ABSTRACT
Studies by overseas scholars1 often employ some basic models of state-society relations as their analytical frameworks. Most studies compare the explanatory power of the two leading paradigms of state-society relations in the China studies field – civil society and corporatism2 – and conclude that corporatism more accurately describes the relationship between Chinese NGOs and the state, although they are usually cautious not to dismiss the civil society model completely, allowing that certain elements of it may still be useful for understanding Chinese NGOs.3 They then identify the particular features of the corporatist arrangements in China that distinguish them from corporatism in other places, labelling the Chinese variant ‘state-socialist corporatism’ (Shue 1994), ‘socialist corporatism’ (Pearson 1997), ‘corporatism Chinese style’ (Unger and Chan 1996), ‘local corporatism’, ‘departmental corporatism’ (White et al. 1996), and so forth.
