PMR — pp. 1-31 2026-04-13 Original How NGOs facilitate value co-creation through multilevel and processual mechanisms: evidence from China
Shuang Tan, Yu Du, Xiaonan Wang
Abstract
This study traces the evolution of nongovernmental organization (NGO) actions in China’s waste incineration risk governance through a longitudinal analysis of the Incineration Issue Strategic Group. Findings show that NGOs facilitate value co-creation (VCC) through continuous value awakening, co-design, co-production, co-experience, and co-construction. We propose multilevel and processual mechanisms: spatially, NGOs optimize actor networks and resource integration within public service ecosystems; temporally, they enable sustained co-creation through dynamic iterations. This study expands VCC phase models, clarifying the unique role of NGOs in facilitating VCC within public service ecosystems. It also provides a replicable model for NGO engagement under state-dominated regimes.
CQ 266 pp. 385-399 2026-04-13 Original From Contention to Clientelism: Evidence from the Ten-Year Fishing Ban in China
Jingping Liu
Abstract
Abstract How do ordinary Chinese people circumvent unpopular state policies? The existing literature primarily focuses on resistance against local bureaucrats. Drawing on ethnographic research on the ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze River Basin, this article finds that fishermen (clients) continue to fish by maintaining patron–client relationships with the enforcers of the fishing ban (patrons). Ordinary fishermen seek the protection of enforcers through bribery. Enhanced state monitoring under the fishing ban facilitates bribery-based clientelism by weakening the fishermen’s everyday resistance, but it also constrains the power of enforcers by increasing the risk that their corruption will be discovered by upper-level authorities. For extremely poor fishermen, who are barely able to afford to pay bribes, their daily acts of resistance are morally justified by the need for subsistence safety, presenting enforcers with a dilemma: they must fulfil their law enforcement duties while also ensuring the survival of these individuals to maintain social stability. Therefore, cultivating a clientelist relationship with impoverished fishermen enables enforcers to manage their noncompliance, thereby balancing these conflicting goals. While clientelism protects people from unpopular policies to some extent, it more fundamentally strengthens the power of local bureaucrats, creating the potential for greater exploitation and larger-scale popular grievances in the long run.
JCC — pp. 1-16 2026-04-08 Original China’s Quasi-Mediation Diplomacy in the Middle East in the 21st Century
Mordechai Chaziza
Abstract
This study examines China’s quasi-mediation diplomacy in the Middle East as a limited form of conflict management. Rather than viewing mediation as dispute resolution, quasi-mediation is framed as a strategy for China to engage regionally while minimizing political and reputational risk. Through cases such as the 2023 Saudi-Iran rapprochement and China’s involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the article argues that quasi-mediation allows China to signal responsible power, manage regional instability, and expand its diplomatic visibility, without taking on coercive leverage or implementation. The analysis reveals that China’s efforts are more about reputational signaling and risk management than conflict resolution. Ultimately, quasi-mediation reflects China’s global ambitions and the constraints of its non-interference policy in a multipolar world.
JCC — pp. 1-18 2026-04-05 Original The Political Economy of Local Government Debt Expansion in China
Pan Liu, Jie Mao, Min Dai
Abstract
Since the 1990s, China has strengthened the Communist Party of China’s leadership over local People’s Congresses through a dual-appointment system, under which Party secretaries also serve as chairpersons of People’s Congresses. This article argues that this system enhances Party influence over legislative decision-making while further reducing institutional constraints, enabling local Party secretaries to pursue career-oriented agendas such as borrowing for infrastructure to boost economic growth. Under a growth-first development paradigm, this arrangement has fueled the rapid expansion of local government debt. Overall, these findings offer a political economy explanation for the dynamics of local government debt in China, and underscore the importance of stronger legal and institutional constraints on the dual-appointment system to mitigate local fiscal risks.
PMR — pp. 1-34 2026-04-05 Original Serving the public or checking boxes? Exploring motivations for overcompliance in policy implementation
Xue Gao, Quanfeng Shu, Hongtao Yi
Abstract
Policy implementation research has examined why street-level bureaucrats do not comply with higher-level directives; however, it has paid far less attention to why they overcomply and what this means for policy outcomes. This study addresses this gap by theorizing two competing drivers of overcompliance and analysing China’s national Solar Photovoltaic for Poverty Alleviation Program. We find that formalism is positively associated with overcompliance, while the effect of public-interest commitment is conditional on formalism. The results advance research on policy implementation and public service motivation by showing how intrinsic motivation and organizational norms interact to shape overcompliance and influence policy outcomes.
PMR — pp. 1-31 2026-04-03 Original Exploring the role of citizen-to-citizen (C2C) interactions in enhancing e-participation: a social capital perspective
Mingxi Zhou, Luning Liu, Yuqiang Feng
PMR — pp. 1-28 2026-04-02 Original The interplay of resource integration and value orientation in public services value creation: a case study of residential parking reform in China
WP 78/2 pp. 377-418 2026-04-01 Original Rightful Challengers: How Chinese Criminal Defense Lawyers Encourage Judge-Prosecutor Disagreement
Yue Hou, Jieun Kim
Abstract
abstract: In autocracies, courts are often perceived as tools of the autocrats, with lawyers viewed as lacking influence. The authors reassess these assumptions by examining criminal defense lawyers as "rightful challengers" within China's legal system. Analyzing an original data set of drug cases in Chinese criminal courts from 2014 through 2018, the authors find that when a lawyer is present, judges are three times more likely to reject prosecutors' arguments and twice as likely to deviate from prosecutors' sentencing recommendations. The deviation on average results in sentences that are shorter than the prosecutor's recommendation—shorter by more than two months in addition to the already shorter sentences judges give compared to prosecutors' recommendations. These findings suggest that lawyers can exert a substantial impact on judicial decisions by encouraging judge-prosecutor disagreement, particularly in cases that are less politically sensitive. Original interviews and close examination of lawyers' arguments reveal that the quality of defense is crucial for understanding lawyers' effectiveness in influencing court decisions. These results highlight how seemingly powerless societal actors, such as lawyers, can act as rightful challengers to powerful state actors within authoritarian regimes.
CQ 266 pp. 435-452 2026-03-30 Original Political Satire and the Decline of Discourse Quality: Evidence from China’s Online Public Sphere
PMR — pp. 1-36 2026-03-30 Original Citizens’ engagement in coproduction through digital platforms: a survey experiment study in China
Ninghui Li, Yanwei Li
Abstract
This study examines how administrative burden and transparency affect citizens’ willingness to engage in coproduction via digital platforms. In a preregistered vignette experiment, we find that lower administrative burden significantly increases participation, while digital transparency independently promotes engagement. Their interaction is insignificant, suggesting that the two factors operate through separate rather than synergistic mechanisms. These findings advance research on administrative burden, transparency, and digital governance by clarifying how platform design can encourage citizens’ coproduction.