A Study Of Regional Limited Approval In The Context Of Performance Legitimacy

As a system arrangement and governance programme that was conceived and developed in the background of performance legitimacy,with the wisdom of Eastern governance and with Chinese characteristics,the Regional Limited Approval(RLA)was once regarded as a powerful tool by political and governance groups seeking high environmental performance because of its strong policy style and superior governance performance.The official favor and esteem has made it a vivid microcosm and typical example of China’s environmental governance practice.On this premise,a review and analysis of the RLA in the background of performance legitimacy will provide us with a concrete reference coordinate for understanding the abstract issue of ’China’s system’,and also provide us with the most vivid note on the contemporary issue of ’China’s governance’.However,in stark contrast to the high level of practical concern,the theoretical research is thin and disconnected.Despite the success of the initial explorations,the existing theoretical exploration surrounding the RLA still presents a highly fragmented and homogeneous landscape as a whole: there is a lack of in-depth examination of the policy attributes of the RLA and a neglect of the detailed exploration of its governance attributes,not to mention its narrative in relation to the performance legitimacy.The huge gap in theoretical research not only limits knowledge and gives rise to debates on retention and abolition,but also shakes the foundations of the system and constrains governance practice.Therefore,how to bridge these research gaps has become a major theoretical and practical issue that needs to be addressed.To this end,this study takes the performance legitimacy as the narrative background,takes the governance practice of the RLA system as the research object,uses a holistic analytical framework constructed by drawing on political systems theory thinking,adopts a combination of quantitative research represented by the Synthetic Control Method(SCM)and qualitative research represented by the Grounded Theory Method(GTM),starts from the policy attributes and governance attributes of the RLA system,focuses on the overarching proposition of "the RLA system generation and operation(governance)",and discusses key issues such as "system production scenario and its logic","governance effectiveness realization mechanism","actual governance effectiveness","governance dilemma and its causes",and "ways to alleviate the difficulties".Through a series of progressive studies,this study has found the following:Firstly,the RLA system is an inevitable product of China’s environmental protection development to a certain historical stage.It has evolved through five distinct periods of conception,precursor,shaping,forming and deepening,showing a high degree of inheritance and continuity.Behind its evolution lies a deep logic of performance legitimacy.This logic of performance legitimacy focuses on the following:(1)The need for performance legitimacy is the original source of motivation that constitutes the evolution of the RLA system.The RLA system is produced in the process of repeatedly satisfying the need for high-level performance legitimacy;(2)Satisfaction of performance legitimacy needs becomes a stabilizer of the gradual evolution of the RLA system.When high-level performance legitimacy needs are met,the RLA system enters a state of gradual evolution based on an a priori set of "stabilizers" that combine cost leverage,learning effects,collaboration effects and adaptive expectations;(3)Dissatisfaction with the need for performance legitimacy is the propeller of dramatic change in the RLA system.When the system fails to meet the high-level performance legitimacy needs,it re-enters a relatively violent state of evolution.During this evolutionary process,the crisis of performance legitimacy satisfaction caused by the system’s shortcomings becomes the trigger for the system’s dramatic change.Performance legitimacy opportunities created by key events provide a ’window’ for dramatic change.Secondly,the RLA was able to complete the switch from the institutional model to the governance apparatus and unlock governance effectiveness thanks to a set of utility realization mechanisms that were stimulated by high-level performance legitimacy.This set covers five subsets:(1)Attention allocation: the system allocates attention consciously to attract the attention of the bureaucratic group to governance issues and then allocates governance resources;(2)Authority mobilization: the system relies on extraordinary means of propaganda and agitation to overcome differences among members and to build consensus on governance;(3)Administrative control: the system regulates and restrains the irrational behavior of its members by means of administrative instruments aimed at inducing and controlling;(4)Two-way incentives: the system uses a combination of positive and negative incentives to motivate the grassroots bureaucracy to act;(5)Hierarchical synergy: the system the synergy of multiple levels to achieve effective aggregation of governance forces.Third,while empirical studies from large samples partly suggest that the implementation of the RLA system,which carries the promise of high-level performance legitimacy,can have significant governance effects in some areas,the overwhelming evidence points to the fact that the actual governance performance of the RLA is not as positive as expected.To some extent,this finding sends a message that RLA system is at risk of governance failure,even with strong support from the political hierarchy for performance legitimacy.Fourthly,in the background of existing performance legitimacy,the RLA still faces a serious governance dilemma.This dilemma is reflected in the inappropriate coping strategies adopted by the RLA system in response to the high pressure of the demand for performance legitimacy of high-level.It is manifested in:(1)The value dilemma characterized by a usurped instrumentalism that obscures the values of the subject;(2)The efficiency dilemma characterized by expansive efficiencyism dumping on the efficiency of governance;(3)The implementation dilemma characterized by policy distortions spawned by generalised adaptationism;(4)The cooperation dilemma characterized by the tragedy of collective action created by egoism.Fifthly,the structural failure of elements of the RLA system in the background of performance legitimacy is at the root of the governance dilemma.Structural failures of systemic elements may,on the one hand,put grassroots governance actors in a "difficult" position in the face of high performance pressure from the top,and on the other hand may provide room for irrational behavior such as "inaction" or "indiscriminate action" by opportunistic elements.This structural failure of the elements is reflected in:(1)The imperfections in the perceptions and resources of "system subjects";(2)The inescapability of conflicting and ambiguous policies and the difficulty of compatibility between policy uniformity and adaptability;(3)Operational deficiencies of pressurized systems and tiao-kuai systems;(4)Misalignment of incentives and lack of fault tolerance,inadequate expression of interests and imbalance in the regulation of interests,and inaccurate evaluation and distorted information.Sixth,it is only through a commitment to structural optimization of all system elements that the RLA will be able to break out of its current governance quagmire and move steadily along the road to good governance that adapts to and meets the demands of high-level performance legitimacy.To this end,the system needs to accomplish the following key tasks: strive for the functional improvement of the cognition and resources of the governance actors,ensure the holistic coordination of policy attributes,promote the progressive change of the governance system,and promote the appropriate restructuring of the governance mechanism.The possible marginal contributions of this study are: First,it focuses on a series of fundamental theoretical issues closely related to the RLA system and its governance practices from a policy and governance perspective,greatly enriching the research level of the RLA thematic studies and making up for the lack of monotony in existing studies;Secondly,the application of performance legitimacy as a narrative context to the interpretation of the subdivision scenario of the RLA greatly extends the theoretical boundaries of performance legitimacy and enhances the depth of research on the topic of performance legitimacy;Thirdly,the study breaks through the limitations of the existing thematic research methods and uses a hybrid research method that combines quantitative and qualitative research to describe and explain the research phenomenon in a comprehensive manner,which greatly enhances the accuracy of the existing thematic research on the RLA and improves the reliability of the research findings.In addition,the results of the study will be of some value in guiding the practice of environmental systems with Chinese characteristics during the transition period,represented by the RLA,and will also be of inspiration for understanding theoretical propositions such as institutional change and "state-society" relations in the Chinese situation.