Fast_Facts_China

Democratic Governance

PROJECT FACTS China: Development of a Governance Assessment Framework Total budget: Project period: Location: Implementing partner:

USD 200,000 2008 Beijing China Centre for Comparative Politics and Economics

Background China’s recent development policies have witnessed a shift from a growth-oriented model to one that incorporates and places increasingly more emphasis on equality, inclusion, and balance as key factors. This shift has created new needs for the government and other social sectors to improve their understanding of, and capacity to exercise good governance.

While tools for assessing economic and social development have been relatively better developed in China, there exists a significant gap in the governance aspect. To address this, the development of an assessment framework that incorporates key dimensions of democratic governance was a key step. The process involved in achieving consensus on the different dimensions of what good governance entails was deemed to be as important as the agreement on the dimensions of the framework. Consensus was reached through discussions, debates, and interaction among a wide spectrum of stakeholders, which resulted in 12 dimensions of good governance.

The project facilitated and enhanced national discussions and debates on key components of governance, in the context of China, with the aim of developing a framework for assessment. Through knowledge sharing of best practices and experiences in governance assessment, Methodology The knowledge-sharing of international best practice and experiences in governance assessments facilitated a participatory consultative process in suggesting key elements and issues for governance assessment that are

International seminar on governance assessment.

applicable in China's development context.

Firstly, A mapping resulted in the compilation of a User’s Guide on existing governance indicators in China which contained an inventory of the various institutions engaged in developing governance indicators.

Secondly, there was an examination of the different ways in which various governance indicator sources are applied at different levels of government in China, which sources are the most and least used, and for what purpose, among other. This survey of ‘demand’ for governance indicators served as a useful input into the design of the assessment framework and will also contribute to the development of indicators in tune with policymakers’ needs.

Thirdly, a collection and organization of domestic material on government performance and governance was undertaken, along with the translation of foreign research papers on both topics. A platform for different stakeholders was then established to facilitate discussion among them. The partners of the project convened three national and one international workshop to review international experiences of governance assessments and indicators. The draft of framework was presented at the 3rd national workshop, and quite substantially revised following lively discussions.

Supported by the Global Programme on Governance Assessments

Oct 2011

Main Components The twelve dimensions that were identified in the framework are: Dimensions: 1. Civic Participation 2. Human and civic rights 3. Intra-party democracy 4. Rule of law 5. Legitimacy 6. Social justice 7. Openness of government 8. Administrative effectiveness 9. Accountability 10. Social stability 11. Public service 12. Government cleanness

Achievements Within its one-year timeframe, the CCCPE, the major counterpart in this project, was able to share the latest knowledge products relevant to international best practices and thinking on governance assessment with the Chinese target audience.

CCCPE also commissioned papers and research on the key components of governance assessment and the Chinese context to feed into the workshops and seminars on the development of the governance assessment frameworks.

The report containing the draft governance assessment and the results of the project as a whole has been published and disseminated to political leaders to advocate for the assessment’s wider application.

Social governance is at the core of the party’s agenda, and has become the focus of work for party committees and governments at all levels. It is a process of standardizing and coordinating social organisations, social affairs and activities within civil society with the aim of maintaining social order. CCCPE and UNDP China have formulated the second phase of the project to add the social governance element, define the various dimensions of governance in the framework, design actual indicators and pilot the assessment framework in up to 5 cities: 1. Hangzhou City of Zhejiang Province 2. Jiangyin City of Jiangsu Province 3. Bao'an District of Shenzhen City of Guangdong Province 4. Daxing District of Beijing 5. Nanfeng County of Jiangxi Province.

CCCPE will also continue to promote the framework through training events, including those for senior CCP cadres, and writing and submitting articles in academic journals.

In addition, the second phase will support governance assessment information sharing by launching the first governance review journal, “China Governance Review” and publishing ‘Annual Report on Social Governance in China’, or the ‘blue book’.

Given the involvement of so many academic institutions, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party, and the interest f NGOs and CSOs in governance, the framework is likely to be sustained, while at the same time getting further refined and developed.

Given the sensitivity around governance issues in China, the achievements made so far are promising, while also keeping in mind that the scale-up will be gradual.

Sustainability There are plans to scale up the project against the backdrop of strengthening social governance in China’s 12th Five-year Plan period (2011-2015).

Supported by the Global Programme on Governance Assessments

Further information: Ms. Gu Qing Democratic Governance UNDP China Qing.gu@undp.org +8610 853 20761

Oct 2011