Comparative and Empirical Study on Interest Groups and Civil Society Organization in China and other Countries

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In this project, a survey was administered by post to social organizations registered at each government and civil administrative jurisdictional level in the city of Beijing and the provinces of Zhejiang and Heilongjiang (2,858 valid responses were received for a valid response rate of 32.1%). The survey instrument consisted of a total of 65 questions, covering a wide range of topics including the circumstances regarding the establishment of social organizations, as well as their personnel, finances, and activities. Through the survey, the following points are revealed:First, in looking at social organizations as differentiated by type, academic organizations, despite having been voluntarily formed, have a high level of financial dependence on the government and demonstrate trends of integration with the government as well in their activities. In contrast, trade organizations, with their top-down organizational structure, have a unique financial base, make use of the personnel network … More shared with the government, and proactively undertake lobbying activities, demonstrating certain tendencies towards [being like] interest groups. Second, in terms of area, the social organizations of Zhejiang province possess a high level of independence, comparatively speaking, in personnel matters. The social organizations of Heilongjiang face challenging financial difficulties and demonstrate inclinations towards being dissatisfied with the currently strict social organization administration system. Third, in looking at the level at which social organizations are registered, it appears that insofar as the level at which the social organizations are registered is low, the percentage of voluntary establishment also decreases, and it is clear that in terms of finances, these social organization demonstrate tendencies of being reliant on the government. Fourth, in looking at the year of establishment, a high percentage of the social organizations that have come into being since the 1980s (in other words, comparatively new social organizations) were voluntarily established, and they demonstrate trends of being independent from the government in terms of both personnel and finances.With regard to the analysis, we utilized graphical analysis techniques, and each variable's relative proximity was diagrammatized to attain a grasp of the overall structure.The social organizations that were the target for this research are those social organizations within the national corporatist system in China, and this research is recognized as being a fundamental critical study in grasping the structure of China's civil society and changes within that structure. In addition, from similar studies undertaken in Japan, South Korea, the U.S., and Germany that included the same types of question items, in a country such as China that may be characterized by its trend towards having a special constitution in the past, the main accomplishment of this research is its contribution to the debate in comparative political science through accumulation of abundant and fundamental data concerning China. Less