Bridging critical institutionalism and fragmented authoritarianism in China: An analysis of centralized water policies and their local implementation in semi‐arid irrigation districts

Abstract

This paper attempts to bridge critical institutionalism and fragmented authoritarianism in China. Moving beyond the predictive functionalist perspective and the overemphasis on state primacy, the paper focuses on how top‐down water policies are exercised by local agencies, collective communities, and individuals at the county level and below. Through a case of irrigation management in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, this paper posits that institutional bricolage and fragmentation are prevalent despite the imposition of the authoritarian state. Moreover, it shows that local water policy implementation is reshaped by various contested discourse, the pursuit of different interests, social relations, and broad transformative forces. This high degree of diversity not only manifests an increasing institutional flexibility, as water policies are operated outside China's hierarchical bureaucratic system, but also is embedded in an era of socio‐economic transformation where the processes of industrialization, urbanization, and neo‐liberalization have changed the dynamics of rural governance.

Institutional bricolage in payment for ecosystem services: Insights from the Sloping Land Conversion Programme in upland communities, Southwest China

“…Second, this research suggests that the bricolage process is capable of producing a hybrid institution at local levels to ease problem-solving, as also observed elsewhere (Cleaver and De Koning, 2015;Faggin and Behagel, 2018;Wang et al, 2018). The constituent parts of these hybrid institutions tend to be pre-existing and informal institutions along with newly introduced and formal institutions.…”

“…Existing literature also focuses on water governance and suggests customary institutions interact with formal institutions to form new governance arrangements to meet local multipurpose needs (Jones, 2015;Sakketa, 2018). In China, insightful research by Wang et al (2018) illustrates that authoritative state's top-down and centralised water policy could be developed by local agencies and collective communities to increase institutional flexibility in the bricolage process. Despite abundant past research, the explicit use of the concept of institutional bricolage in PES analysis is rare, likely due to the complexity of institutional arrangements in PES programmes.…”

Evolution of Water Governance in China

“…Historically, one of the most important duties of local officials was water governance, including flood control, irrigation, and water navigation (Wang et al 2018). For example, the Dujiangyan project-which was constructed in the Warring States period in 256 BCE under the leadership of Li Bing, the governor of Shujun of the Qin kingdom-alleviated the effects of drought and flood via an ingenious water diversion method, and to this day, the project still plays an important role in drought relief.…”

Sino-Kazakhstan transboundary water allocation cooperation study: analysis of willingness and policy implementation

“…In China, local water policy implementation is shaped through various contested discourses (Wang et al, 2018). However, political fragmentation presents a significant obstacle to implementation; the absence of intra-governmental connections has resulted in a lack of clarity regarding the allocation of power and responsibility.…”