Organizations. In: David Courpasson, Damon Golsorkhi, and Jeffrey J. Sallaz (Eds.): Rethinking Power in Organizations, Institution, and Markets. Bingley: Emerald. pp.113-134. [5] Guston, D.H., 2001. Boundary Organizations in Environmental Policy and Science: An Introduction. Science, Technology, and Human Values. 26(4), 399-408. [6] Klerkx, L., Cees, L., 2008. Delegation of Authority in Research Funding to Networks: Experiences with a Multiple Goal Boundary Organization. Science and Public Policy. 35(3), 183-196. [7] Carroll, T.F., 1992. Intermediary NGOs-The Supporting Link in Grassroots Development. West Hartford: Conn Kumarian Press. [8] Brown, L.D., Archana, K., 2002. Support Organizations and the Evolution of the NGO Sector. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 31(2), 231-258. [9] Brandsen, T., Eelco van, H., 2006. Co-management in Public Service Networks. Public Management Review. 8(4), 537-549. [10] Evers, A., 2005. Mixed Welfare Systems and Hybrid Organizations: Changes in the Governance and Provision of Social Services. International Journal of Public Administration. 28, 737-748. [11] Unger, J., Chan, A., 2008. Associations in a Bind: The Emergence of Political Corporatism. In: Unger Jonathan (Eds.): Associations and the Chinese State: Contested Spaces. NY: M. E. Sharp Inc. pp.48-68. [12] Stern, R.E., O’Brien, K.J., 2012. Politics at the Boundary: Mixed Signals and the Chinese State. Modern China. 38(2), 174-198. [13] Anthony, J.S., 2011. Contingent Symbiosis and Civil Society in an Authoritarian State: Understanding the Survival of China’s Grassroots NGOs. American Journal of Sociology. 117(1), 1-45. [14] Ma, Q., 2002. Defining Chinese Nongovernmental Organizations. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 13(2), 113-130. [15] Wu, F.Sh., 2003. Environmental GONGO Autonomy: Unintended Consequences of State Strategies in China. The Good Society. 12(1), 35-45. [16] Howell, J., 1995. Prospects for NGOs in China. Development in Practice. 5(1), 5-15. [17] Ma, Q.Sh., 2006. Non-Governmental Organizations in Contemporary China: Paving the Way to a Civil Society? London; New York: Routledge. [18] Lam, W.F., Wei, L., 2018. Network structure and collaborative innovation processes-A comparative analysis of two elderly service networks in Shanghai. Public Administration and Development. 38, 87-99. [19] China State Council, 2013. Guowuyuan Jigou Gaige he Zhineng Zhuanbian Fang’an (State Council Administrative Reform and Government Function Transformation Plan). [20] Hu, X.Zh., 2015. The Inevitable Logic of Re-initiation of Mass Organizations’ Reform. Available at: http://theory.people.com.cn/n1/2015/1215/c40531-27929344.html [21] Eastday Net, 2016. Understanding the pilot plan to reform Shanghai’s People’s and Mass organizations. November 22. Available at: http://shzw.eastday.com/eastday/shzw/G/20151122/u1a9110023_K27223.html [22] Howell, J., Tim, P., 2019. Shades of Authoritarianism and State-Labour Relations in China. British Journal of Industrial Relations. 57(2), 223-246. [23] Thorton, P.M., 2013. The Advance of the Party:Transformation or Takeover of Urban Grassroots Society? The China Quarterly. 213, 1-18. [24] Meerkerk, Ingmar van and Jurian, E., 2014. The Effects of Boundary Spanners on Trust and Performance of Urban Governance Networks: Findings from Survey Research on Urban Development Projects in the Netherlands. Policy Sciences. 47, 3-24. [25] Provan, K.G., Patrick, K., 2007. Modes of Network Governance: Structure, Management, and Effectiveness. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 18, 229-252. [26] Schneider, S.C., 1987. Managing Boundaries in Organizations. Political Psychology. 8(3), 379-393. [27] Abbott, A., 1995. Things of Boundaries. Social Research. 62(4), 857-882. [28] Coleman, J.S., 1994. Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. [29] Bouckaert, G., Peters, B.G., Verhoest, K., 2010. The Coordination of Public Sector Organizations: Shifting Patterns of Public Management. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. [30] Thompson, G.F., 2003. Between Hierarchies and Markets: The Logic and Limits of Network Forms of Organization. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. [31] Salamon, L.M., 2002. The New Governance and the Tools of Public Action: An Introduction. In: Salamon Lester M. (Eds.): The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1-47. [32] Powell, W.W., 1991. Neither Market Nor Hierarchy: Network Forms of Organizations. In: Grahame Thompson, Jennifer Frances, Rosalind Levacic and Jeremy Mitchell (Eds.): Markets, Hierarchies and Networks: The Coordination of Social Life. London; Newbury Park: Sage Publications. pp. 265-276. [33] Oliver, E.W., 1975. The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost Approach. American Journal of Sociology. 87(3), 548. [34] Miller, G.J., 1992. The Political Economy of Hierarchy. Cambridge University Press. [35] Pfeffer, J., Gerald, R.,S., 2003. The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. [36] Hart, O.D., 1983. The Market Mechanism as an Incentive Scheme. The Bell Journal of Economics. 14(2), 366-382. [37] Adler, P.S., 2001. Market, Hierarchy and Trust: The Knowledge Economy and the Future of Capitalism. Organization Science. 12(2), 215-234. [38] Agranoff, R., 2006. Inside Collaborative Networks: Ten Lessons for Public Managers. Public Administration Review special Issue. December, 56-65. [39] Winkler, Ingo., 2006. Network Governance between Individuals and Collective Goals: Qualitative Evidence from Six Networks. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies. 12(3), 119-134. [40] Li, W., Bao, Y., 2020. Politics, Markets, and Modes of Contract Governance: Regulating Social Services in Shanghai and Chongqing, China. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 691(1), 121-137. [41] Ansell, Ch., Alison, G., 2007. Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 18, 543-571. [42] Emerson, K., Nabatchi, T., Balogh, S., 2012. An Integrated Framework for Collaborative Governance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 22, 1-29. [43] Kettl, D.F., 2006. Managing Boundaries in American Administration: The Collaboration Imperative. Public Administration Review. December, 10-19. [44] Sabatier, P.A., 1993. Policy Change over a Decade or More. In: Paul A. Sabatier and Hank C. Jenkins-Smith (Eds.): Policy Change and Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Approach. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press. pp. 13-40. [45] Biernacki, P., Waldorf, D., 1981. Snowballing Sampling: Problems and Techniques of Chain Referral Sampling. Sociological Methods and Research. 10(2), 141-163. [46] Aberbach, J.D., Bert, A.R., 2002. Conducting and Coding Elite Interviews. Political Science and Politics. 4, 673-676. [47] Burnard, P., 1991. A Method of Analyzing Interview Transcripts in Qualitative Research. Nurse Education Today. 11, 461-466. [48] Burnard, P.P., Gill, K., Stewart, E.,T., Chadwick, B., 2008. Analyzing and Presenting Qualitative Data. British Dental Journal. 204, 429-432. [49] China State Council, 1998a. Shehui Tuanti Dengji Guanli Tiaoli (Registration and Management of Associations Ordinance). October 25. Decree No. 250. [50] China State Council, 1998b. Minban Feiqiye Danwei Dengji Guanli Zanxing Tiaoli (Provisional Ordinance of Registration and Management of Non-enterprise Private Agencies). October 25. Decree No.251. [51] Wang, X.S., Liu, F.Q., Nan, F., Zhao, X.P., Zhang, X.L., 2015. Giving in China: An Emerging Nonprofit Sector Embedded within a Strong State. In: Wiepking Pamala and Femida Handy (Eds.): The Palgrave Handbook of Global Philanthropy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 354-368. [52] Dickson, Bruce, J., 2000. Cooptation and Corporatism in China: The Logic of Party Adaptation. Political Science Quarterly. 115(4), 517-540. [53] Kojima, Kazuko, Jae-Yong Choe, Takafumi Ohtomo, Yutaka Tsujinaka, 2012. The Corporatist System and Social Organizations in China. Management and Organization Review. 8(3), 609-628. [54] CCP (China Communist Party) Central Committee, 2015. Guanyu Jiaqiang Shehui Zuzhi Dangde Jianshe Gongzuo de Yijian [Shixing] (Opinions [for Trial Implementation] to Strengthen the Work of Party-building in Social Organizations). [55] Nanfang Daily, 2012. The Shunde Congress passed regulations to establish statutory bodies that deliver public services. August 21, http://epaper.southcn.com/nfdaily/html/2012-08/21/content_7117208.htm