How significant public opinion is in Chinese policymaking?—A case study of the double reduction policy

• Main Author: Chen, Leqi
• Other Authors: -
• Format: Thesis-Master by Coursework
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Social sciences::Political science
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166271
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

By analyzing the case of the double reduction policy made by the Chinese government in 2021, this study examines the potential causal relationship between current Chinese public opinion and the PRC’s policymaking at each stage of the policy process. The findings demonstrated that Chinese public opinion matters during the problem emergence and government evaluation phases. However, there needs to be more evidence that public opinion plays a role in the early stages of policy design. Also, during the evaluation stage, the Chinese government prefers to make further policy adjustments based on opinions from policy-targeted groups rather than the public. In this situation, public opinion on other platforms, such as social media, is irrelevant to policymaking. Therefore, the author suggests that the Chinese government include more social groups in future policy effectiveness surveys to improve self-evaluation.