The Governance of Non-governmental Organizations in an Authoritarian State
Title | The Governance of Non-governmental Organizations in an Authoritarian State PDF eBook |
Author | Qian Wei |
Publisher | |
Pages | |
Release | 2019 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
How are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) governed in the authoritarian context of China? Adopting a perspective of power, this thesis investigates in-depth the governance of Chinese NGOs at the macro-, meso- and micro-level in three chapters. Multiple statistical techniques are used to analyze primary as well as secondary data collected from philanthropic foundations in China. The first chapter focuses on the societal level, examining how the authoritarian government governs and steers the NGO sector at the macro level. Through multilevel modeling, the findings show that the Chinese government has adopted a more sophisticated, indirect approach rather than using direct control to govern and regulate NGOs in China. The second chapter focuses on the organizational level, examining the internal governance and particularly the leadership style within Chinese NGOs. Through box plots and ordinary least squares regression, the results suggest that leaders of Chinese NGOs have a more democratic-orientated leadership style than people from other types of organizations such as government agencies and private corporations; however, this leadership style becomes less democratic under the influence of public donations in China. The third chapter turns to the individual level, conceptualizing and measuring CEO power by proposing a two-dimensional (structural power and individual power) framework and multiple indicators. Through factor analysis and ordered logistic regression, the findings show that CEOs' individual power has no significant effects on financial performance, while structural power presents a double-edged effect: it is positively associated with one kind of organizational effectiveness (public donations) but has a negative impact on another (overhead costs). This thesis makes contributions to the literature in two ways: (1) theoretically, this study takes an under-explored power perspective, which not only provides a more consistent and unified perspective for understanding the public governance and nonprofit governance of NGOs but also sheds new light on these longstanding topics; (2) empirically, primary data on Chinese NGOs, especially regarding internal governance and management, are scarce. This thesis develops different ways to operationalize governance and power and also provides new empirical evidence on the organizational governance of NGOs in China. In summary, this thesis establishes a comprehensive picture of how NGOs are governed in the authoritarian context of China. As a special kind of organization with a democratic mandate, NGO governance in the authoritarian context of China is under more pressure than we realize.
Allies or Adversaries
Title | Allies or Adversaries PDF eBook |
Author | Jennifer N. Brass |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 293 |
Release | 2016-08-18 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1316721051 |
Governments throughout the developing world have witnessed a proliferation of non-governmental, non-profit organizations (NGOs) providing services like education, healthcare and piped drinking water in their territory. In Allies or Adversaries, Jennifer N. Brass explains how these NGOs have changed the nature of service provision, governance, and state development in the early twenty-first century. Analyzing original surveys alongside interviews with public officials, NGOs and citizens, Brass traces street-level government-NGO and state-society relations in rural, town and city settings of Kenya. She examines several case studies of NGOs within Africa in order to demonstrate how the boundary between purely state and non-state actors blurs, resulting in a very slow turn toward more accountable and democratic public service administration. Ideal for scholars, international development practitioners, and students interested in global or international affairs, this detailed analysis provides rich data about NGO-government and citizen-state interactions in an accessible and original manner.
Social Organizations and the Authoritarian State in China
Title | Social Organizations and the Authoritarian State in China PDF eBook |
Author | Timothy Hildebrandt |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 235 |
Release | 2013-02-18 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1139627570 |
Received wisdom suggests that social organizations (such as non-government organizations, NGOs) have the power to upend the political status quo. However, in many authoritarian contexts, such as China, NGO emergence has not resulted in this expected regime change. In this book, Timothy Hildebrandt shows how NGOs adapt to the changing interests of central and local governments, working in service of the state to address social problems. In doing so, the nature of NGO emergence in China effectively strengthens the state, rather than weakens it. This book offers a groundbreaking comparative analysis of Chinese social organizations across the country in three different issue areas: environmental protection, HIV/AIDS prevention, and gay and lesbian rights. It suggests a new way of thinking about state-society relations in authoritarian countries, one that is distinctly co-dependent in nature: governments require the assistance of NGOs to govern while NGOs need governments to extend political, economic and personal opportunities to exist.
Building Civil Society in Authoritarian China
Title | Building Civil Society in Authoritarian China PDF eBook |
Author | John W. Tai |
Publisher | Springer |
Pages | 151 |
Release | 2014-08-28 |
Genre | Law |
ISBN | 3319036653 |
How is modern civil society created? There are few contemporary studies on this important question and when it is addressed, scholars tend to emphasize the institutional environment that facilitates a modern civil society. However, there is a need for a new perspective on this issue. Contemporary China, where a modern civil society remains in a nascent stage, offers a valuable site to seek new answers. Through a comparative analysis of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in today’s China, this study shows the importance of the human factor, notably the NGO leadership, in the establishment of a modern civil society. In particular, in recognition of the social nature of NGOs, this study engages in a comparative examination of Chinese NGO leaders’ state linkage, media connections and international ties in order to better understand how each factor contributes to effective NGOs.
NGO Governance and Management in China
Title | NGO Governance and Management in China PDF eBook |
Author | Reza Hasmath |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 224 |
Release | 2015-07-16 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1317437136 |
As China becomes increasingly integrated into the global system there will be continuing pressure to acknowledge and engage with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Suffice to say, without a clear understanding of the state’s interaction with NGOs, and vice versa, any political, economic and social analysis of China will be incomplete. This book provides an urgent insight into contemporary state-NGO relations. It brings together the most recent research covering three broad themes, namely the conceptualizations and subsequent functions of NGOs; state-NGO engagement; and NGOs as a mediator between state and society in contemporary China. The book provides a future glimpse into the challenges of state-NGO interactions in China's rapidly developing regions, which will aid NGOs strategic planning in both the short- and long-term. In addition, it allows a measure of predictability in our assessment of Chinese NGOs behaviour, notably when they eventually move their areas of operation from the domestic sphere to an international one. The salient themes, concepts, theories and practice discussed in this book will be of acute interest to students, scholars and practitioners in development studies, public administration, and Chinese and Asian politics. Reza Hasmath is a Lecturer in Chinese Politics at the University of Oxford, UK, and an Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta, Canada. His research looks at state-society relationships, the labour market experiences of ethnic minorities, and development theories and practices. Jennifer Y.J. Hsu is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her recent publications include a co-authored book HIV/AIDS in China: The Economic and Social Determinants (Routledge, 2011), and a co-edited book The Chinese Corporatist State: Adaption, Survival and Resistance (Routledge, 2012).
The Role of Non-governmental Organizations in the Development of Democracy
Title | The Role of Non-governmental Organizations in the Development of Democracy PDF eBook |
Author | United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations |
Publisher | |
Pages | 96 |
Release | 2007 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN |
The Governance of Philanthropic Foundations in Authoritarian China
Title | The Governance of Philanthropic Foundations in Authoritarian China PDF eBook |
Author | Qian Wei |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 151 |
Release | 2022-12-16 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1000776077 |
This book is the first monograph to provide a multilevel analysis of power dynamics underlying the governance of philanthropic foundations in the authoritarian context of China. As a special kind of organization with a democratic culture, Chinese foundations’ governance is under more pressure than we realize. The government has been evolving its methods to impose stringent control over foundations (Chapter 3) and “purer” foundations highly dependent on individual donations are more likely to adopt authoritarian leadership styles rather than being mechanisms spreading democratic values in Chinese society (Chapter 4). However, this practice does not come without a price. Given power’s double-edge of both enabling and constraining effects, although strongman leaders may use their power to get things done, their power may also cause the problem of accountability (Chapter 5). Overall, Chinese society is a stable system with authoritarian power modes. This system is not static but in constant flux, homogenizing incompatible parts until all units of the system adopt the same power mode. This book establishes a comprehensive and bleak picture of the unfavorable conditions foundations in China face and provides valuable insights to understand the future of the nonprofit sector in China. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of sociology, political science, and nonprofit studies (NGO management). It will also be a valuable resource for NGP practitioners.