Experimentation, policy learning, and China's education reforms

Abstract

Policy experimentation (PE) describes a policy process in which local actors generate and test innovative policy options, with the capacity for diffusion and injection into national policymaking for reforms. Using China's new National College Entrance Examination (Gao Kao) reform as a case study, the study examines how PE encourages local innovation, enhanced participation of policy networks and learning-mediated diffusion through the constructive interplay of coercive, mimetic and normative forces. It constitutes an integral part of the country's adaptive governance to effectively involve multi-level governments and actors for collaborative policy adoption, modification and implementation.