Multi-level governance tackling the COVID-19 pandemic in China

Abstract This paper investigates China’s leadership over intergovernmental and private actions in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies sectors, levels, and roles played. The main argument is that successful control over the pandemic depends on effective and integrated leadership at different levels. The conceptual, theoretical, and analytical framework is given by the multi-level governance theory. Through a case study, the actions adopted in China (n = 374) were mapped from reports issued by the Chinese government, the World Health Organization, and media information. Content analysis was adopted to categorize data. Quantitative and qualitative findings show different roles of actors, as well as usefulness of the multi-level governance to provide fast and complex responses required during the pandemic. In the last section, the conclusion and recommendations for future research are addressed. The lack of studies on the application of multi-level governance in non-democratic regimes especially during a pandemic indicates the relevance and contribution of this study to the literature.

摘要：本文探讨了中国在应对新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）大流行过程中，对政府间与民间抗疫行动的领导力，并明确了抗疫行动所涉及的领域、实施层级与各参与主体发挥的作用。本文核心论点为，疫情防控的成功有赖于不同层级间高效且协同的领导力。本研究以多层级治理理论（multi-level governance theory）构建概念、理论与分析框架。通过案例研究，本文从中国政府、世界卫生组织（World Health Organization）发布的报告及媒体公开信息中，对中国采取的374项抗疫行动（n=374）进行了梳理与映射。研究采用内容分析法对数据进行分类。定量与定性研究结果揭示了各行动主体的差异化角色，同时验证了多层级治理理论在提供疫情期间所需的快速且复杂防控举措中的应用价值。本文最后一节阐述了研究结论与未来研究建议。当前学界针对非民主体制下多层级治理的应用研究较为匮乏，尤其是在大流行背景下，这一研究缺口凸显了本研究对相关学术文献的补充价值与研究贡献。