政府间关系视角下的社会政策扩散——以城市低保制度为例(1993—1999)

The Diffusion of Social Policies from the Perspective of Inter-governmental Relations:A Case Study of the Urban Subsistence Allowance(1993-1999)

中国社会福利体系的普遍建立是在社会政策创新的基础上经由地方逐渐扩散到全国的过程。政府间关系对社会政策创新扩散发挥着重要的助推作用。以"城市低保制度"在全国200多个城市七年间(1993—1999)迅速建立的过程为例,分析社会政策创新在各级政府间的扩散机制,结果显示:第一,城市政府在采纳新的社会政策时,既要回应当地社会需求并考虑财政资源约束,还受到来自上级政府的行政命令和上下级财政关系的影响,并考虑来自同级城市的竞争压力。第二,城市政府的政策创新为上级政府提供了经验学习的机会。第三,中央命令同时向城市政府施加着直接和间接影响,而省级命令发挥着中介传导机制的作用。第四,中央和省级命令对城市政府的政策采纳施加影响的时间滞后效应存在明显差异。

Universal access to China's social welfare system involved a process of diffusion from localities to the whole country on the basis of innovative social policy.Inter-governmental relations have played an important part in facilitating and encouraging innovation in and diffusion of social policy.The rapid establishment of the urban subsistence allowance in more than 200 cities and towns throughout the country in seven years(1993-1999)serves as a case study for analysis of the mechanism of diffusion of social policy innovation at different levels of government.Our findings show,firstly,that in adopting a new social policy,urban governments have to respond to the requirements of local society and take into account fiscal constraints.At the same time,they are affected by administrative orders from higher levels of government and the fiscal relations between higher and lower governmental levels,and are also subject to competitive pressures from cities at the same level.Secondly,urban governments' policy innovations offer an opportunity for higher levels of government to learn from their experience.Thirdly,central government orders simultaneously exert a direct and indirect influence upon urban governments,with provincial orders acting as intermediaries and conductors.And fourthly,there is a clear difference between the lagged effect of orders from the central government and those at provincial level upon urban governments' adoption of policies.