Systemic Perspective: Input and Output

Understanding Policies (10700193-90)

Yue Hu

Tsinghua University

Overview

  1. What’s a system (in policy analysis)?
  2. How to use system theory to understand policy?
  3. How to understand the “system perspective” in Chinese political language?

System

What’s a System

Define a system

What’s the point to define a system in social science?

  • Unit (role): “Who are conducting political actions?”
    • Political roles
    • Political groups
  • Boundary: “Where (what dimension) are the political actions conducted?”

Units of Analysis

Unit of the analysis?

This study had two purposes. First, it empirically examined the relationship between citizens’ participation in administrative policymaking phases and their perception of government transparency. Second, it investigated how citizens’ use of both offline and online participation channels and their involvement in different phases of policymaking (i.e., agenda setting, implementation, and evaluation) were related to their assessment of transparency in government. A 2009 survey of residents of Seoul, South Korea, was used to test the study hypotheses. Using two‐stage least squares estimate techniques, the study found that citizens involved in any citizen participation programs are more likely than those not involved to positively assess transparency in government. With regard to the relationship between participation channels and transparency, citizens who used offline participation channels were more likely than nonusers to perceive enhanced transparency in local government (Kim and Lee 2019).

Clue

This study had two purposes. First, it empirically examined the relationship between citizens’ participation in administrative policymaking phases and their perception of government transparency. Second, it investigated how citizens’ use of both offline and online participation channels and their involvement in different phases of policymaking (i.e., agenda setting, implementation, and evaluation) were related to their assessment of transparency in government. A 2009 survey of residents of Seoul, South Korea, was used to test the study hypotheses. Using two‐stage least squares estimate techniques, the study found that citizens involved in any citizen participation programs are more likely than those not involved to positively assess transparency in government. With regard to the relationship between participation channels and transparency, citizens who used offline participation channels were more likely than nonusers to perceive enhanced transparency in local government (Kim and Lee 2019).

Boundaries

  • Unit (role): “Who are conducting political actions?”
    • Political roles
    • Political groups
  • Boundary: “Where (what dimension) are the political actions conducted?”
  • Biological boundaries
  • Physical boundaries
  • Social boundaries

Biological Boundary

Physcial Boundary

People under physical boundaries

我住在廊坊三河市燕郊镇，在北京朝阳区一家公司做行政工作……疫情前，从燕郊开车到北京上班，路线就一两条，除了偶尔遇上北京开大会查得严，平时挺方便，经过检查站，车到跟前，杆子一抬就过去了。整个2021年，我在单位办公室睡过几次，基本都是京津冀某地出现了几个病例，燕郊跟着管控……去年的这几次，我每次滞留在单位过夜，都是两三天。但今年不同了，今年到目前为止，我最长的一次住了26天……今年2月初，北京专门为环京通勤人员建了数据库……一开始倒也方便。 但到了3月12日，我记得很清楚，是个周六，下午我在社区群里看到，说三河市附近疫情散发，为了排除风险，燕郊封控管理两天，全域人员居家隔离。我立即决定回单位……我算幸运的，在路上堵了大概两小时，赶在3月13日零点前几分过了检查站，但后面一长串没过来的车，我听说他们都被劝返，只能调头回燕郊了 (李晓洁 2022)。

(郭鹏 2023)

(郭鹏 2023)

Social Boundary

朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨

朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨

System Theory

Why applying a systemic view

  • To integrate?

  • The very idea of a system suggests that we can separate political life from the rest of social activity. —Easton (1957, 384)

  • A focus of policy building

Inputs

Environment → system

Reason for keeping the system going

Demands

  • External
  • Internal

Support

  • Back up
  • Intimacy

Demands

The material basis of the system and the source of system’s existence and adjustment.

External

  • Ecology
  • Economy
  • Culture
  • Personality
  • Social structure
  • Demography

Internal

  • Alterations in the political relationship
  • “Withinputs”

Support

Energy in the form of actions or orientations promoting and resisting a political system (Easton 1957, 390).

Back Up

Back Up

Intimacy

Intimacy

Inputs (Duplicated)

Environment → system

Reason for keeping the system going

Demands

  • External
  • Internal

Support

  • Back up
  • Intimacy

Outputs

Environment ← system

Identifying the consequences

Policy

  1. No need for satisfying every demands
  2. Demands of influential members are often satisfied

Politicization

党员实施网络行为，应当深刻领悟”两个确立”的决定性意义……自觉在思想上政治上行动上同以习近平同志为核心的党中央保持一致 (中共中央办公厅 2024)。

Policy Loop

Environment

(Defined by boundaries)

  • Intra societal
  • Extra societal

Feedback

  • Positive
  • Negative

When the system theory doesn’t work

System perspective in Chinese political language

Filling the blank: 系统观念是一种……观念

An answer(韩庆祥 2022):

  • 结构观念：揭示根本要素之间的关系、顺序与比例，结构决定功能
  • 整体观念：各要素相互配合，实现整体效应最大化
  • 战略观念：跳出眼前看长远，跳出局部看全局，跳出自身看大环境
  • 辩证观念：用发展眼光看系统，避免孤立、静止、片面
  • 秩序观念：合理结构形成内在秩序，社会秩序根植于此

Take-Home Points

System theory: perspective vs. theory

Reference

Easton, David. 1957. “An Approach to the Analysis of Political Systems.” World Politics 9 (03): 383–400.
Kim, Soonhee, and Jooho Lee. 2019. “Citizen Participation, Process, and Transparency in Local Government: An Exploratory Study.” Policy Studies Journal 47 (4): 1026–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/psj.12236.
中共中央办公厅. 2024. 中国共产党党员网络行为规定.
中国共产党第二十届中央委员会第三次全体会议. 2024. “中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革推进中国式现代化的决定.” 新华社.
中国共产党第十九届中央委员会第五次全体会议. 2020. “中共中央关于制定国民经济和社会发展第十四个五年规划和二〇三五年远景目标的建议.” 新华社.
李晓洁. 2022. “‘回不去的家，上不了的班’：在北京工作的廊坊人.” 三联生活周刊(微信公众号), June 20, 2022.
郭鹏. 2023. “那个热闹的燕郊，回来了.” 民生周刊, January 3, 2023.
韩庆祥. 2022. “系统观念是具有基础性的思想和工作方法.” 光明日报: 15, April 18, 2022.