The Road to Collaborative Governance in China. By Yijia Jing, Ed., Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015. 241 pp. Hardcover USD 100.00; E‐book: USD 79.99. ISBN 978‐1–137–52519–2.
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1780 |
| Author | Chu‐Chien Hsieh |
| Date | 01 December 2016 |
| Published date | 01 December 2016 |
BOOK REVIEW
The Road to Collaborative Governance in China.ByYijia Jing, Ed., Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015. 241 pp.
Hardcover USD 100.00; E-book: USD 79.99. ISBN 978-1–137–52519–2.
As collaborative governance becomes an imperative issue, there is an urgent need to acknowledge empirical evidence around
the world. This practical book, entitled ‘The Road to Collaborative Governance in China’, introduces the emerging concept
of collaboration and network. It includes nine case studies to help assess different types of collaboration and operation within
complex networks in contemporary China. On the basis of these cases, the authors attempt to explain the transformation of
political institutions and evolution that have affected the networked environment and collaborative patterns.
In Part I, Chapters 1 and 2 discuss social service policies and collaborative relationships from community collaboration.
In Chapter 1, the author mentions that the social policy for elderly care perceives informal exchange and resource sharing as
a distinct type of collaborative network tie, providing readers clear visualizations of performance. However, current empirical
studies have demonstrated the common collaborative perspective around the world. Is this specifically because the Chinese
government releases power to polycentric governance and decentralization? Or is this an analytic result of more oligopolistic
or duopolistic patterns not found in other countries (p.39)? The connection among service networks, accountability manage-
ment, legitimacy, and commitment does not clearly explain the transformative procedures. In Chapter 2, the local community
becomes strengthened and wields the power to balance the monopolistic condition for collaboration. The analysis of multiple
actors’collaboration provides a significant experience in the cross-boundary system. In particular, Chinese communities form
stronger cohesion and informal interactive ties in contrast to their Western counterparts. The only issue lacking is that the
results show few descriptive or quantitative statistics to prove the outcome of inter-organizational collaboration.
In Part II, this book illustrates more current concerns and more extensive events applied to global policies (Chapters 3–7).
Cases of climate protection, grassland governance, and disaster management describe how the Chinese central government
reforms institutions influenced by media, socioeconomic status, and international cooperation factories through cross-sectoral
perspectives and role structures. All these cases utilize archival data to induce transformative factors and attempt to depict the
Chinese political environment. But the picture could be more holistic if these studies showed more evidence, such as
interviewing a higher level of public administrator supporting the arguments of collaborative efficiency to reflect the real
world in China. Schlæger (Chapter 5) briefly introduces the four cases of E-policy to take on cultural evolution. The point
argued is that Chinese governments have gradually released the right to different types of outsourcing, public–private part-
nerships (PPPs), and resource sharing to alter the hierarchical structures. As we know, Chinese governments still exert power
in policy-making and implementation process, even adopting the market approaches for collaboration so far (p.139). The au-
thor could explain more about interactions among these actors to corroborate the exacerbation of risk conflict in terms of
diverse actors’collaboration (p.138).
Based on the previous perspective, the author might illustrate why the projects drove the conflict during the collaborative
process, indicating who the central and broker actors are to dominate the network and transit information to vertical and
horizontal levels. On the other hand, in Chapter 6, collaborative disaster management discloses the importance of trust,
information sharing, and accountability. This study affirms the results of three stages and highlights the key factors influenc-
ing the effectiveness for disaster reduction, response, and recovery. However, the authors do not specifically explain the
criteria to define the influential fact. Because only nine actors were involved in the interviews, this study seems to lack local
nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and organization voices, usually playing important roles between formal and informal coop-
eration networks. The immense pressure on governments from NPOs and community groups requires more transparency,
accountability, trust, and reliability, all of which can be achieved through collaborative networks. Another case of highway
construction (Chapter 7) employs PPPs to figure out two mechanisms, suggesting that the Chinese public policies are on the
way to breaking the monopoly and developing a more market-access approach (p.180). In spite of constructing a clear frame-
work of collaborative conflict, the authors might describe the correlation between PPPs and network. ‘PPPs’indicate the con-
cept of a dyadic relationship within a network (Singh and Prakash, 2010), but ‘network’addresses the innovative process and
sustainability of the relationship (Mandell and Keast, 2007).
In Part III, Chapters 8 and 9 focus on the intergovernmental collaboration and interpersonal networks that break the stereo-
type of Chinese autocratic government. Based on the experiences of local and regional multiple jurisdictions, the collaborative
transformations are achieved through vertical to horizontal networks. This change is on the basis of breaking geography. This
study tells us a great story of inter-provincial collaboration through two-mode network visualizations. However, the author does
public administration and development
Public Admin. Dev. 36, 359–360 (2016)
Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pad.1780
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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