ABSTRACT
This chapter constructs a theoretical framework for this study. The chapter starts with reviewing the trajectory towards governing through networks in the West and in China. By borrowing the concept of “governance” that has been developed in political science, it positions this form of governance as new governance. It elaborates this concept by comparing a definition of network governance in Western political science and policy sociology and Mohe (Xia, 2008), which provides an Asian concept of “network governance” based on research on governance in China. It then localises the concept to China by drawing on commentaries from Rhodes, Ball and Zhang, Jong and Koppenjan. This methodology reveals thematic differences related to: the power of the state/“hollowing-out” of the state; membership in a policy community; the power relationship between state and social actors; and resource exchange between actors.
