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This article applies Q methodology to examine citizens' motivations to engage in Chinese city governance, more specifically to participate in the City Governance Committee in Nanjing. We identify three orientations underlying citizens' motivations to engage in coproduction: the optimistic believer, the active expresser, and the commissioned influencer. Our data show that expressive values, self-efficacy, and normative values are important reasons underlying Chinese citizens' engagement in coproduction. The orientations that we have found clearly differ from motivations that are reported in research conducted in a Western context. Our analysis suggests that governors should improve citizens' self-efficacy for coproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Urban planning projects are planned and organized through arrangements between actors. These arrangements are institutional interventions: they intervene in the institutional landscape as existing organizational boundaries are (temporarily) redrawn. Such boundary decisions are intended to simplify complexity. However, these boundary decisions also produce new complexities as new boundary issues arise. Our contribution investigates these boundary issues by studying and comparing three urban planning projects in the Rotterdam urban system (the Netherlands). The analysis shows that the boundary issues are often underestimated and that coping strategies are required to deal with them. Because boundary issues pose serious threats to the success or even survival of projects, management should invest in increasing the capacity to deal with (often unexpected) boundary issues., Introduction The management and organization of urban planning projects is accompanied by institutional interventions to deal with the complexity of the projects. Institutional interventions are materialized organizational arrangements between the [...]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2010.01843.x Byline: CHARLOTTE BAX (1), MARTIN DE JONG (2), JOOP KOPPENJAN (2) Abstract: In the early 1990s, in order to improve road safety in The Netherlands, the Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV) developed an evidence-based 'Sustainable Safety' concept. Based on this concept, Dutch road safety policy, was seen as successful and as a best practice in Europe. In The Netherlands, the policy context has now changed from a sectoral policy setting towards a fragmented network in which safety is a facet of other transport-related policies. In this contribution, it is argued that the implementation strategy underlying Sustainable Safety should be aligned with the changed context. In order to explore the adjustments needed, two perspectives of policy implementation are discussed: (1) national evidence-based policies with sectoral implementation; and (2) decentralized negotiation on transport policy in which road safety is but one aspect. We argue that the latter approach matches the characteristics of the newly evolved policy context best, and conclude with recommendations for reformulating the implementation strategy. Author Affiliation: (1)Charlotte Bax is in the SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research, Leidschendam, The Netherlands. (2)Martin de Jong and Joop Koppenjan are in Delft University of Technology. Article History: Date received 10 March 2008. Date accepted 19 August 2009.

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2010.01822.x Byline: HAITAO ZHENG (1), MARTIN DE JONG (2), JOOP KOPPENJAN (3) Abstract: In this article, we explore whether policy network theory can be applied in the People's Republic of China (PRC). We carried out a literature review of how this approach has already been dealt with in the Chinese policy sciences thus far. We then present the key concepts and research approach in policy networks theory in the Western literature and try these on a Chinese case to see the fit. We follow this with a description and analysis of the policy-making process regarding the health insurance reform in China from 1998 until the present. Based on this case study, we argue that this body of theory is useful to describe and explain policy-making processes in the Chinese context. However, limitations in the generic model appear in capturing the fundamentally different political and administrative systems, crucially different cultural values in the applicability of some research methods common in Western countries. Finally, we address which political and cultural aspects turn out to be different in the PRC and how they affect methodological and practical problems that PRC researchers will encounter when studying decision-making processes. Author Affiliation: (1)Haitao Zheng is Assistant Professor, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. (2)Martin de Jong is Associate Professor, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands and Professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology, Management School, Harbin, China. (3)Joop Koppenjan is Associate Professor of Policy, Organization and Management, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. Article History: Date received 17 October 2007. Date accepted 29 March 2008.

Horizontal governance arrangements potentially conflict with the very principles of the representative democracy and its political institutions. This conflict manifests itself in the interaction between representatives and the executive power: Although the former has the formal power to decide upon policies and to check their implementation, the latter participates in horizontal networks and therefore has more resources to influence the content, evolvement, and outcomes of the policy process. This erodes the power position of representatives. Framework setting is commonly suggested as an arrangement for representatives to enhance their grip on policy processes. The authors of this contribution examine the effects of framework setting as coupling mechanism between horizontal networks and vertical politics in six policy processes in a Dutch province. Based on network theory and research findings, they suggest redefining the concept of framework setting in order to make it more attuned to the complex, interdependent, and dynamic nature of policymaking in networks. KEY WORDS: governance, networks, representative democracy, framework setting, Introduction: Horizontal Governance in a Representative Democracy Both in the public administration literature and in policy practice, terms like 'policy networks' and 'governance' are in vogue (Hajer & Wagenaar, 2003; [...]

This article explains variations in the strategies Chinese local governments apply to address protests against the planning, construction, or operation of paraxylene (PX) plants. We present an analytical framework that identifies government strategies and explanatory conditions. Using a most-similar-system design (MSSD), we compared government strategies adopted by three city governments – Dalian, Xiamen and Kunming – in coping with these protests. In response to PX protests, the Kunming and Dalian municipality continued construction or operation of the PX plant; in contrast, the Xiamen municipality relocated the plant. Our comparative analysis showed that the preference of higher level governments and national mass media, as well as perceived costs, are key conditions explaining these differences. Overall, we conclude that Chinese local governments, due to contradictory pressures and lock-ins, have little room to respond to citizens' concerns during protests. In our conclusion, we compared our findings with those of an earlier application of QCA on a broader set of cases, including those analyzed here, to validate our findings and clarify the added value of MSSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]