Research On The Behavioral Logic Of Local Government In The Process Of NIMBY Conflict

With the continuous progress of modernization,China is facing unprecedented opportunities,but at the same time,it is also entering a critical period of social transformation where social conflicts occur frequently.The increasing influx of rural residents into cities has led to a rapid expansion of urban population,which on the one hand puts pressure on urban public infrastructure and on the other hand it also puts higher demands on the level of local government capacity.Based on the reality of China’s rapid urban development,the construction of NIMBY avoidance facilities to solve urban problems is essential.Although the construction of such facilities can meet the needs of local residents,facilitate production and life,and promote economic and social development,the negative externalities of the facilities themselves will inevitably bring negative impacts on the production and life of the surrounding residents,thus triggering NIMBY conflicts are frequent.Local governments are not only important subjects of national governance,but also “agents” of the central government at the basic level.They have the need and responsibility to collect the demands of the public,guide citizens to participate in public life according to the law,and resolve NIMBY conflicts.Therefore,based on the necessity of NIMBY conflicts resolution and the importance of local governments for conflict resolution,studying the behavior of local governments in the process of NIMBY conflicts avoidance and exploring the various logic behind the behavior can help improve the behavior of local governments and resolve NIMBY conflicts.This study is divided into four main parts,which are the construction of the behavioral logic analysis framework,NIMBY case selection,behavioral logic analysis,and behavioral optimization suggestions.Firstly,based on motivation theory,characteristics and goals of local government behavior,constructing a logical analysis framework of local government behavior,research through benefit logic,ability logic,relationship logic,and organizational logic.Secondly,based on the principles of detail,completeness,representativeness,sociality and importance of the cases,selected representative NIMBY conflicts in Shifang,Sichuan(heavy metal project),Qidong,Jiangsu(water pollution project)and Xishui,Hubei(waste-to-energy project)from the“ NIMBY conflicts cases database ” constructed by the group and mapped the fourstage process of neighbor conflicts for case review.Then,analyzing the logic of local government behavior in the process of NIMBY conflicts,the study found that the consistency of behavioral processes presented by local government behavior in different cases is influenced by the benefit logic,ability logic,relationship logic,and organizational logic.The logic of benefit logic includes the pursuit of performance development,the maintenance of social stability,the pursuit of efficiency in decisionmaking,and the avoidance of accountability risks.The ability logic includes insufficient ability to identify claims,insufficient ability to negotiate democracy,insufficient ability to communicate risks,and insufficient ability to compensate for benefits.The relationship logic includes victimization strategies,legal strategies,media mobilization strategies,and scaling strategies.The organizational logic includes success-reinforcement and failure-avoidance,referring to the dependence of local government behavior on the original path of the organization.Finally,based on the analysis of the logic of local government behavior,this study tries to propose the optimization path of local government behavior from four perspectives: benefit,ability,relationship,and organization.First,improve the benefit objectives,including building a flexible social stability mechanism,improving the performance benefit assessment mechanism and optimizing the local administrative accountability system.Second,enhance ability building,including building a knowledge co-shaping decision-making mechanism,building a consultative democratic governance model,improving the risk communication mechanism and establishing a compensation mechanism with diverse benefit.Third,renewing the concept of relationship,which includes changing the concept of government,adopting flexible means and enhancing the culture of citizenship.Fourth,innovative organizational paths includes strengthening the construction of comprehensive governmental management mechanisms,enhancing the response ability of public officials,and improving the literacy of local government leaders.