Deviation Of Public Policy Implementation:Civic Psychology And Behavior Analysis

At the present stage of our country,there are various problems in the practice of public policies within the realm of policy implementation,in other words,those problems are more closely related to policy implementation,such as a series of major public policies — "giving priority to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness","allowing some people to get rich first","reforming the state-owned enterprise","alleviating the poverty","anti-corruption" and "institutional reform",which are related to China’s social development to achieve the expected policy objectives and effects.The key lies in whether they can be widely recognized,supported,and forcefully implemented.However,the emergence of increasingly serious power corruption in the process of reform stems from the distortion and even elimination of many scientific and reasonable policies in the process of implementation.Furthermore,it is of special significance to study the deviation of policy implementation in the period when the legal system is gradually improving but not yet perfect.Western scholars have not made a special study on the deviation of public policy implementation,and their relevant discussions are scattered in the research literature of public policy implementation.The domestic research on the public policy implementation started late and is still in the preliminary stage.The theoretical study is not deep enough,and there is few literature on the deviation of public policy implementation.The theory of human-situational interaction is one of the main contents of psychological research.Situations and individuals interact and influence each other.The combination of situations and traits can reveal one’s behavior.According to the psychological field theory of German psychologist Lewin and the concept of social situation,mentioned by American social psychologist Allport,it is of theoretical and practical significance to study the psychology and behavior of citizens in the special situation of deviation of public policy implementation from the perspective of psychology.Political trust is an important variable in the measurement of the relationship between the citizen and the government.It combines Zhang Shuwei’s "government behavior-civil experience model"(2018)with Samuel’s "social deprivation model"(1967)to explain political trust.The study examines the relationship between relative deprivation,political trust and social adaptation(behavior)from the perspective of the deviation of public policy implementation bias.Four studies were carried out.The study I(pre-study)was observed in the situation of the conventional social context,to analyze the current situations and problems of the relative deprivation,the political trust,and five social adaptation and reveal their relationship between the variables.The second study carried out in a lab scenario experiment,which mainly aimed at analyzing how the public relative deprivation and the political trust impact the two social adaptions — the compliance(non-anomie)and the rebellion(anomie)under the public policy implementation deviation situation.On the basis of the second research,the third study explored further.By means of the experiment of laboratory simulation,in the same situation,it analyzed the mode of how the public relative deprivation and the political trust influenced the specific rebellions.The last study,in the context of the real social life,investigated the psychological mechanism of the public policy implementation bias,and the public relative deprivation,political trust and anger which affected rebellion.Study Ⅰ(pre-study)collected data on relative deprivation of the public,political trust and social adaptation through a self-designed questionnaire,using a typical sample in citizens nationwide for a questionnaire.The study was designed to get the evidence to uncover the relationship between normal psychological,behavioral responses and variables of citizens in conventional social situations.The data analysis of 1058 citizens in 18 provinces(provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions)showed that in the normal social context,the public has both the political trust and a sense of relative deprivation.Educational level and type of occupation have major impacts on the citizen’s political trust and relative deprivation.The individual and family income and place of residency do not affect civil political trust,but they affect citizens’ sense of relative exploitation.Citizens will basically conform to the social adaptation mode on a regular basis.The citizens with stable economic income,stable work and high social status are tended to choose the "Non-anomie" social adaptation;on the contrary,citizens with low economic income,unstable work and taking labor work are more likely to adapt to "Anomie".Political trust is a mediating factor of relative exploitation,conformity and rebellion.Study Ⅱ adopted a Laboratory Reading Scenario,to design a context of deviation of public policy implementation.It manipulated the subjects’ sense of relative deprivation and the level of political trust to measure the role of social adaptation under public policy deviation and to explore the role of political trust between relative deprivation and different social adaptations.The data were taken from 122 college students and the results showed that,under the deviation of public policy implementation,the participants of high or low political trust were more likely to be compliant with social adaptation.The participants with low relative deprivation were more willing to work social adaptation while the higher ones were more inclined to adapt to the rebellious social adaptation.There were no distinctive differences in the rebellious social adaptation.Political trust played a moderating role in relative deprivation and conformity/rebellion.In study Ⅲ,a more involved laboratory simulation model was used to set up a public policy implementation bias situation in the event of "College students,who participate in the policy solicitation of grant allocation".By setting different proportion of state grant to different degree of trust and poor students,manipulating the level of individual political trust and relative deprivation,the participants were measured under the condition of high and low political trust and relative deprivation.The intention of moderate cluster behavior(joint insurrection)and intense cluster behavior(sit-down rebellion),and the regulatory role of political trust among them,were further refined and verified by the data analysis of 104 poor college students in the second study.The participants with higher relative deprivation were apt to use the joint rebellious behavioral intention under the circumstance of deviation of public policy implementation and political trust.There were no significant differences in the joint rebellious behavioral intention.Political trust worked as a mediator in relative deprivation and joint name,and sit-in-rebellion behavioral intention.In study Ⅳ,a typical sample was used to select citizens from all over the country through self-designed questionnaire.In the real social situation,the public has experienced the deviant events of public policy implementation,and the study analyzed the psychological mechanism of its rebel behavior.Based on the emotional focus orientation theory of cluster behavior and the introduction of anger emotion variables,the relationship models of relative deprivation,political trust,anger emotion and rebel behavior style are constructed on the basis of the above research,further verifying and popularizing the ecological validity of laboratory research.The data analysis of 1324 citizens in 18 provinces(provinces,municipalities and autonomous regions)showed that,relative deprivation and political trust significantly affected rebellious behavior under the condition of deviation of public policy implementation.And political trust could moderate the impact of relative deprivation of rebel behavior.Through the intermediary of anger,the regulating effect of political trust reacted on the rebellious behavior.There are three significance and contributions of the present dissertation.First,at the theoretical level,the impacts that political trust and relative deprivation have on social adaptation modes(behaviors)were discussed under two separate conditions,i.e.,conventional social situations and deviations in public policy implementation.In this way the psychological and behavioral studies are enriched from the perspective of China domestic social situation governance.In addition,it established the mechanism in which public’s political trust was guaranteed in special cases and social adaptation modes(behaviors)were under the influence of moderating effect.It analyzed action modes under different conditions from the perspective of intermediary and adjustment.Second,at the methodological level,using contextual reading scenarios and laboratory simulation tests to manipulate political trust and relative deprivation types to explore various social adaptation modes(behaviors)of individuals.This research method addressed the lack of experimental study in the field of political psychology.Furthermore,in the experiment,situations were created to explore the possible differences in the psychological and behavioral aspects of the conventional and special situations,in an effort to provide experimental paradigm reference for the subsequent related research.Thirdly,at the applicational level,addressing the practical problems in social governance in the current transitional period,we discussed it from the perspective of psychology,thereby providing empirical research support for functional departments to conduct social management and services.Therefore,the dissertation could shed more light on precautionary measures in solving mass incidents.