中国政策企业家研究的理论反思:身份类型、活动功能和行动性质

Theoretical Reflections on the Study of Chinese Policy Entrepreneurship: Types of Statuses, Functions of Activities and Nature of Actions

历经十余年,中国政策企业家研究取得了丰硕成果,现在有必要对其学术贡献加以总结并进行反思。文章对2008~2020年间的32篇中英文文献进行了系统性回顾,从身份类型、活动功能和行动性质三个维度进行评述,并与该领域的国际文献进行对话。通过文献梳理,文章发现:第一,广纳性的政策企业家界定被广泛采纳,主要关注专家学者、社会行动者、媒体人和各层级政府官员四种类型政策企业家;第二,众多文献对于政策企业家的活动功能,并未加以重视,既没有回应既有的理论,如多溪流框架中的汇流者角色,也极少发现新的角色;第三,很少有论文对中国政策企业家的行动性质进行专门探索,且均未触及公共政策的革命性范式变迁。由此,文章提出,将熊彼特传统中"创造性破坏"概念纳入政策创新的研究之中,从而在政策企业家理论建构上营造新格局,是中国政策创新研究者作出学术贡献的可为之道。

After more than ten years’ research on Chinese policy entrepreneurship, fruitful results have been achieved. It is necessary to summarize the academic contributions and conduct theoretical reflections. The paper systematically reviews 32 journal articles published in Chinese and English from 2008 to 2020. The paper analyzes this topic from three aspects, activity functions, action nature, and conducts a dialogue with the international literature in this field. Through literature review, this paper provides three findings. Firstly, the broad definition of policy entrepreneurs focusing on four types of policy entrepreneurs: experts, scholars, social actors, media practitioners and government officials at all levels has been widely adopted. Secondly, most reviewed articles have not paid much attention to the roles of policy entrepreneurs in policy innovation. They neither respond to existing theories, such as the role of "coupling" in the Multiple-Streams Framework, nor find new roles. Thirdly, few reviewed articles specifically explored the nature of actions of Chinese policy entrepreneurs, and they have not touched paradigmatic changes of public policies. Therefore, this paper proposes that the concept of "creative destruction" in the Schumpeter tradition should be incorporated into the research of policy innovation, so as to create a new pattern in the theoretical construction of policy entrepreneurship. It would be likely a feasible way for Chinese scholars to contribute to policy innovation.