Bringing the Bureaucracy Back: Understanding the Development of NGOs in China through the Lens of Officials’ Educational Background and Professional Experience

• In Event: Civil society and local governance

Abstract

Understanding the proliferation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) within authoritarian regimes remains a critical and contested inquiry. Within the academic discourse, the Neo-Tocquevillian literature and the corporatist theory stand as dominant yet conflicting frameworks addressing this enigma (Alagappa, 2004; Schmitter, 1974). In the realm of Chinese research, empirical literature concerning factors influencing the growth of NGOs predominantly adopts a qualitative approach, with quantitative research being relatively scarce (Ma & Liu, 2019; Li & Li, 2020). Moreover, the hypotheses in many articles primarily draw from Western classical theories. This paper endeavors to reconcile these divergent views by focusing on the profiles of government officials.
Our proposition posits that officials’ motivations encompass two dimensions: the incentives to improve performance and the incentives to evade accountability. Drawing upon this conceptual framework, we formulate three hypotheses concerning the influence of officials' educational duration, academic majors (technology/science), and previous work experience on the registration of local NGOs. To validate these hypotheses, we meticulously collect data from NGOs officially registered across 269 prefecture-level cities from 2008 to 2015, complemented by economic and social development data from cities and personal information of mayors. Employing a two-way fixed effect model, this study reveals that the education and work experience of officials can indeed influence the development of NGOs. Specifically, longer educational duration, a first major in science and technology, and previous work experience in the third sector are associated with an increase in the number of locally registered NGOs. However, these effects are primarily observed in several types of NGOs supported by the central government, which have lower political risks and more service functions. In other words, officials’ personal experiences shape their attitude towards harnessing the capabilities of NGOs but don’t significantly affect their perception of the risks associated with NGOs. These effects also vary across regions and over time.
This paper contributes to the existing literature focusing on the factors influencing the development of NGOs in several significant ways. Firstly, it highlights that the growth of NGOs is not only intricately tied to the social, economic, and cultural context but is profoundly impacted by the system designs of the central government and policy implementations by local governments. Also, this paper introduces the theory of bureaucracy, incorporating local officials’ factors, and empirically validates the influence of the personal characteristics of local government officials on the registration and development of NGOs. This expanded perspective within the non-profit field enriches our understanding of the intricate dynamics at play in the development of NGOs in the Chinese context.

References

Alagappa, M. (2004). Civil Society and Political Change: An Analytical Framework. in Civil Society and Political Change in Asia: Expanding and Contracting Democratic Space, edited by M. Alagappa. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 41.
Schmitter, P. C. (1974). Still the Century of Corporatism?. Review of Politics, 36(1), 85-131.
Ma, L., & Liu, L. (2019). What Drives Nonprofit Prevalence and Growth in Local China: Is It Demand-Driven or Resource-Oriented?. China: An International Journal, 17(2), 148-163.
Li, G. W., & Li, L. (2020). From Crowding-out to Promoting: The Impact of Fiscal Expenditure on the Development of Social Organizations. Social Construction, 7(01), 58-67. (In Chinese)

Authors

• Lihan He, Tsinghua University, School of Public Policy & Management

• Tianguang Meng, Tsinghua University, School of Social Science