Jul 2026· Humanities and Social Sciences Communications· Vol 13· 0 citations· 30 references
Abstract
This paper critically investigates the cultural politics inherent in China’s pursuit of enhanced grassroots public cultural service effectiveness. Drawing on a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of 51 national demonstration projects, the study identifies four configurational pathways to effectiveness: resource-dependent, strategy-outcome oriented, process-driven, and comprehensive multi-dimensional types. These pathways correspond to varying regional resource endowments and development contexts. Resource assurance capacity emerges as a pivotal condition, but its significance extends beyond material support: it functions as a governance tool through which the state establishes administrative dependency, requiring localities to conform to standardized models in exchange for resources. This dependency, compounded by the state’s imperative to replicate “successful models,” systematically erodes endogenous cultural vitality. It does so through two mechanisms: standardized formats displace informal local practices, and communities’ capacity for autonomous cultural innovation atrophies. The findings illuminate a core tension: while the state strengthens governance capacity by incorporating local innovations into replicable models via resource control, this very standardization suppresses local variations and diminishes grassroots cultural distinctiveness. Theoretically, this study advances understanding of cultural governance by revealing how performance metrics function as technologies of “governance at a distance,” transforming complex cultural practices into calculable outputs while masking the political work they perform. Practically, it offers policymakers a diagnostic framework for recognizing when standardization threatens cultural diversity and provides guidance for designing tiered governance approaches that balance efficiency gains with the preservation of local cultural vitality.
It is indicated that effective SPBE implementation relies on the interplay of these strategic determinants and necessitates asymmetrical policy responses customized to local settings, and offers pragmatic insights for expediting adaptable and service-oriented digital governance in Indonesia.
Halilul Khairi, Nanik Murwati, Alma Arif· Malaysian Journal of History...· 0 citations
Ethiopia has entered a pivotal moment in the evolution of its higher education system. The University Autonomy Proclamation No. 1294/2023 redefines the relationship between the state and its 47 public universities by granting academic, administrative, and financial self-governance within a performance-accountability framework. Addis Ababa University (AAU), designated in August 2023 as the country’s first formally autonomous institution, now serves as the system’s prototype. This article analyzes the governance, leadership, financial, data, and cultural conditions under which autonomy can advance Ethiopia’s knowledge-economy aspirations. Drawing on global higher education governance frameworks, it argues that autonomy is not a legal status but an institutional design challenge requiring coordinated reform across multiple domains. Ethiopian Airlines Group is used as an analytical analogy—“a wholly state-owned enterprise that has achieved global competitiveness through professional leadership, diversified revenue, long-term strategy, and embedded performance accountability”—to illustrate how state stewardship can coexist with operational independence. The article concludes with design principles, implementation risks, and a research agenda for African higher education autonomy.
Anna M. Waterman· Journal of Leadership, Accou...· 0 citations
The purpose of this study is to analyze three Brazilian territories marked by tense relationships between companies and communities, seeking to understand how these ties are constructed over time.
This study adopts an exploratory qualitative approach (Eisenhardt, 1989). From an epistemological standpoint, the study is grounded in an interpretivist perspective (Cunliffe, 2011).
The findings indicate that multi-stakeholder governance is a dynamic process, in which organizational arrangements, power distribution and forms of social value creation are continuously reconfigured over time. The study demonstrates how governance models emerge, evolve and are contested throughout the relationship cycle, thereby influencing the generation of social value.
Although the study does not measure social impact through public policy indicators, its findings engage with key challenges of the 2030 Agenda, particularly sustainable development goals (SDG) 16 (governance, coordination and legitimacy in contexts of institutional fragility), SDG 10 (power asymmetries and the expansion of community participation) and SDG 11 (territorial dynamics and firm–community relationships). Thus, the article provides an analytical foundation for understanding how multi-stakeholder arrangements may enable or constrain more equitable and sustainable responses in Global South territories.
This study makes three contributions to the literature on multi-stakeholder governance (Bridoux & Stoelhorst, 2022) and social value creation (Lazzarini, 2020).
L. Angellotti, M. Gama· RAE: Revista de Administraçã...· 0 citations
For decades, global development communication has been dominated by Western-centric theoretical frameworks that fail to adapt to the complex historical, cultural and socioeconomic contexts of the Global South. Against this backdrop, neo-developmentalism has emerged as a compelling alternative ideology. Taking China’s long-standing communication practices as the research subject, this paper systematically interprets the theoretical origins, operational logic and practical applications of New Development Communication (NDC) under the guidance of neo-developmentalism. Compared with the modernization, critical cultural imperialism and participatory communication paradigms prevalent in the West, China’s NDC represents a fundamental paradigm shift. It pursues multi-dimensional holistic development, adheres to the philosophy of constructive journalism, and relies on the synergy of state governance, market dynamics and grassroots participation. This paper elaborates NDC’s extensive implementation across governance, economy, ethnic cohesion, ecological civilization and targeted poverty alleviation. It further verifies NDC’s value in reshaping the global communication landscape. This study concludes that China’s NDC serves as a referable model for media reform in Latin America and other Global South regions, and facilitates the construction of indigenous knowledge systems in the field of development communication.
Yanqiu Zhang· Journal of Latin American Co...· 0 citations
Permendiktisaintek No. 39 of 2025 establishes higher education quality assurance standards emphasizing the use of “reliable” technology. While intended to improve educational quality, the policy may inadvertently widen digital and economic disparities among higher education institutions. This study examines how the policy reproduces inequalities in economic and cultural capital, symbolic violence, and cultural inferiority. Employing a qualitative critical policy analysis and regulatory discourse analysis, policy documents were analyzed using ATLAS.ti to examine the relationships among capital, quality standards, and mechanisms of domination. The findings reveal that the policy, despite its quality improvement agenda, has the potential to reinforce existing social and economic inequalities. The requirement for “reliable” technology converts economic capital into institutional advantages that shape accreditation outcomes. Moreover, the discourse of equality embedded in the policy obscures disparities in digital access and institutional capacity, while global quality standards are institutionalized as a form of doxa that marginalizes local values and knowledge. The study concludes that the policy is not value-neutral but reinforces social stratification within Indonesian higher education. It calls for more contextual, inclusive, and socially responsive quality assurance policies to promote equitable access and educational justice.
While governance performance is often regarded as the cornerstone of the Chinese Communist Party’s legitimacy, its capacity to sustain national identity among a generation socialized in prosperity remains a critical question. Challenging the assumption of a linear relationship, this article examines the mechanisms and limits of performance-based legitimacy through two novel studies. In a priming experiment with 652 high school students, exposure to images of China’s development achievements did not significantly increase national identity and in fact lowered students’ reported sense of responsibility. A second survey of 1,625 university students reveals an inverted-U-shaped relationship between evaluations of governance performance and national identity. The relationship is conditioned by equity values and attribution of development problems: governance performance most strongly reinforces identity when individuals attach high importance to social justice but also attribute developmental problems to the government. These findings reveal the fragility of a legitimacy model based solely on material outputs.
Hongna Miao, Long Piao, Mao Li· Asian Survey· 0 citations