A Study Of Public Policy Failure Based On Path Dependency Theory

China has broad natural grasslands,which are not only important ecological safety network,but also herdsmen’s indispensable means of production and the basis for livestock husbandry development.Since 2011,China has implemented the "Grassland Ecological Protection Subsidies&Rewards Policy"(hereinafter referred to as "Grassland Subsidies&Rewards Policy"),which covers nationwide 268 pasturing areas and semi-pasturing counties and affects most people who are engaged in husbandry production.This policy has been part of the important strategy to assist pasturing areas,herdsmen and the husbandry industry.In addition,it’s of great significance in accelerating the construction of national ecological safety network,developing a moderately prosperous society in a large scale,and maintaining national unity and the stability close to the national boarder.As of 2016,implementation of the first round policy was completed.Subsequently a new round Grassland Subsidies&Rewards Policy will be phased in and implemented.It would be helpful to learn about the success that the first round of the policies has achieved during those five years of implementation,analyze problems or failures it may have had in order to provide useful suggestions for the second round of Grassland Subsidies&Rewards Policy.Therefore,this paper will focus on discussing reasons for failures in the implementation of this policy in Region A and will analyze the correlation between those failures and path dependence from the perspective of Path Dependence Theory.This paper will have both literature review and empirical investigation,such as questionnaire-based surveys and qualitative interviews.Based on the objectives of this policy,four aspects are investigated after summarization and analysis of mass data.These four aspects are recovery of ecological environment,sustainable development of pasturing area economy,living conditions of herdsmen,and harmony&stability of society.Results of this study showed that in terms of above four aspects,severe deviations or negative effects occurred in implementation of Grassland Subsidies&Rewards Policy in Region A.After five years of implementation of this police,its objectives were far from achieved.It was found that following factors may contribute to the failure of this policy in Region A:path dependence of public policy executive bodies and target groups,path dependence of administrative systems,and path dependence of ideology and traditional thinking habits.Therefore,according to this study,besides factors mentioned in previous research(e.g.policy defects,identity predicament,implementation deviation,time-lag effect,interest variation and negative externality)reasons of public policy failure should also include the factors related to path dependence.Thus,the Path Dependence Theory could be used for the purpose of explaining and analyzing policy failures;in so doing,it can help to make public policies more effective by examining the problem from a fresh new perspective.Finally,based on the analysis of Path Dependence Theory,this paper has suggested measures to remedy the failure of Grassland Subsidies&Rewards Policy in Region A.It is to make good use of external forces to influence and interfere with conditions that have formed path dependence,so that the lock-up state can be eliminated.The detailed suggestions include putting the concept of service-oriented government into practice;issuing and implementing public policies strictly based on an existing legal system;mitigating heavy dependence on old habits or stereotypes;improving social safety net and providing continuing supports to ongoing development.