Explaining the expansion of the NGO sector in China

Through the lense of adaptive corporatist governance

Bibliographic Data

ID6040339
AuthorsEsther E Song (0000-0002-7242-0712, University of Bergen, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume16
Issue3
Pages377-394
Publication date2024-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Politics & Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1943-0787 • E-ISSN: 1943-0779
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/aspp.12752
OpenAlexW4400099482
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited35

What explains the exponential growth of the number of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in China during the recent decades? Moving beyond the extant literature that focuses on the strategic relationship between NGOs and the local state, this article argues that the growth can be also attributed to the central state which has focused on the promotion of different types of NGOs throughout time. The proactive role of the central state has become more conspicuous under the Xi Jinping administration where the party‐state plays a more active role in maneuvering the growth of a service‐oriented third sector. This adaptive strategy has led to the counterintuitive phenomenon of an increase in institutional space for NGOs in authoritarian China, especially the social service‐oriented NGOs in recent years. This article draws from theories of institutional change to explain the process through which the central state has expanded institutional space for NGOs throughout time

Authoritarianism · China · Corporate governance · Democracy · Development economics · Economic system · Economics · Extant taxon · Management · Phenomenon · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Promotion (chess · Sociology · State (computer science · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Administration · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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