The Effect Of The Nested Dynamics Of Community: The Cohesion Of Community Social Capital In Social Governance

In the practice of social governance aimed at building a community of shared responsibility,where everyone has a role,fulfills their responsibilities,and enjoys the benefits,the practical and theoretical value of fostering and nurturing community social capital in Chinese society is widely highlighted.Taking into account diverse dimensions such as collectivism-individualism,structural-cognitive,and bondingbridging,community social capital is defined as a collective social resource characterized by structural participation and cognitive trust,shared and owned by residents,evolving with community development,and continuously providing convenience for the public interest.This article focuses on the institutional overlay and cross-level relationships within communities,exploring whether and how various contextual elements within communities influence the aggregation of community social capital in the context of social governance practices in China.The research strategy follows a balanced approach of theoretical guidance and empirical support.The theoretical framework,based on the analysis of community cascading contextual effects,decomposes the issues related to the aggregation of community social capital.It investigates the differentiation and temporal evolution of community social capital in governance practices at the micro-level,the governance by capable individuals and elite leadership at the meso-level,the institutional transitions and workplace relationships at the meso-level,and the wave of digital governance and network interventions at the macro-level.Empirically,this study relies on two national datasets,namely the "Social Network and Occupational Experience Survey" and the "China General Social Survey." Rigorous examinations of research hypotheses are conducted using regression analysis,latent class analysis,age-period-cohort models,propensity score matching,and individual fixed-effects models.Ultimately,four specific findings are obtained.Firstly,social governance practices drive the differentiation and temporal evolution of community social capital.On one hand,in line with diverse community types,four ideal types of community social capital have emerged in the context of social governance practices in China: closed dormant,open dormant,closed active,and open active.The closed dormant type is more prevalent at present.On the other hand,there is a trend of transformation from closed dormant to open dormant and open active types of community social capital across different age groups,periods,and generations.The open dormant and open active types are more common among middle-aged and elderly populations with more social interaction experience and leisure time,during periods of more mature social governance practices,and among the younger generation who have better growth environments and are more influenced by the Internet.Secondly,the tradition of governance by capable individuals brings about differentiation in elite leadership and consequences of elite interaction at the microlevel.On one hand,subjective elite identification,objective elite status,and identity bias mechanisms collectively shape the aggregation of community social capital.Objective elite status enhances residents’ community social capital,while subjective elite identification weakens it.Identity bias favoring higher status is less conducive to the aggregation of community social capital among ordinary residents.On the other hand,elite residents’ community interactions may lead to dimensional differentiation.Elite residents’ community interactions can help community residents gain resource advantages and enhance structural community social capital,but they can also increase trust barriers and weaken cognitive community social capital.The improvement of social governance levels can enhance the dual benefits of elite residents’ community interactions in enhancing structural community social capital and mitigate the negative consequences of weakening cognitive social capital.Thirdly,institutional transitions shape workplace relationships at the meso-level,including workplace support and institutional differentiation.On one hand,workplace belongingness can generate "spillover effects" and help residents with workplace belongingness gain advantages in the aggregation of community social capital.This advantage will continue to expand with the deepening of social governance processes.On the other hand,institutional differences bring about differential effects.Residents working in Party and government departments,state-owned enterprises and institutions,and non-institutional sectors show a decreasing trend in community social capital,and the differences among them tend to widen with the deepening of social governance processes.Fourthly,the wave of digital governance triggers the technological empowerment and normative reconstruction of macro-level network interventions.On one hand,network interventions empower community social capital at the technological level,and residents who have Internet access or higher Internet usage capabilities have advantages in the aggregation of community social capital.On the other hand,network interventions reconstruct community social capital in different dimensions at the normative level.The higher the level of community network interventions,the more it leads to a decline in structural community social capital,an increase in cognitive community social capital,and an enhancement of the bridging characteristics of community social capital.Based on the specific findings mentioned above,the overall research conclusion of this article can be summarized as follows: the process of community social capital aggregation is embedded in the practices of social governance and the layered context of local communities in China.Under the background of social governance practices in China,the complex trajectory of institutional transitions and cross-level subject relationships embodied in communities provide unique containers and foundations for the aggregation of community social capital.The various contextual elements within communities serve as driving forces for the aggregation,differentiation,and evolution of community social capital within the practice of social governance.The dynamic impacts of social governance practices are also manifested through the transmission within communities and materialize in the aggregation of community social capital.This article’s theoretical advancement in the study of community social capital can be summarized into four points.First,it focuses on the doubt surrounding the aggregation of community social capital,departing from polarized debates detached from structural and individual perspectives,and fully addressing the possibility and mechanisms of community social capital aggregation in the Chinese community context.Second,it emphasizes the significance of complex institutional contexts within communities.Starting from the overlapping structures of institutions and cross-level subject relationships,it deconstructs the complex attributes formed by historical evolution and current practices,and provides a more comprehensive examination of the relationship between layered community contexts and community social capital.Third,it highlights the dynamic practice process of social governance.It grasps the characteristics of community social capital aggregation in social governance practices from a more flexible variable perspective,deeply embedding the aggregation of community social capital into the overall development context of grassroots society in China.Fourth,it seeks a balance between locality and universality.While promoting the localization of community social capital,it also emphasizes dialogue with the universal theoretical knowledge of community social capital.It aims to enhance the explanatory power of community social capital theory in the local context while enriching the general theoretical understanding of community social capital.In addition,this article responds to the practical implications of social governance practices by depicting partial institutional channels and resources for the aggregation of community social capital in the construction of social governance communities.It provides more inclusive goals and bases for community classification governance and refined governance,and highlights broader and hidden social public risks beyond traditional individual economic risks.In terms of methodological optimization,this article enhances the theoretical significance and robustness of the data.It employs latent class identification and age-period-cohort models to more accurately fit the data and conduct longitudinal analysis.It considers endogeneity and robustness through causal statistical models and data cross-validation,and explores and validates the impact of social governance levels at the urban level in an exploratory manner.