The Dependency and Trust Dilemma of Grassroots Social Service Organizations:A Case Study of Y Township Social Work Station
Trust-building is crucial for the effective participation of grassroots social ser-vice organizations in the modernization of social governance in China.This study employs the"Administrative Performance-Organizational Reputation"framework to analyze the structural dependency and trust dilemmas of Y Township(Streets)So-cial Work Station(SWS).As a policy tool,SWS are integrated into the governance system through a project-based mechanism,where the government grants them insti-tutional trust based on policy directives and organizational reputation.However,this system has led to an over-reliance on material,relational,and informational re-sources provided by the government.This dependency undermines the dynamic bal-ance between administrative performance,organizational reputation,and trust,limit-ing the ability of SWS to balance administrative objectives with the needs of grass-roots services.This dependency raises three main issues:Firstly,the prioritization of administrative performance has led to an overemphasis on short-term quantitative re-sults,which ignore the diverse and dynamic needs of the community.This focus has weakened the ability of SWS to develop meaningful,long-term relationships with the community.Secondly,the heavy reliance on government resources restricts the operational autonomy and professional identity of SWS,making it difficult to de-velop a localized service model.It reinforces the image of SWS as an administrative adjunct rather than an independent service provider.Lastly,high staff turnover,driven by role ambiguity and heavy workloads,further erodes the organizational reputation of SWS and hinders its ability to build trust with the community.These is-sues are exacerbated by the hierarchical nature of the governance system,where gov-ernment control over resources and performance evaluation limits the flexibility of SWS to effectively respond to grassroots needs.The trust dilemma arises from struc-tural attachment,where institutional trust granted by the government fails to trans-late into relational trust based on community participation and credibility.Address-ing these challenges requires a fundamental rethinking of governance mechanisms.The shift should move from a performance-driven,project-based model to a sustain-able framework centered on long-term trust-building and community-oriented ser-vices.Strengthening the professional identity and operational autonomy of social work stations is critical.Additionally,greater flexibility in resource allocation and decision-making is needed to better respond to the specific needs of communities.It is essential to promote cooperation between the government,social services,and communities to build a system that not only serves the people but also fosters trust.By addressing these challenges,grassroots social service organizations can become more independent and play a key role in modernizing social governance in China.