Still accurate to call it ‘Campaign-Style’? The standardization of campaign-style governance in China's environmental management, with the water Cleanup Project in the Huai River Basin as a case study

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21696876
AutoresTong Xu (0000-0002-6442-1766, a Utrecht University Center for Water, Oceans, and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University, 3512 HT Utrecht, The Netherlands), Yuan Ma (0000-0001-8004-2793, South China Normal University), Yanxin Ma (0000-0003-4752-3370, South China Normal University)
Año2025
Volumen27
Número5
Páginas561-578
Fecha de publicación2025-05-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaWater Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1366-7017 • E-ISSN: 1996-9759
EditorialIWA Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2166/wp.2025.224
OpenAlexW4409786444
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas37

This paper examines why and how campaign-style governance (CSG) in China's environmental management has undergone a standardization process and identifies the consequences of this standardization. Drawing on the 25-year implementation of the Water Cleanup Project in the Huai River Basin as a case study, we analyze two major revisions undertaken by the Central Government to standardize the application of CSG: the ‘campaign package restrictions’ and the ‘technology-based adjustment’. We find that these revisions have transformed CSG into a hybrid governance, which combines the predictability of conventional governance approaches with the flexibility characteristic of non-conventional governance approaches. This transformation raises important questions about the institutionalization of CSG, particularly regarding the pace, stability, and legitimacy of the institutionalization process

Archaeology · Business · Cartography · China · Corporate governance · Drainage basin · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Political science · Standardization · Water resource management · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Environmental Science · Regulation and Compliance Studies · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance · Finance