Politicization as a Policy Instrument: China’s Politicized Policy Narrative of Environmental Protection and Control of Its Social Resonance

Abstract

Policy politicization is an instrument used by modern states to achieve policy goals. Although politicization can facilitate a policy’s implementation by elevating its priority in the bureaucratic system, it may also create opportunities for the public to question the regime’s legitimacy and to call for broader political reforms. Using empirical evidence from 20 years of official narratives and public intellectual writings on environmental protection, we demonstrate this dilemma of politicization. Our research yields generalizable conclusions not only for environmental policy but also for other policy areas and political contexts, and thus paves the way for a new line of inquiry into governance under authoritarian rule. Methodologically, we demonstrate the potential of machine learning models for supporting qualitative textual analysis and overcoming limitations in data availability.