IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i6p1608-d214597.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rethinking Environmental Bureaucracies in River Chiefs System (RCS) in China: A Critical Literature Study

Author

Listed:
  • Qidong Huang

    (Department of Sociology, School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Jiajun Xu

    (Department of Sociology, School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

Abstract

Efforts to understand the political complexities of water governance must include critical hierarchical or bureaucratical perspectives. The River Chiefs System, China’s national mechanism which has evolved from local attempts, values more political control than governance efficiency. Water governance, which is regarded as a political task, is allocated from river chiefs at higher levels to lower levels. The River Chiefs System stipulates that local river chiefs fully mobilize and integrate various technical and administrative forces to achieve environmental goals. However, the strengthening of local authority enables local river chiefs to combat or eliminate state power. Although public involvement in the River Chiefs System is encouraged to some extent, “government-dependent” public participation hardly ensures real public involvement and supervision.

Suggested Citation

  • Qidong Huang & Jiajun Xu, 2019. "Rethinking Environmental Bureaucracies in River Chiefs System (RCS) in China: A Critical Literature Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-13, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:6:p:1608-:d:214597
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/6/1608/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/6/1608/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yongliang Zhang & Bing Zhang & Jun Bi, 2012. "Policy Conflict and the Feasibility of Water Pollution Trading Programs in the Tai Lake Basin, China," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(3), pages 416-428, June.
    2. Chen Huang & Tao Chen & Hongtao Yi & Xiaolin Xu & Shiying Chen & Wenna Chen, 2017. "Collaborative Environmental Governance, Inter-Agency Cooperation and Local Water Sustainability in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Andreas Thiel & Catrin Egerton, 2011. "Re-scaling of resource governance as institutional change: the case of water governance in Portugal," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(3), pages 383-402.
    4. Lorenzo Compagnucci & Francesca Spigarelli, 2018. "Fostering Cross-Sector Collaboration to Promote Innovation in the Water Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    5. Alana Boland, 2007. "The Trickle‐down Effect: Ideology and the Development of Premium Water Networks in China’s Cities," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 21-40, March.
    6. Sebastian Biba, 2018. "China’s ‘old’ and ‘new’ Mekong River politics: the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation from a comparative benefit-sharing perspective," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5), pages 622-641, July.
    7. Xu, Guanghua & Xu, Xianli & Tang, Wanbin & Liu, Wen & Shi, Jing & Liu, Meixian & Wang, Kelin, 2016. "Fighting against water crisis in China—A glimpse of water regime shift at county level," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 33-41.
    8. Scott Moore, 2018. "China’s domestic hydropolitics: an assessment and implications for international transboundary dynamics," International Journal of Water Resources Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 732-746, September.
    9. Liping Dai, 2015. "A new perspective on water governance in China: Captain of the River," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 87-99, January.
    10. Ribot, Jesse C. & Agrawal, Arun & Larson, Anne M., 2006. "Recentralizing While Decentralizing: How National Governments Reappropriate Forest Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 1864-1886, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. He Chang & Huimin Liu & Shuai Jin, 2023. "Design of a river chief incentive mechanism based on blockchain: A principal–agent model," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 1534-1546, April.
    2. Huijie Li & Ru Jia & Ortwin Renn & Tianjiao Xu, 2022. "Managing Risks Arising from Conservation Complexities of Forests: Insights from China’s “Chief Scheme” Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-13, April.
    3. Yunxiang Zhang & Shichen Wang, 2021. "How does policy innovation diffuse among Chinese local governments? A qualitative comparative analysis of River Chief Innovation," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(1), pages 34-47, February.
    4. Justin Joseph & Joe Thomas Karackattu, 2022. "State actions and the environment: examining the concept of ecological security in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 13057-13082, November.
    5. Yinghong Li & Jiaxin Tong & Longfei Wang, 2020. "Full Implementation of the River Chief System in China: Outcome and Weakness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-16, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julia Brown, 2014. "Evaluating Participatory Initiatives in South Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 4(2), pages 21582440145, April.
    2. Arts, Bas, 2014. "Assessing forest governance from a ‘Triple G’ perspective: Government, governance, governmentality⁎⁎This article belongs to the Special Issue: Assessing Forest Governance," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 17-22.
    3. Kahsay, Goytom Abraha & Medhin, Haileselassie, 2020. "Leader turnover and forest management outcomes: Micro-level evidence from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    4. Pandit, Ram & Bevilacqua, Eddie, 2011. "Forest users and environmental impacts of community forestry in the hills of Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 345-352, June.
    5. Caillault, Sébastien & Marie, Maxime, 2023. "Is a village level always relevant to describe land cover changes? Analysing the landscape to understand socio-environmental changes in western Burkina Faso," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    6. Cesar Casiano Flores & Joep Crompvoets & Maria Eugenia Ibarraran Viniegra & Megan Farrelly, 2019. "Governance Assessment of the Flood’s Infrastructure Policy in San Pedro Cholula, Mexico: Potential for a Leapfrog to Water Sensitive," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-28, December.
    7. Mateusz Naramski & Adam R. Szromek, 2019. "Configuring a Trust-based Inter-organizational Cooperation Network for Post-industrial Tourist Organizations on a Tourist Route," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, June.
    8. Prakash Kashwan, 2016. "Integrating power in institutional analysis: A micro-foundation perspective," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 28(1), pages 5-26, January.
    9. Benoît Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2018. "Public Service Innovation Networks (PSINs): Collaborating for Innovation and Value Creation," Working Papers halshs-01934275, HAL.
    10. Septimiu-Rare? SZABO, 2013. "Decentralisation In The Context Of Multi-Level Governance: Study Case - Romania," Proceedings of Administration and Public Management International Conference, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 92-103, June.
    11. Benoît Desmarchelier & Faridah Djellal & Faïz Gallouj, 2019. "Towards a servitization of innovation networks: from traditional innovation networks to public service innovation networks for social innovation," Post-Print halshs-03177975, HAL.
    12. Nieto-Romero, M. & Parra, C. & Bock, B., 2021. "Re-building historical commons: How formal institutions affect participation in community forests in Galicia, Spain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    13. Angelingis Makatta & Lupala ZJ & Faustin Maganga & Amos Majule, 2018. "Forest Governance at Village Level with Potential for REDD+ in Participatory Forest Management, Tanzania," International Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources, Juniper Publishers Inc., vol. 8(2), pages 40-51, - January.
    14. Paudel, Jayash, 2018. "Community-Managed Forests, Household Fuelwood Use and Food Consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 62-73.
    15. Aijaz Ali & Farhad Analoui, 2023. "Decentralisation by military regimes and challenges to citizen participation: an empirical reflection from Pakistan," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    16. Nguyen KimDung & Simon R. Bush & Arthur P. J. Mol, 2016. "The Vietnamese State and Administrative Co-Management of Nature Reserves," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-19, March.
    17. Han Phoumin & Sopheak Meas & Hatda Pich An, 2021. "Sustainable Energy-Related Infrastructure Development in the Mekong Subregion: Key Drivers and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-21, May.
    18. Eliezeri Sungusia & Jens Friis Lund & Christian Pilegaard Hansen & Numan Amanzi & Yonika M. Ngaga & Gimbage Mbeyale & Thorsten Treue & Henrik Meilby, 2020. "Rethinking Participatory Forest Management in Tanzania," IFRO Working Paper 2020/02, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    19. Fischer, Harry W. & Ali, Syed Shoaib, 2019. "Reshaping the public domain: Decentralization, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), and trajectories of local democracy in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 147-158.
    20. Dobrynin, Denis & Smirennikova, Elena & Mustalahti, Irmeli, 2020. "Non-state forest governance and ‘Responsibilization’: The prospects for FPIC under FSC certification in Northwest Russia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:6:p:1608-:d:214597. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.