Patterns in the Evolution of China’s Volunteering Policy: A Bibliometric Analysis of Policy Documents from 1978 to 2019

Abstract

The rise of social forces in humanitarian assistance and risk governance is becoming increasingly apparent in the international humanitarian community. Yet relatively little is known about the evolution of volunteering policy in non-Western cases. This article summarizes the evolution of Chinese policy on volunteerism from 1978 to 2019 based on bibliometric analysis. Given the scarcity of such policy evolution mapping in China, the article analyzes volunteering-related policies based on a framework of ‘policy issuing networks, policy foci, and policy tools’. The evolution of volunteering policy is divided into five stages based on policy-issuing frequency, background, and content. The article identifies the core policy-issuing agencies in volunteering policy processes using network analysis, extracts the core policy foci using frequency statistics and cluster analysis, and analyzes policy tool applications using semantic analysis. This produces three main findings. First, the policy issuance network has undergone a process from ‘predominance to decentralization to clustering’, with core ‘pillars’ as issuing agencies. Second, policies have promoted volunteering in diversified policy areas and by a broad range of social actors. Third, policies leave autonomy to society by applying more symbolic and incentive tools, but in the face of national strategies, issuing agencies are inclined to adopt authoritative, system-changing, and capacity-building tools.