Still Accurate to Call It “Campaign-Style”? The Standardization of Campaign-Style Governance in China’s Environmental Management, with the Water Cleanup Project in Huai River Basin as a Case Study

Abstract

This paper examines why and how campaign-style governance (CSG) in China's environmental management has undergone a standardization process and identifies the consequences of this standardization. Drawing on the 25-year implementation of the Water Cleanup Project in the Huai River Basin as a case study, we analyze two major revisions undertaken by the Central Government to standardize the application of CSG: the ‘campaign package restrictions’ and the ‘technology-based adjustment’. We find that these revisions have transformed CSG into a hybrid governance, which combines the predictability of conventional governance approaches with the flexibility characteristic of non-conventional governance approaches. This transformation raises important questions about the institutionalization of CSG, particularly regarding the pace, stability, and legitimacy of the institutionalization process.