Strong Implementation Mechanism Of The Country

Researches on state-society relations in local urban societies dominantly concluded with strong state and weak society. However, those findings are based on discussions of community participation in activities irrelevant to residents’interests and naturally state dominates over society. Even though it directly relates to key interests of residents, state is still dominating over the society. Therefore, strong state is undoubtedly a truth in contemporary China. This study takes an example of fighting against S ARS attack in Shanghai which connected life safety of every one and caused pandemonium in community to investigate mechanism of how strong state is possible. It finds as follows:on grass-root community level, institutional arrangement of Residents’Committee (RC for short) becoming the agent of its superior Street Office made it possible that state power stretches and infiltrates into society, and then legitimacy of state power was further consolidated. In the private sector, ordinary residents did not identify with the team-working of RC and Floor group leader. Meanwhile, it was difficulty to fight against SARS on themselves due to the institutional barriers. If ordinary residents would like to participate in attacking SARS, they can do only within the institutional framework. On public sector, state controlled media discourse and then media manipulated residents’risk cognition, which oriented them to be under the impression that SARS attack was not perilous and state was reliable. In conclusion, institutional settings, institutional barriers and cognitive manipulation rendered it possible that state dominated over society in SARS attacking even SARS crisis posed threat to health and lives of ordinary people.