Non-governmental Organizations In China Research Articles

Flexible Organizational Weapon of the Party: The New Presence of Women’s Federations in Women’s NGOs in China

ABSTRACT In the past decade, the Party-state has shifted from pragmatic strategies to Party integration approaches when dealing with the third sector. It has reintroduced its organizational mechanism—mass organizations—to manage this sector and enhance direct linkages with its social constituents. This article investigates how mass organizations strategically connect with and govern civil society through a series of Party integration approaches. Drawing on the cases of women’s federations (WFs) and women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs), we propose a new typology of NGOs based on their relations with the Party: WF-affiliated, civic and independent NGOs. We then evaluate WFs’ Party integration strategies directed at each type of NGOs. First, NGOs directly affiliated with WFs/the Party play a unique political role. Second, to increase regime support, WFs develop patronage relations with civic women’s NGOs that are managed via the administrative system but unembedded in the Party system. Third, independent NGOs detached from both the Party and administrative organizations are flexibly marginalized. This article suggests that Party–state–society relations have been rewritten: civil society faces compound control from the administrative and Party systems, and the Party aims to build organizational hegemony.

Quest for Equitable Education in Phases: Insights From an NGO in China

Highlights Among the East Asian nations, a recurring predicament faced by educational institutions is that of providing inclusive but high-quality education. Active involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in education is valuable in China. Adream was such an NGO on education in China, established in 2008 with a singular and noble objective: promotion of equitable access to quality education within the disadvantaged regions of China. The trajectory of Adream's endeavor to secure equitable access to quality education in rural China stands as a compelling exemplar of the transformative potential that NGOs wield within the realm of education.

The program efficiency of environmental and social non-governmental organizations: A comparative study.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are becoming increasingly significant stakeholders in global governance and business operations. However, measuring their efficiency is a challenging task due to their mission-driven nature. While previous research has proposed financial and non-financial indicators to measure NGO efficiency, none of them has compared the differences between environmental and social NGOs. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the program efficiency of NGOs in China and compare the differences between environmental and social NGOs. 12 indicators are employed and tested using data collected from the Chinese Research Data Services (CNRDS) platform. The study employs multiple regression analysis to examine the influential factors identified in the dataset. The findings demonstrated different influential factors of program efficiency among environmental and social NGOs. The results of the analysis provide valuable insights for NGO operators, policymakers, and researchers in the field of NGOs.

From hutong to horizon: a study of the transformation of labour NGOs in China

PurposeThis study examines the transformation of labour non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Mainland China since the enactment of the 2017 Overseas NGO Management Law, which aims to regulate foreign concerns functioning outside the direct control of the state. It focuses on the extent to which these organisations have responded to the rapidly changing political and social environment by altering their goals and strategies in support of migrant workers. It also considers the relevance of Western social movement theories (SMTs) to China's grassroots labour movement in the 2020s. Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on case studies of ten labour NGOs operating in Beijing, Tianjin and Yunnan. It draws upon fifteen semi-structured interviews with the founders, leaders and activists affiliated with those organisations, as well as records and documented information of each of those organisations.FindingsWhile the power and influence of labour NGOs markedly diminished, most have been able to adapt their goals and the strategies remain sustainable amidst both China's changing political and social climates and the global pandemic. It suggests that conventional SMTs can still offer valuable insights into understanding the development of labour NGOs in China, although they might not fully interpret the specific conditions and challenges faced by these organisations.Originality/valueThis study stands out as one of very few to offer empirical evidence on the inner workings of China's labour NGOs over the last six years. It also contributes to our understanding of social movements in a non-Western context.

Policy advocacy of nongovernmental organizations in China: A quasi‐replication of Zhan and Tang (2013, 2016)

AbstractThis study widely replicates the original studies by Zhan and Tang to verify the impact of political opportunities and the resources of organizations on policy advocacy, which uses a much larger sample of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) who engage with social work. The main findings of the present study are similar to those of the original studies. First, the study finds that the higher the level of government support, the more likely NGOs is to engage in policy advocacy. Second, the NGOs with stronger political connections are more active in policy advocacy. Third, the income of an organization also has a positive effect on policy advocacy. However, the number of full‐time staff, location, and the level of registration of an organization does not have a significant effect on policy advocacy. The study increases the understanding of policy advocacy and the relations between the state and society in China.

The Relationship between NGO Participation and Policy Implementation in China

China has not been left behind in terms of cooperation among non-governmental organizations within its national borders. NGOs have been defending the citizens' shared interests for quite a while now. Environment, gender equality, poverty, public health, and education, among others, are just but a few aspects that the Chinese Non-Governmental Organizations focus on. The Non-Governmental organizations in China assist the government in coming up with policies and enforcing them to ensure that the people's shared interests are safeguarded. Transactional collaboration in funding shared opinions, campaigns, and advocacy assists Chinese non-governmental organizations in offering their services and, in some instances, questioning the status quo.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Power”: A 25-year Strategic Advocacy Voyage of an Environmental NGO in China

Advocacy by civil society organizations such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is especially challenging in a constraining political context. The Government of China has invited such organizations to assist in addressing emergent environmental problems while also limiting political challenges from them. NGOs need to respond to these political externalities strategically. This paper navigates a quarter-century advocacy voyage by an iconic Chinese environmental NGO—Friends of Nature—discussing how the organization adapted to meet internal organization challenges within a dynamic, restrictive political environment. We found two major strategic pathways: first, diminishing dependency on influential individual leaders by building institutional competence and reputation; second, strategic specialization in litigation that anticipates opportunities that might emerge as state policies shift, and actively shaping niches to exert impact. This study adds historical insights on an NGO’s evolution in China that can benefit other civil society organizations that face significant political, social, or legal challenges.

The Dilemma of NGOs in Vindicating Environmental Interests before the Courts: Normative and Empirical Observations from China

Abstract As one of the major legal developments of China’s environmental law, public interest litigation (PIL) has achieved impressive progress in boosting public participation and enhancing environmental law enforcement during the past few years. As a result of the concerted efforts by Chinese policy-makers, China has developed a pluralistic legal framework for vindicating environmental interests. This regulatory design could provide a wide variety of enforcement choices, thus better protecting environmental interests. However, the danger is that there may be overlaps and even conflicts concerning the coordination between different actors and approaches. More particularly, there are inherent limits in the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that restrict the practical importance of their intervention in PIL. These limits have manifold reasons, including the lack of legitimacy of NGOs in China, the lack of financial independence, the restrictions on NGOs in challenging administrative authorities, and the ascendancy of administrative authorities in bringing ecological compensation suits. As a result, it is observed that NGOs are caught in a dilemma that, on the one hand, they are expected to play a pioneering role in the promotion of PIL and, on the other hand, they are facing formidable challenges to fully explore their potential in environmental protection.

Comparative Analysis of American NGOs in China and Chinese NGOs in the U.S.

This article analyzes the activities of American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in China and Chinese NGOs in the United States in the context of global competition between the United States and China for the leadership in the future model of the world order. In International Relations theory, especially in its theoretical paradigm of realism, the consideration of states as actors in international relations dominates scholarship. However, in recent decades it has become apparent that researchers have a significant interest in non-state actors, such as interest groups and NGOs, and their impact on international relations. NGOs in China and the United States have different historical backgrounds, environments, and government institutions in different ways. Still, but in terms of comparative analysis they represent comparable categories. The analysis offered in this study shows that, firstly, despite the strict regulation of the activities of NGOs in place in China, American NGOs have more opportunities to work in this environment than Chinese NGOs do in the United States, where the situation for their activities is apparently more favorable. Secondly, despite the advantages that partnerships provide, neither American nor Chinese NGOs form partnership networks and therefore, lose momentum for their own development. Thirdly, although the conditions for their activities differ in both countries, American and Chinese NGOs have equal opportunities to pursue their goals. Finally, American NGOs in China are less dependent on their government than Chinese NGOs in the United States are on the Chinese government. The study is comparative and takes as its units of analysis Chinese NGOs in the United States and American NGOs in China. Developments in the field of interest group politics serve as the theoretical framework for this research. The investigation uses methods of comparative quantitative analysis and social network analysis, while the interdisciplinary nature of the methods allow them to take advantage of the analytical capabilities of Comparative Political Science, Interest Group Politics, and International Relations.

Effects of Government Contracting of Services on NGOs in China: Convergence and Divergence with International Experience

The government of the Communist Party of China (CPC) rolled out a national policy to contract out social and welfare services to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 2013. This study explores how government contracting of services affects NGOs. We examine three areas: marketization, financial dependency, and autonomy. We find significant convergence of the effects of contracting on NGOs in China with NGOs’ experiences in liberal democratic countries, despite divergent political regimes. Found effects are explained by the combination of the authoritarian government of the CPC with the neoliberal governance structures introduced by contracting. Convergence with international experience despite divergent political regimes is attributed to the neoliberal essence of the policy of contracting of services.

Party Building in an Unlikely Place? The Adaptive Presence of the Chinese Communist Party in the Non-governmental Organizations (NGO)

ABSTRACT Faced with the burgeoning NGOs in China in recent years, the Party-state has adopted a model of adaptive party building to maintain its presence and strengthen its grip over the evolving social sphere. Based on a two-year field work in Shanghai, this article finds that the new model is characterized by the party’s rigidity in the principle of social penetration and an array of flexible strategies to facilitate its entry. While promoting the party’s rapid organizational expansion in NGOs, the adaptive tactics also bring up problems, which may undermine the effectiveness of the party’s permeation in the long run. This article highlights the behaviors of the party’s agencies in the state-society interaction, which we suggest may shape the country’s grassroots political development in the future.

Movement-oriented labor organizations in an authoritarian regime: The case of China

How do labor organizations with a movement orientation arise in an authoritarian regime? How do they organize workers collectively in a repressive society? What movement roles do they play? What challenges do they face? To answer these questions, I use synthesized social movement theories to examine movement-oriented labor non-governmental organizations in China. Based on qualitative data collected through triangulated sources, I find that movement-oriented labor non-governmental organizations use political opportunities to promote one type of modular collective labor action, which consists of three tactics, namely the election of worker representatives, collective negotiation, and protest. They guide workers to build mobilizing and connective structures, formulate collective action frames, and amass movement resources. However, the movement roles of this type of labor non-governmental organization have weakened, owing to diminishing political opportunities caused by changes in government administration. This research contributes to our understanding of social movement theories, labor organizations in China, labor non-governmental organizations and worker centers generally, and state–society relations in non-democracies.

How to Choose the Right Partners in Cross-Sector Partnership in Emerging Countries? A Political Embeddedness Perspective

In emerging countries such as China where the government is gradually withdrawing from involvement in social affairs, firms face dilemmas around relational risks of partnering with different forms of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Affiliated NGOs (those with close relationships with government) are more likely to sabotage the social partnership through misconduct, and are also capable of higher standards of collaborative social performance compared with independent NGOs (those with few such relationships). This study proposes that firms’ political embeddedness helps mitigate relational risks in cross-sector partner selection, and finds that politically connected firms are more likely to partner with affiliated NGOs than with independent NGOs in China. This effect is more pronounced for private firms that are less socially oriented or are located in regions with less-developed formal institutions and social trust. Our findings highlight relational risks relevant to cross-sector partner selection literature and offer important insights into how relational risks can be reduced in cross-sector partner selection in emerging countries.

Alliance Building among Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations in China: The Emergence and Evolution of the Zero Waste Alliance

Despite the Chinese state’s long-standing wariness of strong horizontal linkages among nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and a deteriorating political climate for civil society activism, cross-regional alliances among NGOs have become a persistent phenomenon in recent years. This article draws on the case of the Zero Waste Alliance—a nationwide coalition of environmental NGOs engaged in waste-related matters—to identify structural conditions that encouraged its emergence and illuminate how alliance builders have interpreted their environment. The article argues that developments internal to the environmental NGO sector (an increased need to pool scarce resources and professional knowledge, a stronger inclination to collaborate among a new generation of NGO leaders, and the formation of epistemic communities), combined with conditional state lenience, have propelled activists to embark on a strategy of alliance building. This case illustrates how the perceived boundary of the permissible shifts when structural conditions incentivize entrepreneurial activists to explore new strategies, and these attempts do not provoke repressive responses. It also highlights that the state has remained conditionally tolerant of boundary-pushing NGO behavior in a sector aligning with its interests, while strengthening political control over civil society.

Best Practices of International Branding for NGOs in China

Directing branding towards an international landscape allows non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to expand to new scenes and reach larger audiences. This can open doors potentially leading to an increase in growth and impact, through collaboration with international organizations and increased fundraising outreach. Understanding how to effectively direct branding internationally is relevant for the Chinese NGO sector of today, because it brings Chinese NGOs closer to international stakeholders and increases their reach. This has a positive effect on Chinese NGOs in terms of increasing their capacity and accountability. The present article aims to contribute to building the capacities of Chinese NGOs in international branding. Through qualitative interviews with key informants of NGOs in China, quantitative observations of online activity of NGOs on international social media platforms, and desk research on the topic, this article identifies best practices of international branding for NGOs in China in terms of internal brand identity, external brand identity and brand performance.

Chinas Public Organizations as Partners of the Russian Federation in Implementing the State Policy of Assistance to Compatriots Abroad: Historical Experience of Diaspores and New Trends

The article examines the main activity directions of non-governmental organizations in China in terms of the retrospective, general trends in the present-day period and specificity of this activity in PRC and the trans-border territories of the Russian Federation. Each of the three periods of existence of the public organizations of compatriots – pre-revolutionary, Soviet and post-Soviet — has both common traits and their specificity. The first voluntary organizations for support of Russian compatriots in China appeared in terms of public initiative in early XX century. As long as a system of state support of those migrated was absent in China, the emigrants created public organizations that assisted the compatriots materially and spiritually. Compatriots’ organizations arranged «Days of Russian Culture», supported opening and existence of schools and libraries, created a Russian-speaking media space. The break-up of the USSR stimulated not only the migration processes but also consolidation of the Russian diaspores around the world, appearance of new forms of organizing the compatriots living in various countries. In the modern period the state participates actively in integrating activities of public compatriots’ organizations in the far abroad because it comprehends that these organizations scattered around the whole world are unable to fully perform defense of the compatriots’ interests, to support the Russian-speaking mass media, to preserve affiliation with the Russian culture, traditions and the language. Beginning from early 2000, the Russian federation and the People’s Republic of China have been developing inter-governmental cooperation in the + sphere of assistance to compatriots, counteraction to illegal migrations. Intensification of regional cooperations has become a new direction. In Zabaikalye Territory, the cooperation with public organizations of Russian compatriots in China is carried out by the territorial Ministry of International Cooperation and Foreign Connections. The article states major directions and forms of work with Russian compatriots in China at the regional level. It makes a conclusion that the Russian Federation places great emphasis to strengthening of partner cooperation of compatriots with Russia, the government tries along with the public to determine new and most prospective direction of activities. In China, the integration of business community, integration of youth organizations can be referred to such directions.

Accountability and legitimacy of NGOs under authoritarianism: the case of China

How non-governmental organisations (NGOs) craft accountability and legitimacy in authoritarian states is poorly understood. We put forward a framework of analysis for capturing the processes of making accountability and legitimacy. We introduce the ideas of first- and second-order accountability and stocks of accountability capital. In authoritarian regimes, building second-order accountability through the accumulation of stocks of accountability is crucial for NGOs’ survival and organisational development and as a path towards gaining first-order accountability. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork on child welfare NGOs in China from 2007 to 2017, we select three case studies with long operational trajectories to illustrate processes of crafting legitimacy and accountability. The research contributes empirically and theoretically to the understanding of accountability in NGOs in authoritarian states through the novel analytic framework and case study of China.

Non-Governmental Organizations in China since the Start of the Reform and Opening-Up

Non-Governmental Organizations in China since the Start of the Reform and Opening-Up

Building a Cross-Sectoral Interorganizational Network to Advance Nonprofits: NGO Incubators as Relationship Brokers in China

In light of the recent rise of Chinese nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and the significant roles that they are playing to advance nonprofit and voluntary activities, this article explores the network dynamics of emerging NGOs in China, known as NGO incubators. NGO incubators were birthed to provide services to civil society actors, including capacity-building training, fundraising, information support, and network formation guidance. This study examines the evolution of the organizational network of the largest Chinese NGO incubator over its 6-year formative period and provides fresh empirical evidence to illustrate how NGO incubators can powerfully bridge structural holes and build cross-sectoral alliance networks in a nascent civil society. Theoretical and practical implications for NGO development are discussed.

Legal governance of NGOs in China under Xi Jinping: Reinforcing divide and rule

ABSTRACTThe year 2016 seemed to mark a critical juncture in China’s non-profit sector as the government passed several laws and regulations, including the Charity Law. This study examines this development as part of the historical evolution of legal regimes governing NGOs, and considers the contexts of these recent legal changes. By doing so, this paper aims to infer the implications for the governance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in China. Compared to previous laws and regulations, those introduced by Xi Jinping’s administration suggest the party-state’s heightened willingness to acknowledge the numerical growth and diversification of NGOs and their contributions to Chinese society. However, the new laws and regulations also indicate the government’s willingness to adopt a more explicit divide-and-rule approach to NGOs. On the one hand, the government aims to actively incorporate those NGOs that it considers useful and innocuous into an increasingly institutionalized system of social governance and rule of law. On the other, the government is likely to apply the policy of outright rejection and repression to those it identifies as threatening the party-state’s authority.