Suchergebnisse

Since the reform and opening-up policy was implemented in China, consultations have been increasingly carried out during the policy-making process. This often involves experts, many of whom are based in think-tanks or similar institutions. The degree of access to the policy-making process varies, and consequently some experts influence the policy-making process significantly and others not. This book explores how experts in China engage with the policy-making process and the circumstances, which affect how far they are able to influence policy-making.

Despite continuing criticism of the Chinese authoritarian political system, the range of participants in the decision-making process has widened, with different social actors now playing an increasingly important role in the Chinese policymaking process. Accordingly, the role of think tanks in the policymaking process has generated great interest within and outside China. This book explores the behaviour and influence of China's think tanks, and explains the reasons and social consequences of the rise of think tanks in China.The book raises several questions on the topic: How did think tanks emerge in China? What are the essential factors that determine think tanks in terms of building their governmental and personal networks? How do think tanks work and build their influence in the Chinese policy process? What happens to Chinese society when think tanks become important policy participants in the policy process? The book goes on to discuss new perspectives on policy processes and elite politics in China, and empirically, with comparative case study and data from nationwide questionnaire surveys, provides a comprehensive picture of think tanks in the current political system of the country.

Dans le présent article, nous conceptualisons un « régime de la connaissance politiquement ancrée » dans lequel le pouvoir politique est profondément enraciné dans les réseaux administratifs et personnels entre les décideurs bureaucratiques et leurs consultants professionnels. Afin d'illustrer les caractéristiques du régime de la connaissance politiquement ancrée, j'évalue les effets du système de la porte tournante (revolving door) sur les « think tanks » (groupes de réflexions) chinois. Je constate de manière empirique que la porte tournante contribue de manière négligeable à l'influence et aux revenus des « think tanks » en Chine. De plus, la porte tournante a des effets négatifs significatifs sur la construction des réseaux sociaux personnels des membres des « think tanks ». Nous effectuons une analyse hétérogène et un appariement des coefficients de propension pour présenter la robustesse des résultats de la régression. Remarques à l'intention des praticiens La politique de la « porte tournante » a toujours été considérée comme un facteur essentiel pour la prospérité des « think tanks » américains. Elle est aujourd'hui devenue la stratégie de recrutement dominante pour les « think tanks » internationaux. En particulier, le gouvernement et le monde universitaire chinois adoptent à présent le mécanisme de la porte tournante dans le cadre de la création des « think tanks » chinois. Pourtant, aucune recherche empirique systématique n'a été menée pour évaluer les effets exacts de la porte tournante sur les « think tanks » chinois. Mes observations empiriques révèlent que les expériences de développement des « think tanks » américains ne sont peut-être pas aussi efficaces lorsqu'elles sont appliquées à d'autres pays ayant des régimes de la connaissance différents.

This article conceptualizes a "politically embedded knowledge regime" in which political power is deeply embedded in administrative and personal networks between bureaucratic decision-makers and their professional consultants. To demonstrate the features of the politically embedded knowledge regime, I evaluate the effects of the revolving door on Chinese think tanks. I empirically find that the revolving door has a negligible contribution to the influence and revenue of think tanks in China. Moreover, the revolving door has significantly negatively effects on the personal social network building of think-tankers. Heterogeneous analysis and propensity score matching are conducted to present the robustness of regression results.Points for practitionersThe "revolving door" has always been regarded as an essential factor for the prosperity of American think tanks. It has now become the prevailing recruitment strategy for global think tanks. In particular, the Chinese government and academia are embracing the revolving door mechanism for the development of Chinese think tanks. Nevertheless, no systematic empirical research has been conducted to evaluate the exact effects of the revolving door on Chinese think tanks. My empirical findings reveal that the developmental experiences of American think tanks may not be as effective when applied to other countries with different knowledge regimes.

Since 2013, the establishment of "New-Type of Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics" (NTTTCC) has been highly promoted by the Xi Jinping administration. "The Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of NTTTCC" was approved by the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms in 2014, while the "National Top Think Tank Pilot Programme" was approved by the Central Leading Group in 2015. With these efforts, the comprehensive management architecture for think tanks has been established in China.

The rise and fall of public intellectuals in contemporary China is essentially attributed to the ever changing state-society relations. The author demonstrates that some Chinese public intellectuals have developed a new strategy to promote policy changes in the Hu-Wen era through civic activism in the name of ordinary citizens, by abandoning their traditional capacity as experts or intellectuals. The article summarizes three specific actions of civic activism, namely, 'petition for constitutionality review as citizens', 'provisional voluntary citizen groups' and 'netizen public welfare enterprises'. Cases have been studied to demonstrate that the policy entrepreneurship of public intellectuals in civic activism can be manifested as innovation and strategies that challenge the lacunae between policy and existing institutions. (J Contemp China/GIGA)