Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science) ›› 2020, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (3): 64-72.DOI: 10.15936/j.cnki.1008-3758.2020.03.009

• Politics and Public Management • Previous Articles     Next Articles

A Research on China's Environmental Policy Changes from the Perspective of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory——An Analysis Based on the Policy Text Since the Reform and Opening Up

WANG Ying, WANG Meng   

  1. (School of Humanities & Law, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, China)
  • Received:2019-11-15 Revised:2019-11-15 Online:2020-05-25 Published:2020-05-25
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Abstract: Based on the theory of punctuated equilibrium, text analysis method and qualitative analysis software QSR NVivo 12 are used to explore the changes of China's environmental protection policy in the past 40 years to reveal the driving factors affecting such changes. It is found in the study that China's environmental protection policy changes have experienced three policy equilibrium periods and two policy punctuated periods with a future trend of preventive response, which reflects the punctuated equilibrium law of long-term stability and accidental mutation. Top-level subject attention, public feedback and content elements breakthrough innovation as the main driving force for environmental policy changes are reasonable corrections of the institutional factors of western intermittent equilibrium theory combined with Chinese policy practice. The revised model can effectively explain the logic of China's policy changes.

Key words: punctuated equilibrium theory, environmental protection, policy change, Chinese context

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