Industrial Policies Under Xi Jinping: A Steering Theory Perspective

Xi Jinping’s ascension to power and subsequent developments in Chinese governance have stoked the flames on the debate on industrial policies, both in China and across the globe. At least partly, the debate results from the perception that industrial policies have been important for China’s economic rise, growing competitiveness and drive to innovate. Outside China, this perception has already prompted some governments to suggest that their countries should react to China’s rise by also promulgating industrial policies. But inspite of the growing interest in the topic, there is hardly a consensus on the character of China’s industrial policies nor their efficiency and effectiveness, neither inside nor outside of China. This paper will shed light on these issues by looking at Chinese industrial policies from the perspective of political steering theory. It will first review the political steering theory, identify key concepts (steering modes, steering objects and subjects, etc.) and then explain the rationale of applying the theoretical deliberations to industrial policymaking and implementation in China’s EV and solar sectors. Against this background, this paper will identify different types of industrial policies and look into Chinese industrial policy development and academic discussion over time with a specific focus on changes in industrial policy steering following the inauguration of the Xi Jinping administration. This paper aims to make a conceptual contribution based on the analysis of policy documents and academic texts as well as discussions and interviews with Chinese economists and political scientists. It is part of a larger research project that focuses on how political steering through industrial policies affects China’s energy transition under Xi.

A Sociological Investigation of Governance through a Mandatory Learning Management System and Practice in Danish Primary and Lower Secondary Schools

Overall, the results of the studies in this dissertation show that political steering through the implementation of the LMS in real-world settings is challenging. First, the conflict and struggles reported in article 1 demonstrates a context characterized by mistrust between policymakers and teachers. This conflict and mistrust frame the context for the other three articles. Second, practitioners perceive the LMS and embedded governance differently. Although principals’ have a teachers’ habitus and thus mixed emotions regarding the conflict and mistrust by teachers, they act like an policymakers auxiliary arm and implement the LMS as expected and thus, in reality, support the embedded governance. Teachers are highly motivated to teach and report a high degree of wellbeing, despite the governance embedded in the LMS. To stay motivated in a context they believe opposes doing excellent teaching; they neither work around the LMS nor stay close to management to be part of management decisions. Third, if teachers are to use the platform, it requires an involving management that closely follows the implementation of the platform. The probability that teachers’ sense-make the platform is also increased by the fact that the management is close to teachers’ practice.

European Union Governance

The term “governance” refers to interactive forms of political steering, characterized by the coordination of a wide spectrum of actors in pursuit of common goals (e.g., Rhodes, 1996; Pierre & Peters, 2000, 2005; Kooiman, 2003; Torfing, Peters, Pierre, & Sörensen, 2013; Ansell & Torfing 2016). Governance processes involve multiple actors and institutions into cooperative relationships and network structures. The corresponding steering mechanisms may range from hierarchical rule to mere persuasion. The governance perspective appeared particularly suited to analyze political steering in the European Union (EU). The Union is not sovereign; it therefore developed steering mechanisms that do not (or only partly) rely on formal competences and hierarchical rule. The evolving system of European governance constituted the EU as a multilevel polity, held together by interlocking relationships of policy coordination and cooperation (Marks et al., 1996; Hooghe & Marks, 2001; Piattoni, 2010). Scholarly reflection on EU governance evolved comparatively late during the 1990s (Hix, 1998); it proliferated after the turn of the century, when the European Union introduced the so-called Open Method of Coordination (OMC) (Kohler-Koch & Rittberger, 2006). Later, the perspective widened to the whole spectrum of governance modes and its innovative forms (e.g., Sabel & Zeitlin, 2008, 2010a; Tömmel & Verdun, 2009a, Héritier & Rhodes, 2011). Yet salient issues remained under-researched, particularly the power dimension of EU governance (Torfing et al., 2013, pp. 48–70).

Political Steering Approach

This chapter discusses the political steering approach, which is one of the ‘second-generation’ theories within the scholarship on societal transformations. The approach has taken inspiration from the actor-centred steering theory developed in the German-speaking world and political science research on governance mechanisms. It has enriched our knowledge of transition processes in several ways. It made clear on the one hand that some of the voiced theoretical scepticism about the possibility to control and govern fundamental change was partly based on false initial assumptions. On the other hand, the review of the debate on political steering demonstrates that transformational success often had a paradoxical character, as—though based on reforms—it cannot be considered without restriction as a result of targeted policies.

Political Steering and Bureaucratic Autonomy

This chapter draws attention to the effects of vertical specialization of organizations and how it affects public governance. The chapter documents that agency officials pay significantly less attention to signals from executive politicians than their counterparts within ministerial (cabinet-level) departments. This finding also holds when controlling for variation in tasks, the political salience of issue areas, and officials’ rank. In addition, it is documented that the greater the organizational capacity available within the respective ministerial departments, the more agency personnel tend to assign weight to signals from the political leadership. Expert concerns are strongly emphasized at both levels; however, agency personnel are more sensitive to the influence of affected parties. The chapter applies large-N questionnaire data at four points in time (1986, 1996, 2006, and 2016) that spans three decades and shifting administrative doctrines: New Public Management as well as post-New Public Management.

The Immanent Potential of Economic and Monetary Integration: A Critical Reading of the Eurozone Crisis

The Eurozone crisis revealed fundamental flaws in the institutional architecture of the Economic and Monetary Union. Its lack of political steering capacity has demonstrated the need for a broad but seemingly unachievable political union with shared economic governance and a common treasury. Agreement on further measures has been difficult to achieve, as different actors have imposed divergent external criteria for the success of the Eurozone. As part of their heritage in Western Marxism, the critical theorists of the Frankfurt School sought to overcome such problems by identifying internal standards for social criticism. Building on their understanding of immanent critique, I argue that the Eurozone already contains the normative principles necessary to support greater political integration. While the citizens of Europe must provide the democratic legitimation necessary to realize this latent potential, the flaws revealed by the crisis are already pushing Europe towards greater transnational solidarity.