Between autonomy and supervision: The interpretation of community supervisory committee reform in Hangzhou, China

摘要

The accountability dilemma has been prominent in current self-governance studies and practice: on one hand, self-governance should be independent and not accountable to the government; on the other hand, it is in risk of abusing its power without external supervision. This article argues that the complex influence of governmental sponsorship to self-governance should be examined beyond the dichotomy of autonomy and supervision. Specifically, this article focuses on the reform in Hangzhou, China, which formed the government-sponsored but self-governing organizations, Community Supervisory Committees (CSC), to supervise self-governance for accountability. Through examining the interpretation and strategies of CSCs under the dilemma, this article identifies the subtle influences of governmental sponsorship in supervising self-governance. These findings provide evidence about to what extent, and in what approaches the governmental sponsorship can integrate with self-governance to improve the accountability.