Research On China's Policy Agenda Setting In The Situation Of Network Society

Public policy is the authoritative allocation of social value and interests made by the political authority such as the government.It determines the direction of management activities and has a profound impact on social development.Policy agenda setting is the first step of public policy process,which plays the bottleneck and precondition role.Driven by the network society,the traditional policy agenda setting is facing more and more challenges.At the same time,policy agenda setting is becoming increasingly conspicuous in the situation of network age and national governance modernization.With the increasing popularity of internet and modernization research,the policy agenda setting is developing a new research paradigm.Taking China's taxi reform since 2015 as example,this study explores the realistic representation,driving factors,limitations and its optimization plan of China's policy agenda setting in the new situation of network society.The main research methods used in this study are literature analysis,case study,interviews,comparative study,deductive reasoning and inductive analysis.However,the research object of this paper is not the policy agenda setting under all circumstances and categories,in order to enhance the depth and accordance with the trend of public decision-making in modern society,the research object is set as the open policy agenda setting with the multi-subj ect participation in the network society.Policy agenda setting is situational-sensitivities,the new situation of China's network society has a profound impact on it.On one hand,"Internet+",plan improves the strategic height of network society,the network public space has become a new place for forming policy agenda.On the other hand,modern citizens are increasingly discussing and criticizing the issues in the public life,unleashing the potential of our democratic institutions.The new era situation of "Internet+",the release of democratic potential,the modern features of public thought and action,together constitute the new situation of China's policy agenda setting.John Kingdon's multiple-streams theory is the classic analysis model of policy agenda setting,but its application in China encountered the obstacles from political system,value and environment.In this paper,the model is modified to better suit to the characteristics of the network society,China's actual condition and the modernization trend.Based on the network multi-streams model.taking taxi reform in China as an example,the paper analyzes the problem stream,policy stream,political stream,information gate-keeping and policy window of policy agenda setting,finding that some new features are emerging.Firstly,the way to construct policy problem is making breakthrough under the influence of network.Secondly,integration of elite democracy and mass democracy appears in policy agenda participation.Thirdly,political opportunity structure is reestablishing.Fourthly,information gatekeeping process is gradually professionalized and institutionalized.Fifthly,the unpredictability and controllability of policy window are increasing.Through the analysis above,it is found that network promotes the transformations of policy agenda:the logical orientation is changing from "political construction" to "social construction",the process is turning from "closed mode" into "open acceptance",the participants are transforming from "elite dominated" to"mass participation" and the decision mechanism is changing from "experience control" to"rational communication".The transformations are driven by multiple factors.For example,the foremost factor is the change of social problems,internet technology plays an instrumental driven factor role.However,the social interest relationship and political system are the most fundamental and direct factors.Although modern characteristics of policy agenda setting have emerged in the network situation,there are still many limitations.With the help of Nvivo11,it is found that there are six major constraints below:lack of trust among agenda participants,the agenda objective is not scientific,low level of information disposing,the disequilibrium of the discourse power among stakeholders,the absence of legal guarantee and scientific leadership.The limitations above are caused by complex reasons.There are not only objective factors,for instance,the trust break-up in social transformation,but also ideological elements such as modern values have not been formed.Furthermore,disjointed development of legalization,institutionalization and procedural development will also bring about those constraints.How to overcome these limitations and optimize policy agenda setting in the new situation of network society is an important step to conform to national governance modernization and scientific decision-making.The essence of policy agenda setting optimization is to realize modernization.According to the systems-contingency theory,this research constructs the standard criterions and multi-dimensional system optimization model for policy agenda setting,which based on modern theories and elements from in China's actual cases.In conclusion,the optimization of policy agenda setting should be guided by the standard criterions and multi-dimensional system optimization model,measures can be taken from the dimensions of improving external environment,establishing trust relationship,cultivating modern values,updating information disposal skills,strengthening interest coordination and perfecting the guarantee system.This research makes innovative explorations in four aspects.Firstly,network multi streams model in the new situation of network society is constructed.Secondly,revealing information filtering and flowing process in policy agenda setting from the perspective of gatekeeping.Thirdly,the research points out that the essence of policy agenda setting optimization is the process of realizing modernization.Fourthly,the value standard criterions and multi-dimensional system optimization model are designed.Policy agenda setting in the new situation of network society is important and valuable,it is hoped that through this research the theoretical system of China's policy agenda setting could be enriched.The exploration on policy agenda setting is endless and more efforts need to be paid.