Environmental Initiatives and Citizen Participation in the Local Government in China

Abstract

This research is a general report on the current environmental initiatives and citizen participation measures in China trickling down to the local government based on the commitment to short- and long-term strategies aimed at protecting the environment through eco-security and improving cooperation among different levels of society. This study seeks to find what the local governments have done after the commitment, the theoretical system and governance model of the environmental initiatives and citizen participation in China, and the influencing factors of the environmental initiatives and citizen participation. Using the commendatory literature methods, the author found that case and comparative studies are rare. The relevant theoretical models abroad are based on the dichotomy of state and society, which is outside China's national conditions and has some limitations in their application. China still needs a relatively mature theoretical system and governance model to guide citizens' participation in environmental governance.

Keywords: environmental initiatives; citizen participation; the governance theory; China