Making collective policy entrepreneurship work: the case of China’s post-disaster reconstruction

ABSTRACT

A lower-level bureaucrat with limited political capital is unlikely to become a policy entrepreneur capable of integrating resources and seizing policy opportunities. This paper presents a case study of a group of officials who enabled collective policy entrepreneurship by combining social acuity, problem reframing, common interests, lack of resources, and complementary capabilities. Facing internal and external pressures, to further their shared goals, these policy actors adopted entrepreneurial strategies such as work innovation, resource integration, and issue promotion, to continuously influence change and innovation.

KEYWORDS:

• Collective policy entrepreneur
• post-disaster reconstruction
• sustainable development
• innovation
• China

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the selfless help and insightful suggestions given by Professor Alex Jingwei He, Jing Zhao, and the excellent anonymous reviewers of this journal.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Statistics from China’s earthquake losses in 2008, China Economic Yearbook 31 December 2009, 2008。.

2. Wenchuan earthquake two-year anniversary, State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China, 2010。.

3. A summary of Guangdong province’s assistance to Wenchuan county in Sichuan province, October 2010.

4. D1: Department 1, D2: Department 2, D3: Department 3, D4: Department 4, D5: Department 5.

5. Interview with QLD, an important official of the recipient county, Wenchuan County, Apr. 2012.

6. Interview with LHB, an important official of the reconstruction team, Chengdu City, Dec. 2018.

7. Interview with LHB, an important official of the reconstruction team, Chengdu City, Dec. 2018.

8. Interview with LHB, an important official of the reconstruction team, Chengdu City, Dec. 2018.

9. the General Office of the State Council of China, 2008. The Scheme of Supporting the Post-disaster Recovery and Reconstruction in Wenchuan (in Chinese).

10. Interview with LHB, CL, important officials of the reconstruction team and recipient county, Chengdu City, Dec. 2018.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2019WKYXQN034), and the Youth Project of the National Social Science Fund of China (No. 17CGL053).

Notes on contributors

Na Tang

Na Tang Assistant Professor at the College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. She earned her doctoral degree in public management from the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Specializing in policy process and social policy reform, she has published articles in Chinese Public Administration Review, Disability & Society, Journal of Public Administration, etc.

Li Cheng

Li Cheng Deputy director of the Comprehensive Innovation and Reform Office at the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Chengdu, China. She earned her Master’s degree in public management from the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

Changkun Cai

Changkun Cai Assistant Professor at the College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. He earned his doctoral degree from the School of Public Administration and Policy at Renmin University of China. Specializing in politics and policy in China, public service delivery and institutional analysis, he has published articles in Management World, Journal of Public Administration, etc.