The Mechanism of Policy Structure Promoting Policy Development—A Case Study on China's Carbon Emissions Trading Policy
Policy development is an interactive process of repeated reproduction characterized by the continuous evolution and transformation of policy structure in practice.Policy structure is an important factor in promoting policy development and includes three main dimensions:institutional structure,subject structure,and resource structure.Institutions are the foundation of policy development that can regulate the behavior of subjects and resource allocation.The characteristics of institutional structure are reflected in the nesting and interaction of different types,levels,and effectiveness of institutions based on common policy issues,forming a structural form of vertical institutional effectiveness division and horizontal institutional function combination.The subject is the core in policy development and it is capable of improving institutional construction and resource utilization.The characteristics of the subject structure are reflected in strategic actions undertaken by different actors,each informed by their unique nature and role within the policy process related to interests,and inter-subject structural relationships based on these features.Resources stand as the essential support that sustains institutional operation and subject actions.The characteristics of resource structure are reflected in the process of different types of resources being interconnected and integrated to achieve common policy goals and cooperating and empowering each other according to their respective functional characteristics.Inspired by the perspective of duality of structure,the structuration theory based on social systems and social practices will be transplanted into the study of policy structure and policy development,and an analysis framework will be constructed to explain the mechanism by which policy structure promotes policy development.Based on China's carbon emissions trading policy samples,an examination of 66 policy documents from the central government and pilot regions,official news reports,and trading platform data spanning 2011 to 2023,supplemented by interviews with key stakeholders,reveals that policy structure is both a conduit and a consequence of policy action,with the interplay between the two fostering policy progression.Combined with interviews with relevant actors,it was found that the policy structure is both an intermediary and a result of policy action,and the interaction between the two promotes policy development.As an intermediary for action,institutional structure is an important basis for carrying out policy action,subject structure is an important support for implementing policy action,and resource structure is an important guarantee for completing policy action.As an outcome of action,institutional structure can be crafted,refined,and fortified.Subject structure is endowed with new roles,expanded subject scope,and enriched team structure.Resource structure becomes increasingly rich and diverse.The characteristic of serving as both an intermediary and a result of action is the duality of structure.The duality of policy structure in different dimensions reflects the mechanism by which policy structure promotes policy development.
Policy processPolicy structurePolicy actionDuality of structureCarbon emissions trading policy
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