权力空间与治理绩效基于“上海都市社区调查”的分析

Power Space and Governance Performance:An Analysis Based on Shanghai Urban Neighborhood Survey

本文基于空间理论视角,提出了“权力空间”的分析概念,并将其操作化为“与治理权力中心的距离”。本研究利用“上海都市社区调查”(SUNS)的数据,系统考察了处于城市权力空间结构不同位置上的社区在治理绩效上的差异,并对其产生的原因和机制进行分析。研究发现,无论是在小区层次还是街居层次,与治理权力中心的距离对社区可视性治理绩效有显著影响,呈现空间差序格局,但对非可视性治理绩效缺乏明显的作用效应。权力空间主要通过公共资源配置机制和政绩信号释放机制对社区治理绩效产生影响。

Why do communities in different spatial areas have different governance performance?Applying the perspective of spatial theory,this paper proposes an analytical concept of“power space”.The concept refers to the distance between a community and the city administrative power center.Based on the data from Shanghai Urban Neighborhood Survey(SUNS),this study examines the variation in governance performance by communities that locate in different areas of the city power spatial structure,and analyzes the cause and mechanism of the differences.The study suggests that the spatial distance between the community and the center of governance power is not merely physical and geographical,it is social and political as well.We find that the distance to the center of power has a significant effect on the community’s governance performances that are easily observable but little effect on those less perceptible.This reveals that"power space"affects strongly on things that can be easily recognized by higher level officials,but not things less visible but appreciated by residents.Such a pattern can be explained by the current governance performance assessment system and incentive mechanism.Power space exercises its influence through the mechanism of public resource allocation and performance benchmarks,which is equally applicable to other areas of social governance.In sum,this study contributes to a better understanding of the underlying logic of current grassroots social governance.