The Politics of Engendering Policy Process
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The London School of Economics and Political Science The Politics of Engendering the Policy Process: Case Studies of Two Campaigns in China - The Anti- Domestic Violence Campaign and Equal Retirement Age Campaign Jie Du A thesis submitted to the Department of Social Policy of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, July 2012 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of <94,491> words. Statement of use of third party for editorial help I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Sue Redgrave. 2 Abstract The aim of my thesis is to investigate the politics of the civil society organizations in policy advocacy for gender equality in China. It adopts an agency-oriented approach to illustrate how women civil society organizations of various kinds actively negotiated gender interests in policy change within limited space and access. Through two advocacy activities, I seek to understand why the desired outcomes were different in these two cases by identifying the variables that either hindered or enhanced the realization of their goals. I focus on two policy issues, namely the equal retirement age in the development of the Civil Servant Law (2005) and domestic violence in the revision of the Marriage Law (2001) and the Women’s Law (2005). These two cases are of interest because the actors of the CSOs involved in advocating policy change met with different success in their efforts. In the case of domestic violence issues, the women’s organizations were able to bring about a change. In the case of the retirement age issue, however, the women’s federation was unable to bring about any desired change. The assumed variables include legitimacy, leadership, organizational forms, organizational learning and sources of funds. These conditioning factors are drawn from previous scholarship in civil society, public policy and social movements. I integrate these factors into a pentagon shaped framework that serves as a road map to guide my discussion throughout the thesis. The theoretical purpose of this study is to enrich understanding of the conditioning factors that are responsible for the results of CSO advocacy in China. On the other hand, it also contains a practical purpose, namely to provide implications for civil society actors seeking to influence policy process in China. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis is truly a product of an army of people. I can never give enough thanks to all of them. Still, I would like to mention the unique contribution of the following people: First of all, my deepest gratitude and most profound thanks go to my supervisor, Professor Jude Howell. It was her inspiring and tremendous mentoring that steered me through the whole Ph.D. program. Her patient and intellectual guidance, warm encouragement, and unfailing belief in me were key to the completion of this thesis. Thanks also to Dr. Bingqin Li, my assistant supervisor, for being a kind listener and sincere supporter along the way. My doctoral study at the LSE was possible thanks to the funding of the Vincent Cheng Scholarship. Without its financial support for my tuition and accommodation, I would never be able afford the study on my own. During all the years in the LSE, I was able to survive and enjoy the campus life thanks to the generous friendship and encouragements of my classmates and friends. My thanks go to all the interviewees who very kindly participated in my research. I am indebted to them for sharing their experience and insights, which provide most of the inspiration for my arguments and analyses. My special thanks to my colleagues at the Women’s Studies Institute of China in Beijing. Dr. Lin Tan, Director of the Institute, showed full patience with and unwavering support for my seemingly endless process of research and writing. My other colleagues at the Institute not only showed full understanding of my academic pursuit but also consistently shared my workload at the Institute. Finally, I want to express my dearest gratitude to my mother Mme. Yuying Hao. She worked tirelessly for ten full years in taking care of my father, who suffered from dementia, till his last day. She always tried to do as much as she could in order to let me concentrate on my study. I am also grateful to my sister Dr. Jinzhao Li for sharing her experience in surviving through a PhD program and her encouragement to me in naming the theoretical framework that I developed for my study. 4 Abbreviations ACWF The All-China Women’s Federation ADVN The Anti-Domestic Violence Network CASS China Academy of Social Sciences CCP Chinese Communist Party CCYL Chinese Communist Youth League CLS China Law Society CPPCC China People’s Political Consultative Conference FWCW The Fourth World Conference on Women, UN LPPDV The Law on the Prevention and Punishment of Domestic Violence MACM Multi-Agency Cooperative Model MOCA The Ministry of Civil Affairs MOP The Ministry of Personnel NGO Non-Governmental Organizations NPC The National People’s Congress NSMT New Social Movement Theory NWCCW The National Working Committee on Children and Women PAC Project Administrative Council POS Political Opportunity Structure RMT Resource Mobilization Theory SMOs Social Movement Organizations WMWN Women Media Watch Network WSIC Women’s Studies Institute of China 5 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................... 4 ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... 13 LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... 14 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 15 1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT ........................................................................................................ 15 1.11 THE BACKGROUND .............................................................................................................. 15 1.12 THE PUZZLE......................................................................................................................... 17 1.13 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................. 19 1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................... 20 1.21 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON POLICY PROCESS IN CHINA ................................................... 20 1.22 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON CSOS IN CHINA ..................................................................... 21 1.23 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ON POLICY ADVOCACY OF CSOS IN CHINA ................................ 25 1.3 CONCEPTS AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS ................................................................. 27 1.31 CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS......................................................................................... 27 1.32 POLICY PROCESS ................................................................................................................. 30 1.33 GENDER POLITICS OF POLICY PROCESS .............................................................................. 32 1.34 A PENTAGON SHAPED FRAMEWORK ................................................................................... 33 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES ........................................................................ 35 1.41 THE MAJOR RESEARCH QUESTION AND THE HYPOTHESIS ................................................. 35 6 1.42 THE SUB-RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THE HYPOTHESES ................................................... 35 1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ..................................................................... 38 1.51 QUALITATIVE CASE STUDIES .............................................................................................. 38 1.52 THE METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ...................................................... 40 1.6 THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ........................................................................................ 44 2. ANALYZING THE CONDITIONING FACTORS: A PENTAGON FRAMEWORK . 46 2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 46 2.2 THEORIZING THE POWER OF CSOS IN POLICY-MAKING ................................................. 47 2.21 THE INFLUENCE OF POLICY ADVOCACY ............................................................................