2025/08/29 by Huirong Chen, Yangxin Bian · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance #Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics #Local Government Finance and Decentralization
paper · doi:10.1017/s030574102510115x
openalex publication_date 2025/08/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract How do local officials in China initiate and sustain policy experiments within a bureaucratic system that often obstructs innovation? This article examines local policy experimentation through the lens of bureaucratic power networks, identifying three key challenges: agenda-setting challenges related to superiors, coordination challenges involving peers and implementation challenges concerning subordinates. When formal power networks fail, entrepreneurial officials develop informal interpersonal networks, positioning themselves as “uninvited advisors” to superiors, “rhetorical allies” to peers and “supportive mentors” to subordinates. Using the case of “police–business cooperation” in Shanghai, the study reveals how the committee on comprehensive management of public security mobilized property management companies to maintain social stability. This article contributes to research on policy experimentation by situating experiments within bureaucratic power dynamics and highlighting the role of informal networks in overcoming institutional barriers. It also reveals the mechanisms by which the Party assigns social control tasks to commercial entities.