Abstract:

The mechanism of Model Construction(dianxing chuangjian典型创建) has served as one of the pivotal governance strategies for the CPC since the revolutionary era. Relevant academic research has generally approached the topic in three categories. Identifying and nurturing exemplary models has become a key approach for governments at all levels to advance rural revitalization and enhance the effectiveness of grassroots governance. However, the models at the grassroots level, which serve to attract the resources and attentions from local governments, now face the dilemma characterised by lack of the replicability, weakened capacity for experiential exploration, and"suspension" of knowledge production. This paper proposes a framework based on the relationship between"resources and workload". Using the rural revitalisation initiative in County L as a case study, it analyses the logic of model creation and the mechanisms leading to the difficulties in current grassroots governance practices. This analysis is grounded in the field investigation and in-depth interviews with participants in the government. Under the logic of resource allocation, exemplary models have become a crucial foundation for local governments to secure project fundings and attentions from higher level authorities. However, the selective allocation of governance resources has failed to substantially enhance the task capacity of grassroots organizations, resulting in short in representation. Moreover, the shortage of high quality human resources is another challenge that grassroots units struggle to overcome through model construction. Under the organizational task logic, being an exemplary model often brings new role tensions, significant increase of derivative tasks, particularly the burden of information production. The mismatch between resource allocation and organizational task-bearing capacity resulting from the convergence of these two logics led to the formation of the aforementioned model construction dilemma.

Key words: model construction, governance resource, workload bearing, grassroots governance