The International Symposium on Governance Reform in the Progressive Era of USA：Implications for

Since the initiation of the market transition in the late 1970s, the People’s Republic of China has changed fundamentally from a closed agrarian country to an open industrialized one. For the first time in the history of the PRC, the country has to deal with a broad swathe of problems like unemployment, poverty, corruption, regional disparities, floating population, pollution, market disorder, crimes, and so on. These new problems generate the great need for complex policy and administrative capacity. How to solve these problems poses a great challenge facing the current government. In order to achieve a successful social transformation, it is essential for China to learn from other industrialized countries which had survived successfully such a transition. In this regard, the experiences of the USA in the Progressive Era (1880s-1920s) provide a good example for China’s reference. The Progressive Eva was a transition era in USA, during which industrialization was reshaping the social and economic face of America. It witnessed the rise of large business corporations, the weak public authority, technological wonders and mechanical hazards, mushrooming cities, millions of immigrants, political corruption, and bastions of wealth amid a sea of poverty. The USA survived the social chaos by launching a series of administrative, political and social reforms. In this sense, the Progress Era was also a period of reform, which led to the emergence of a modern state in USA. Although the two countries differ greatly in many aspects and in different development stage, there are significant historical parallels between current China and USA of the Progressive Era. Therefore, there is a lot for China to draw from USA’s experiences. A comparative analysis of the remaking of governance structure of USA of Progressive Era and current China will also provide us an opportunity of theory building, exploring a theory examining the relationship between social change and governance restructuring. Therefore, the Centre for Public Administration Research and School of Government of Sun Yat-sen University initiate the international symposium on “Governance Reform in the Progressive Era of USA: Implications for China”, which is scheduled tentatively in June, 2008 at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. It is expected that such an event will provide an opportunity for academics, civil servants and public management practitioners from all over the world to present and exchange their insights on American experiences and their implications for current China in terms of social and public policy innovation, administrative reform, and political reform.