Social Assistance in China, 1993–2002: Institutions, Feedback, and Policy Actors in the Chinese Policy Process

Abstract

From 1993 to 2002, the emergence of the urban resident Minimum Livelihood Guarantee (MLG) system saw a major reconfiguration and expansion of social assistance in the People's Republic of China. The development of the MLG has been a complex process. The initial emergence and design of the MLG reflect space in the Chinese state for innovations and feedback in the social assistance agenda. The expansion and development of the MLG can be explained by the interventions of key policy actors. These actors pushed the MLG for a variety of different reasons. The resources available to these actors and the outcomes of their interventions were a reflection of their institutional position in the bureaucracy. Contributing to existing studies of Chinese social policy reform, this article argues that the emergence, design, and development of the policy reflects institutional space, constraints, and feedback in the Chinese policy process.