Environmental governance and rural public participation in China
Xie, L
Date: 30 June 2016
Article
Journal
China Information: a journal on contemporary China studies
Publisher
Sage
Publisher DOI
Abstract
This article investigates participatory environmental management in rural China. It first
summarizes the extent, role and key drivers of public participation in environmental
politics in China. It then investigates main scenarios of interaction between the Chinese
public and the state, in order to assess the array of possibilities ...
This article investigates participatory environmental management in rural China. It first
summarizes the extent, role and key drivers of public participation in environmental
politics in China. It then investigates main scenarios of interaction between the Chinese
public and the state, in order to assess the array of possibilities for political participation in
environmental matters. This comparative study of public participation in environmental
management focuses on grass-roots initiatives that point to increasing public enthusiasm
for policymaking processes. The article concludes that participatory practices have
impacted significantly upon environmental governance by facilitating implementation
and bettering policy and, to a certain extent, legitimizing the discretion of environmental
protection agencies. The article also indicates that grass-roots deliberative participation
has successfully achieved its goal of improving the provision of social services and public
goods. While the government’s initial approach was to improve policy implementation
without triggering political contestation, at grass-roots level this strategy has created a
sense of political awareness.
Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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