A Study On Social Governance Of Macao With The Participation Of Associations

In the historical development,Macao has formed a unique association culture because of its special political,economic,and social culture.Macao has been governed by Portugal for hundreds of years.During that period,Macao was just like a melting pot of culture where different races live together,and different ideologies coexist.Under the premise of striving for harmony,we will gradually construct a dual cooperative governance system that accommodate multiple profit demand and integrate multiple social energy.The function of association has developed a distinctive ?quasi governmentalization?and ?quasi party?,which has had a profound influence on the public governance of the Macao society.Usually,the main factor in the formation and growth of the governance system is the internal development within the region.However,it is not applied in Macao.At different times,there are different strengths and weaknesses between the Macao government and the associations.In fact,the formation and growth of the Macao dual cooperation governance system is inseparable from the transforms in political,economic and diplomatic relations between China and Portugal.Moreover,Macao has a unique Chinese-Portuguese community structure and a multi-racial,multi-cultured tradition resulting in the relationship between the Macao association and the government is mainly directed by a cooperation system.After Macao's handover to China,with the implementation of the gambling franchise policy,Macao was evolved to be the world's top international gambling city from a non-famous small fishing town.However,the rapid growth of the economy has also led to an intense social conflict.Many new types of associations have emerged and boomed,and these associations have made great changes in their structure.In addition,the Macao associations continue practicing the role of ?quasi governmentalization? in social services and management.Since the Macao Basic Law stipulates the political status of associations in Macao,it is hardly proceeded without the participation of the Macao associations for the election of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council elections.Therefore,the Macao associations participate in consultation and representative elections in form of ?quasi political party? has been further strengthened.Under the guidance of profit-driven and system-oriented,the number of associations in Macao has increased annually.And it becomes a special phenomenon in this small city.Based on a brief statistical figure,as of March of 2018,there were 8,756 associations legally registered in Macao SAR.With the continuous differentiation in benefit,the marginal benefits of associations' participation in public governance are becoming slight.Problems such as fragmentation of the associations,weakening of service functions,and representative functional variability are becoming more apparent.In recent years,a series of large-scale social political campaign have emerged,and can find that the number of associations and individuals participating in has expanded.This depicted that there should be some invisible problems in the original association system.Can these problems be solved? How to solve? The ?Macao Basic Law? has established the principle of ?one country,two systems?,?Macao people governing Macao? and ?a high degree of autonomy?.In addition,it has stipulated a certain institutional space for Macao's political development and governance model.Then,how can be better explored the governance value of the resources of the Macao associations and the coordination system of the social corporatist system to promote Macao into a better governance system is essential.This research is supported by the theories of associations organization,public selection,third sector theory,corporatism,civil society theory,and the Strategy(Game)theory.Apply references to domestic and foreign theoretical literature and cases to analysis the actual situation in Macao.The way is different from the predecessors' emphasis on the study of associations functions and revolutions.Here implements the public management point of view.Under the premise of multi-centers and public selection theory as the analytical framework,the theory of public selection and public governance is mainly used to explain the historical context,current situation and the problems of the Macao associations.Research methods such as historical analysis,literature research,quantitative investigation,and interviews are applied.And for the interview arrangement,a more detailed questionnaire is particularly prepared.In the acquaintance society of Macao,a questionnaire survey can be adopted to understand more about the actual situation of Macao community participation in social public governance,and to explore the current status and existing problems of social public governance in Macao.Based on the above methods can find out the subtle changes in the relationship between the association and the government due to organizational and functional changes.The findings show that after the Macao's handover,the model of community participation in social governance has developed to the characteristics of ?quasi governmentalization? plus?quasi political party?,which brings new challenges to the social governance of Macao.Through the revolutions in corporate system can clarify the causes and provide solutions for the real problems.As a result,suggestions on how the Macao associations participate in public governance can be made.The main objectives and research conclusions are as follow:(1)Macao has formed a unique association culture because of its special historical background.As a result,a dual cooperative governance system between the government and the associations are constructed.Before the handover to China,the features of Macao associations are solitary ?quasi governmentalization?.However,the features grow to?quasi governmentalization? plus ?quasi political party? after the handover government.(2)With the continuous differentiation in benefit,the marginal benefits of associations' participation in public governance are becoming slight.Problems such as fragmentation of the associations,weakening of service functions,and representative functional variability are becoming more apparent.There is the critical status on choosing a right path for Macao associations development.(3)The Macao civil society based on social cooperativism is undergoing profound reform and transformation.Based on the conclusion of the public choice theory,the time when government formulate the public policies,there may be some parties trying to influence the decision by lobbying and exerting pressure on the strategies for their own sake.However,these wrong policies are only profitable to this minority but not the majority.(4)This study believes that at the meantime,promoting the construction of civil society is the most important.Of course,civil society should face up to the way of strengthening its own capabilities,especially the construction of democracy within the community,and strive to maintain cooperation-oriented collaboration and establish a harmonious balance between the civil society and the government governance.The vision of establish a good governance model of modern society with ?strong government and strong society" is set.