The River Chief System and an Ecological Initiative for Public Participation in China

This book provides an alternative agenda to deepening the understanding of the River Chief System as a distinctive responsibility approach to solve water pollution and associated governance dilemmas. Insightful analysis is performed through in-depth studies of the origins of China’s River Chief System, responsibility mechanisms, governmental and civil river chiefs, formal and informal water governing institutions, public participation, empowerment with accountability, and the environmental impact.

Dr. Yaguang Hao is a Professor at Institute for China Rural Studies and Institute for Advanced Study in Political Science of Central China Normal University. His main research interests are public policy, village self-governance, water governance and grassroots politics. He is a member of editorial board of the book series of “Rural China Studies” published by Social Sciences Academic Press China, and also a member of editorial board of the Chinese academic journal China Rural Research. 

Dr. Tingting Wan is a lecturer at Institute for China Rural Studies and Institute for Advanced Study in Political Science of Central China Normal University and has previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University. She specializes in political sociology, with a focus on rural society and development.