Study On The Project System In Public Service Delivery At Grassroots In Urban China

Since the establishment of the tax-sharing system between Chinese central government and local governments in late 20 th century,the project system has diffused to the area of public service delivery and thus become a brand new governance system in contemporary China.Previous literature mainly focuses on the projects injected into rural areas by the central government and presents the background,structural premise,operation mechanism,and potential influences based on rich cases collected from field research.However,current research pays little attention to the projects of public service delivery in urban China,especially projects for self-governance in urban grassroots,the study on which can contribute to the literature of the project system on the one hand and can present policy implications for the transition of government functions and the enhancement of state capacity.Projects for self-governance in urban grassroots,as a new tool for delivery of public services,have been prevalent in Chinese cities,the most important feature of which is the strong interaction between the state and society.Actors in society are mobilized by the state and participate in grassroots governance.So,what are the features and types of projects for self-governance in urban grassroots? To what extent do the operation mechanism and the logic of projects for self-governance in urban grassroots differentiate from that of the traditional project system? What influences may projects for self-governance in urban grassroots bring about to public service delivery and local communities? How will projects for self-governance in urban grassroots evolve in the future? What roles will government agencies play in governance through projects in the near future? This dissertation examines the projects for self-governance in urban grassroots by case studies of Shanghai based on the massive data collected from field research by participatory observation and in-depth interviews to answer the questions above.This dissertation consists of four parts including eight chapters.The first part serves as an introduction,including the significance,theoretical foundations,methods,research ideas,and the contributions and shortcomings of this dissertation.The second part includes the second and third chapters,which focuses on the backgroundof projects for self-governance in urban grassroots and begins with a brief review of Chinese state governance models including campaign-style governance,governance through projects and collaborative governance and finds that governance through projects is popular in China nowadays,based on which this dissertation focuses on the study of the projects of public services in urban grassroots.The author sums up the establishment of tax-sharing system,fiscal transfer and specific working funds,the thinking of performance legitimacy,the reform of street-level government agencies and the mobilization tradition of the ruling party as the structural premises for the projects of public services in urban grassroots and the governments' need to incorporate grassroots governance into daily routines,optimize governance resources,and respond to societal appeals as well as the societal appeals to participate in public affairs act as the dynamics of the projects of public services in urban grassroots.These two chapters serve as the premise of this dissertation.The third part of this dissertation includes the fourth and fifth chapters,which focuses on the outer features,typology and inner mechanism of projects for self-governance in urban grassroots and finds that the projects for self-governance in urban grassroots boast unique features compared to traditional projects as they can operate with smaller-scale funding,identify the real demands of the public,demonstrate strong interactions between the state and society and pay attention to both professionalization and public interests.According to the principle of whether the projects can deliver public services directly,projects for self-governance in urban grassroots can be categorized as direct public service projects and indirect public service projects since the former mainly focus on the role of supplement to basic public services by government agencies,the cost reduction by adjusting resource allocation and the provision of service platforms while the latter primarily focus on the of role of enhancing professionalization of projects by nurturing professional talents,reshaping governance mechanisms and facilitation of service delivery.They both contribute to making public services accessible to the public,fostering democratic habits for local residents and social capital to enhance community unity and good governance.Meanwhile,this dissertation includes contracting out projects,packaging of different projects,competition for projects,implementation of projects,evaluation of projects and diffusion of the experience of excellent projects in the operation mechanism of projects for self-governance in urban grassroots to respond to the administrative contracting out theory and the hierarchical operation mechanism.The fourth part includes the sixth,seventh and eighth chapters of this dissertation,focusing on the internal logic and external influences of projects for self-governance in urban grassroots,which first reveals the logic to control and foster societal forces in the operation of projects for self-governance in urban grassroots by local government agencies and their roles in reshaping local communities.However,the disadvantages of projects for self-governance in urban grassroots can not be neglected.For instance,the fragmentation of public services due to lack of comprehensive planning and young people's apathy to participation are two difficulties to overcome.The positive impacts and disadvantages compose the results of projects for self-governance in urban grassroots.In the future,governance through projects will gain a stronger momentumand the tension between technical governance and adaptation as well as tension between professionalization and localization will be adjusted based on case studies,in which government agencies should be built into project nurturing and planning platforms and bubs for project information and platform-building.In sum,the projects for self-governance in urban grassroots have become an integral part of the project system and will exert far-reaching influence on urban grassroots governance in China.As a result,more rigorous comparative case studies and more sophisticated quantitative research are needed to present differences in operation mechanisms and to identify influential factors since this dissertation only tries to demonstrate a brief picture of the projects for self-governance in urban grassroots.