Frontiers of policy process research in China

Abstract

Policy process theories have advanced significantly theoretically and methodologically in the past decades, featuring multiple theoretical frameworks that engage diverse communities of policy scholars (Weible, 2018).The study of policy process theory calls for both a comparative perspective (Tosun & Workman, 2018) and theoretical generalization (Weible, 2018).While most of the modern policy process theories originated from the Western contexts, empirical tests of and further advancement of these theories have been conducted in many non-Western contexts.China, the world's second-largest economy and rising international power, deserves more theoretical attention, given the uniqueness of its political system and the complexity of its policymaking process.Under this background, scholars explore possibilities in testing, expanding, and fine-tuning policy process theories in China (Chen et al., 2015;Yi et al., 2018;Zhu & Zhang, 2016).While these explorations started the initial conversations on the dynamics around policy making in China, a special issue covering a more diverse set of perspectives on the policy process in China is much in need, such that policy scholars in China and the world can engage in a conversation that facilitates theoretical advancement and generalization.Policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation differ among countries due to disparities in political systems.Public policy research requires both a theoretical lens and a focus on concrete, contextual details.It is not only necessary to generate theories from these differences to enhance understanding of public policy but also significant to analyze the logic of policy processes in specific contexts, to increase the accumulation of local knowledge and to enhance the explanatory power and predictability of public policy research.Politics and administration are highly integrated in China, different from many Western contexts.The Communist Party of China implements a system that combines collective leadership with individual division of responsibilities.The party committees are responsible for formulating public policies and managing the legislative, administrative, and judicial agencies of the state.Since the reform and opening-up, China's government has incorporated local governments, experts, and other stakeholders into the policy agenda through large-scale policy experimentation to enhance the rationality and legitimacy of decision-making.Chinese government stimulates policy innovation in local governments through decentralization reforms.These reforms have reshaped China's policy system and policy process, enhancing the adaptability and resilience of public policies.Many policy scholars have thus conducted research focusing on the policy process to explain China's success and problems in reform.Some of this important literature are highlighted in the following sections. AGENDA SETTINGSince the reform and opening-up, the agenda setting in China has gradually shifted from being dominated by power elites to the interactive creation of policy issues.Decision-makers have focused on enhancing interaction with local officials, experts, and citizens, to engage in a ORCID

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