Chapter 9 Governance and Quantification of Performance in China
Ivan Cardillo
Abstract:
Chinese culture of quantification is a complex phenomenon, resulting from the combination of several elements related to state administration, socialist political ideology, and traditional culture. All social actors are subject to a system of assessment of performances. For the Chinese leadership, it is a matter of fighting against laziness and a lazy government. The chapter intends to present the numerous assessment systems designed and applied in the country, especially those concerning state-administered justice, state administration, assessment of Party’s members, public education, and society in general, thus providing an overall picture of how metrics work in China. What emerges is a comprehensive system of state’s management and governance of the society deeply based on performances, where systems of assessment dictate punishments and awards based on principles of morality, trust, and compliance with the law. From a theoretical perspective, assessment mechanisms constitute a tool to combine the “rule of law” together with the “rule of virtue,” both fundamental pillars of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law and Socialism with Chinese characteristics.
1. Introduction
China’s impressive development over the last four decades has been possible thanks to a strong emphasis on results and performances. Fundamentally, in a country that practices a planned economy, it is important to develop a system to guarantee that the right people are appointed for the right jobs, and that results are not only obtained but also obtained at the expected time. China’s state governance approach is based on the following steps: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, controlling the work quality, and timing. Thus, all social actors are subject to a system of assessment of performances. For the Chinese leadership, it is a matter of fighting against laziness (懒lan) and a lazy government (懒政lanzheng) , and, most importantly, to manage the difficulties in effective governance and balance centralized policies with local needs, especially in remote areas and in a country like China, geographically big and with a centralized government.
The chapter intends to present the numerous assessment systems designed and applied in the country, especially those in relation to state-administered justice, state administration, assessment of Party’s members, public education, and society in general, thus providing an overall picture of how metrics work in China.
What emerges is a comprehensive system of state’s management and governance of the society deeply based on performances, where systems of assessment dictate punishments and awards based on principles of morality, trust, and compliance with the law. Chinese society governance is based on the三驾马车san jia ma che (a two-wheeled chariot drawn by a team of three horses), the three horses being the legal system, the system of social credit, and the system of the culture of morality, implemented by the binding force of the law, of credit rules and moral rules. The current challenge for the leadership is to find the best way to combine together.
Comparative Legal Metrics
Quantification of Performances as Regulatory Technique
Series: Comparative Law in Global Perspective, Volume: 5
Volume Editors: Mauro Bussani, Sabino Cassese, and Marta Infantino
The trend of measuring performances is global and pervasive. We all live in quantified societies, in which performances in an ever-growing array of fields–from education to health, work to credit, justice to consumption–are assessed and governed through quantitative techniques. While the disruption brought by the quantitative turn has been widely studied by social scientists, legal research on the issue is minimal. This book aims to fill the gap. The essays herein collected explore how performance measurements interact with the law in different regions and sectors, which legal effects they produce, and for whose benefit.
