A Case Study of China’s Administrative Reform
- 15 April 2009
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in The American Review of Public Administration
- Vol. 40 (2), 170-188
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074009334075
Abstract
Although it is generally acknowledged that China, in its public sector reforms, has “learnt from the West,” the mechanisms and effects of the processes of learning and imitation in China are little understood. The recent “Sixth Round of Administrative Reforms” in which the Western concept of the “super-department” was presented as a key theme is used as a case study of the processes involved. Chinese leaders intentionally and actively sought the administrative reform experience from Western nations. A broad and coordinated search for models and lessons was undertaken involving a number of government agencies and research institutions, including universities. However, the government-sponsored research seemed to stay at the surface of the issue and, once the model was chosen, the policy makers tended to idealize it in order for it to be accepted by the public. We conclude that this was a case of “superstitious learning” and “biased contextualization” in which the symbolic—as distinct from instrumental—purposes of borrowing a Western reform idea for domestic purposes was the predominant feature.Keywords
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