Why Collaborative Governance of Public Services Can't Be in China: Institutional Competition Among the Departments in the Authoritarian Regime

The public services in China is segment ,that performed as bulls management, the long chains and information enclosed. The problem caused the bad effect of public services which reduced public satisfaction with the government,... [ view full abstract ]

The public services in China is segment ,that performed as bulls management, the long chains and information enclosed. The problem caused the bad effect of public services which reduced public satisfaction with the government, even challenged national governance capacity. It has been considered as the result of hierarchical functional division alienation and the government's fragmentation yet the concept of holistic governance failed in China. The mechanism of segmentation of the public services in China need more explanation which related to collaborative governance.
By means of power theory, the research tries to model mechanism of segmentation of the public services related to collaborative governance faliure in China and testify it by rescue services for the poor in Guangzhou. The research suggest that segmentation of the public services in China is the result of institutional competition among the departments in the authoritarian regime. The authoritarian regime which is characterized as ‘Single Center’ resources distribution, upward accountability and leadership in charge of functional departments resulting in functional departments to compete on the node of the bureaucracy, to shorten the distance between the centers of power and occupy the structure holes inside and outside the bureaucracy as much as possible. The departments established social capital by improving the approval of power, improved revenue abilities by more financial resources, expanded development by establishment strength and steady the location and avoided liability risks by information resources. It made the collaborative governance among different departments can’t be possible, and the public services being segment.
Owing to the interference of state power, the bureaucracy in China both have the abilities of state power and domination which led to the professional management and political competition are existed in the bureaucracy together which is totally different with bureaucracy of Weber. Therefore , the segmentation of the public services in China no longer the monopoly of profession which is common in bureaucracy of Weber, but the results of the political competition among the departments.That is to say, in the authoritarian regime, collaborative governance of public services in China is relied on the political reform more than the management skills.