Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Emergence of Local Environmental Governance

Gary Paul Green李亦菲美国威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校环境保护已成为世界各国政府政策干预的核心领域。过去几十年的社会学研究阐明了公众对环境问题认识的提高导致环境政策制定的过程。环境运动的兴起，以及许多其他形式的民主表达环境态度，决定了政府投入资源保护自然环境的程度。现有的研究强调了大众环保主义的力量与国家机构保护环境的能力之间的关系。这些现有的理论假定民主制度安排的存在。在缺乏民主的情况下，如何解释环境治理的出现？专制的政府结构为地方政府参与环境保护提供了什么动机？社会学理论提供了两种假设。首先，过去的研究发现，在威权主义背景下，地方政府往往对中央政权的命令高度敏感。一些城市之所以有强有力的环境保护计划，似乎可能是因为它们与中央政府的官僚关系更紧密。其次，学者们注意到在没有投票权的情况下，政府问责的独特机制。他们指出，非正式的公开表达渠道是公众与政府之间的桥梁。因此，城市致力于环境保护似乎也是合理的，因为当地通过非正式手段强烈表达了环境保护主义。为了回答这些问题，本论文将收集中国四个城市的档案数据。对这些城市地方政府干预环境保护的历史演变进行结构化比较，以确定产生地方环境治理的政治机制。研究结果将有助于解释地方环境状态的理论，这种状态对自上而下的政治结构和自下而上的公众情绪都很敏感。环境保护是国际发展的中心问题。如果没有世界上人口最多的国家的有效参与，全球应对气候变化的努力就不会成功。目前在中国开展业务的数百家国际环保组织证明了中国在全球可持续发展事业中的重要性。这篇论文将提供有关中国政府工作的重要知识，以及它对环境保护目标的承诺和行动的倾向。共同倡议将为教育工作者、环境倡导团体和政策制定者提供环境保护政策的最佳实践摘要。在实地考察中获得的公开数据也将与感兴趣的各方分享，为未来中国和其他地区的环境保护研究做出贡献。

SES-1334870)Gary Paul Green Yifei Li University of Wisconsin-MadisonEnvironmental protection has become a core area of policy intervention for governments across the world. Sociological research in the past few decades articulated the process by which increasing public awareness of environmental issues led to environmental policy-making. The rise of environmental movements, as well as many other forms of democratic expression of environmental attitudes, shaped the extent to which governments commit resources to protect the natural environment. Existing research emphasizes the relationship between the power of popular environmentalism and the capacity of state agencies to protect the environment. These existing theories presume the existence of democratic institutional arrangements. In the absence of democracy, how is the emergence of environmental governance explained? What motivation does an authoritarian governmental structure offer for the local state to engage in environmental protection? Sociological theories provide two hypotheses. First, past research found that in the authoritarian context, the local state tends to be highly responsive to mandates from the central regime. It seems likely that some cities have strong environmental protection programs because of tighter bureaucratic connection to the central state. Second, scholars have noted the unique mechanism of government accountability in the absence of voting power. They point to informal channels of public expression as a bridge between the public and the state. It therefore also seems plausible that cities commit to environmental protection because of strong local expression of environmentalism through informal means. To answer these questions, this dissertation research will collect archival data from four Chinese cities. Structured comparisons between the historical evolutions of local state intervention in environmental protection in these cities to identify the political mechanisms that gave rise to local environmental governance. Research findings will contribute to an explanatory theory of the local environmental state that is sensitive to political structuring from above, as well as public sentiments from below.Broader ImpactsEnvironmental protection is a central problem in international development. Global efforts to combat climate change will not succeed without effectively engaging the most populated country in the world. The hundreds of international environmental organizations currently operating in the country testify to the importance of China in the global enterprise of sustainability. This dissertation will supply important knowledge about the working of the Chinese state and its propensity to commit to, and act in accordance with, environmental protection goals. The co-PI will provide summaries of best practices of environmental protection policies for educators, environmental advocacy groups, and policy-makers. Public data obtained during fieldwork will also be shared with interested parties to contribute to future studies into environmental protection in China and elsewhere.