The Making of China’s Public Policy
The Changing Policy-making Process
The process of policy formulation has seen major changes in China. The system of “top-down” and “inside” formulation was the norm in the past, but nowadays a “bottom-up” process has been growing increasingly strong, and public opinions are routinely solicited. Elite bureaucratic organizations such as the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) have traditionally been responsible for the first draft of plans. Today they still play this role, but quite often heed international and domestic voices in doing so.
In terms of policy deliberation, I would argue there is still some confusion in the process. Coordination among government agencies is yet to be improved, and this problem is complicated by the need to appease various interest groups.
In any event, feedback from the general public needs to be considered very seriously. Early this year I talked to someone at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said as far as foreign policy making is concerned, it is no longer solely the government’s domain of responsibilities. In many cases, netizens and social media users shape state policies. Government decisions and implementation have become more complicated. In the past, once a decision was made, the whole political machine was mobilized. As China has shifted to a market economy, social mobilization has become the most important facet of policy implementation.
Public Policy Issues
Public policy issues in China have also become increasingly complex. First of all, there are many competing objectives and interests. An issue usually involves many stakeholders and players, whose relationships are not as clear-cut as one assumes.
The system is still evolving, and there are still a lot of gray areas.
The competing imperatives of change and continuity often come into conflict. For example, I have received many complaint letters in recent years from retired people. In the 1980s many civil servants were seconded to enterprises as the country called for the development of economy and industry. It wasn’t a problem for the civil servants: they were just moved from government agencies to state-owned factories, both of which belong to the government system.
Later on China started its economic reform, during which many state-owned factories were transformed to private ones. Some did very well, but others did not. Some workers at poorly performing factories were laid off without adequate compensation; some retired on low pensions, and some were not even covered by medical insurance. Now in their 60s and 70s, they feel it is unfair that former colleagues have stable pensions while they experience many difficulties. There are millions of cases like this in the country.
I believe these people should be treated fairly, so I talked to an acquaintance, a mayor. He told me that there have been many other groups of people that suffered during the transition. Take people who have been relocated, for example. Compensation for relocation was quite low 20 years ago, but has soared in the past several years. Consequently some people have come back and said: “We want the same compensation!” But if the payment is made at the current rate, the sum will be so high that it will bankrupt the whole country. How to effectively deal with these problems is a grim challenge local governments have to face.
Another issue is that of the many uncertainties and minor details in the formal procedures of policy making. It can be very taxing trying to get through the system properly by just following the book when there are deadlines to meet.
There is increasing frequency of discussion, debate, negotiations and bargaining in and outside the formal policy-making system. Previously, negotiations were mainly among government departments, but now players outside the system, like major state-owned enterprises, also participate in the process.
The overall objective of discussions and negotiations is to attain consensus in the policy-making system. According to our research, this depends on three key factors.
First is the distribution of authority. For many issues, if the major authority for a policy falls on agency A rather than agency B, the outcome will be vastly different. The second is the distribution of knowledge. Policymaking requires substantive knowledge and those in the know will be given a platform to make their opinions heard. The third is the distribution of discretional power. Only when there is room for discretional power will individual persons concerned play a constructive role.
One interesting phenomenon is advocacy of coalition between players inside and outside the formal policy system. Entrepreneurs and the media, for instance, are becoming increasingly influential.
A Government in Learning
Cultivating well-learned and informed government officials and party leaders is incredibly important. For example, Tsing-hua University has trained over 20,000 senior officials since 2000. China’s top decision-making body, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, has held more than 70 study sessions for its members since 2002.
Consultancy meetings bringing together officials, experts and stakeholders are also an important means for senior officials to stock up on policy-making information. Recently, Internet consultancies, in which the general public can make its voice heard, have also become very popular. If it turns out that many people are against an idea, the government agency has to rethink its policies and change course. The problem, though, is who are the people on the Internet? Do they represent the people? Surely it’s not appropriate to totally rely on opinions expressed in the virtual world.
Government agencies are also learning from other countries; an international vision is important. The earliest major instance of a “learning trip” as far as I can remember is when officials from Jiangsu Province went to study in the U.S. for a full year in 1995. They took classes mainly in English, lived in students’ dormitories, and cooked for themselves. Later similar learning trips were organized, although some evolved into sightseeing tours – a misuse of the scheme.
Government agencies now require officials to have work experience in villages, factories or grassroots government agencies. Officials should undertake a half year of full-time training should they be promoted to posts of higher levels.
Transition in China is expected to be a long-term process, and learning how to deal with the situations and challenges the future brings is something to which the Chinese government attaches great importance.
