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China s Evolving Policy Processes under the Comparative Lenses
Theories and Evidence 1st Edition Wei Li
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China s Development Under a Differential Urbanization Model Qiang Li
China’s Evolving Policy Processes under the Comparative Lenses
This book takes a broad approach to studying China’s policy processes. It aims to shed new light on the characteristics of China’s political systems and to adapt theoretical frameworks of policy processes developed in Western democracies to China.
In 2021, Xi Jinping introduced the concept of “whole-process people’s democracy”. This new discourse calls for a deeper understanding of both traditional and new mechanisms and institutions functioning in China’s policy processes. Bringing together scholars with extensive fieldwork experience in mainland China and Taiwan, this edited volume investigates governance mechanisms and institutions of policy processes in China from different perspectives, such as mass line, Tiao–Kuai coordination, and People’s Congress. The book focuses not only on traditional topics such as agenda setting and policy change, but also on political-administrative relations, policy mix design, and delivering service contracts in communities. A comparative analysis of three social enterprises in Taiwan is provided as a case study of non-governmental actors’ (lack of) influence on policies in a context that is different from mainland China.
This book will appeal to scholars, students, and practitioners interested in policy processes in mainland China and Taiwan and in comparative theories about policy processes around the world.
Wei Li is an Associate Professor at the College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. Her research interests include policy processes, governance innovation and policy analysis in mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. Her recent original research articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals, including Policy Studies, Macro Management & Public Policies, Asian Politics & Policy, Policy Design and Practice, and Policy Studies Journal. She has also published a book with Routledge titled Public Administration in Hong Kong: Dynamics of Reform and Executive-Led Public Policy
China’s Evolving Policy Processes under the Comparative Lenses
Theories and Evidence
Edited by Wei Li
First published in 2024 by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge
The right of Wei Li to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-65483-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-65819-3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-65818-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781032658186
Typeset in Times New Roman by SPi Technologies India Pvt Ltd (Straive)
3 Evaluating the Performance of Government-Contracted Social Service Implementation: An Analysis under the Lens of Collaborative Network Theory 27
BAO YANG AND WANLIANG LI
7 Policy Evaluation and Policy-Style Analysis of Ride-Hailing in China from the Perspective of Policy Instruments: The Introduction of a Two-Dimensional Framework
SHUOCHEN ZHANG AND XINTAO LI
8 Operationalization of the Multiple Streams Framework in China’s Context: The 2004 Amendment of the Infectious Diseases Law
VAN DEN DOOL AND JIALIN LI
ANNEMIEKE
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Contributors
Fang Chen is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy, Xiamen University, China. She received her PhD and MSS at Xiamen University of China, and her BSS at Minzu University of China. She studied at the Western University of Canada during 2008–2009 as a visiting doctoral student and at the University of Colorado during 2016–2017 as a visiting scholar. She has published in peer-reviewed journals such as Chinese Public Administration (中国行政管理), the Journal of Xiamen University (厦门大学学报), and Dong Nan Xue Shu (东南学术). She has also published a chapter on civic participation in local governance, which was published by the CRC Press.
Chia-Yi Chuang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work, College of Social Science, Tunghai University and a member of the International Council on Social Welfare. She has published in peer-reviewed journals, including Asia Pacific World, East Asian Sociology of the 21st Century, and The China Nonprofit Review.
Jialin Li is an undergraduate student at Duke Kunshan University, China. Li majors in Political Economy, with a minor in Public Policy. Her research interests include policy process theories and policy change in China. Her research has been published in the Policy Studies Journal
Wanliang Li is a Doctoral Candidate in the School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, China. He is interested in the research on government–NPO relations and public service performance. He has published in peer-reviewed journals such as Chinese Public Administration (中国行政管理).
Wei Li is an Associate Professor in the College of Public Administration, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, China. Her research interests include policy processes, governance innovation and policy analysis in China, including Hong Kong. Her recent research articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Policy Studies, Macro Management & Public Policies, Asian Politics & Policy, Policy Design and Practice, and Policy Studies Journal.
Contributors
Xintao Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, Zhou Enlai School of Government and Management, Nankai University, China. His research interests include political game theory and system engineering evaluation. He has published in peer-reviewed journals such as Chinese Public Administration (中国行政管理), Administrative Tribune (行政论坛), Heliyon, Frontiers in Public Health , and Energies .
Meng Lü obtained an MPhil from the School of Philosophy and Sociology, Jilin University, China. Her research interests include social organization and social enterprises. She works in Retail Eye Shanghai and also contributed to the research project funded by China’s National Social Science Foundation.
Lijun Ti is a PhD student at the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, China. Lijun’s research aims at achieving a better understanding of policy making and policy implementation in China, especially in the areas of rural and urban policy. Her research has been published in Statistics and Decision and Tribune of Study.
Annemieke van den Dool is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Policy and faculty researcher affiliated with the Centre for the Study of Contemporary China at Duke Kunshan University, China. Her research focuses on policy change, policy making, and policy implementation in China, especially in the areas of health and environment. Her research has been published in Policy Studies Journal, Review of Policy Research, and Natural Hazards Review.
Hao Wang is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Public and International Affairs at the City University of Hong Kong, China. He obtained his PhD from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prior to his academic career, he worked for two local governments in China for a total duration of five years. His research interests focus on state–society relations under communism, online complaints, and elite politics. His scholarly articles have been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Chinese Political Science Review, China University Academic Abstracts (高等学校文科学术文摘), Exploration and Free Views (探索与争鸣), and the Chinese Journal of Systems Science (系统科学学报).
Bao Yang is a Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Chongqing University, China. His research interests include government–NPO relations, public service performance, and civic engagement. His research has been published in internationally peer-reviewed journals such as ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations and China: An International Journal
Contributors xi
Nan Zheng is an Associate Professor in the School of Philosophy and Sociology, Jilin University, China, Executive Director of the Sino Japanese Sociology Professional Committee Society of Sociology, and Guest Professor in the School of Sociology in Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. He has published in peerreviewed journals such as Social Policy Research (社会政策研究)﹐Study & Exploration (学习与探索), Fujian Forum (福建论坛) and Jilin University Journal (吉林大学学报).
Shuochen Zhang is an MPhil student at Nankai University, China. Her research interests lie in intergovernmental relations, public policy and administrative division adjustment. Her academic articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Process, Northwestern Journal of Ethnology (西北民族研究).
Wang Zhou, is an Associate Professor in the Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, China. His research aims at a better understanding of Chinese government and politics and also the policy process in China. His research has been published in The China Journal.
1 Introduction
Wei Li and Fang Chen
1.1 Testing Western theories
Research about China’s policy processes provides micro- and meso-level observations about the performance of political institutions, and contributes to the debates about the characteristics of China’s political system. Political institutions shape the behaviour of key actors in the policy processes through the logic of appropriateness and multi-level rules (March & Olsen, 1996; Ostrom, 2005). Cross-country studies that focus on a few macro-level political institutions in ‘non-democracies’ such as the selection of top political leaders, oneparty rule, the legislature, the judiciary system, civil society and media assume that these institutions are not capable of facilitating democratic participation and generating output necessary for regime survival (Gandhi, Noble & Svolik, 2020; Lewis, 2013; Meng, 2019; Magaloni & Kricheli, 2010; Solomon, 2007). The chapters of this book test these assumptions by applying and adapting theories and frameworks of policy processes developed in contexts of Western democracies to China.
Comparative policy process research has identified similarities in the nature and types of issues faced by the governments, the dynamics of policy change and the coalition politics in different types of regimes and governing systems (Tosun & Workman, 2017). Theories that explain policy changes and stasis developed in North American and West European contexts have also been applied to China in the last two decades. Recent reviews show that most of these applications are in the Chinese language. For instance, Li and Weible’s (2021) review of applications of Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) to China’s contexts found 57 Chinese journal articles, 17 Chinese master’s theses, and 1 Chinese doctoral thesis in the CNKI database as well as 6 English journal articles published during 2006–2017 found through searching the Google Scholar. Van den Dool and Li’s (2022) review of applications of Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) found 88 Chinese journal articles in the CNKI published during the period 2009–2021. Wu’s (2023) review of applications of Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) found 99 Chinese journal articles in the CNKI and 9 English journal articles in the Web of Science published during 2005–2021.
Applications of different theoretical frameworks have worked on different aspects of policy processes in China. Applications of ACF to China find that there are competing coalitions and bottom-up initiation of coalition political activities, government officials and government-sponsored experts tend to dominate policy making, while the governing coalition can learn and adjust beliefs despite their dominant role in the subsystems (Li & Weible, 2021). Applications of PET published in Chinese language to China’s contexts conclude that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the central government play dominant roles in policy making, which is responsive to focusing events such as natural events and social scandals (Van den Dool & Li, 2022). PET applications published in the English language and focusing on the Chinese context often focus on the role of executive government in setting agendas and driving policy changes (e.g. Chan & Zhao, 2016; Meng & Fan, 2022).
Many studies about China’s policy processes did not apply the theories of policy processes developed in Western contexts, but still adopted the vocabularies and analytical logics of these theories in the study. We used the Chinese keywords ‘policy innovation, policy diffusion, innovation and diffusion, policy transfer’ to search the core indices of the CNKI database, and identified 331 journal articles published during the period 2012–2022. Among these articles, 204 referred to the works of Berry, Frances S. or Berry, William D on policy innovation and diffusion. We used the same English keywords to search the Web of Science and identified 76 relevant journal articles published during 2012–2022. Some of these studies apply and advance the models developed from China’s contexts and multiple theories, such as the experimentalist governance model (Zhang et al., 2022), evolutionary game theory (Fan et al., 2022), the agent network diffusion model (Liu & Yi, 2023), and so forth.
1.2 Understanding the evolving features of China’s policy processes
While many studies have found that China’s policy processes have been pluralized (Mertha, 2009), Xi Jinping’s (Xi’s) administration is said to have adopted a top-down approach to policy making (Chen, 2017) and imposed tight censorship upon media (Pei, 2020). Nevertheless, some scholars found that policy processes under Xi Jinping continued to be influenced by proposals of the legislature’s delegates, the advocacy of resourceful NGOs with autonomy vis-àvis the state, voices from state-owned media, commercialized media and social media, and demands expressed through various official channels such as government hotlines (Luo & Harrison, 2019; Li, 2021; Wang & Liu, 2020). This book aims to contribute to this debate by capturing the features of China’s recent policy processes.
While the agenda and analytical approaches of studying China’s policy processes have become increasingly diversified, the way in which the unique and evolving features of China’s political system shape its policy processes are yet to be fully understood. Chinese scholars have called for research into how CCP leads the policy processes in collaboration with democratic parties (Ye & Huang,
2023). With the new discourse of ‘whole-process people’s democracy’1 put forward by Xi Jinping in 2019 (Zhu 2021), more research needs to study the role of various governing mechanisms and institutions in China’s policy processes.
This book fills the gap by inviting contributions from scholars who have been living and teaching in mainland China and Taiwan and have also conducted extensive fieldwork in these countries. It takes a broad approach to study China’s policy processes, focusing not only on traditional topics such as agenda setting and policy change, but also on political-administrative relations, the design of the policy mix, and delivering service contracts in the communities. The chapters of the book study governance mechanisms and institutions currently being under-researched in the literature of policy processes, such as mass line, tiao-kuai coordination, and people’s congress. One chapter is a comparative analysis of three social enterprises in Taiwan, providing a case of non-governmental actors’ (lack of) influence on policies in a context different from mainland China.
1.3 Overview and contribution of the book
Different from many MSF applications to China which focus on agenda setting at the national level of government, Chapter 2 applied MSF to study agenda setting and implementation by a prefectural city-level government in Fujian Province. The author innovatively integrated the literature about China’s fragmented and decentralized state authority (Lieberthal & Oksenberg, 1988; Landry, 2008) into the original MSF framework to explain the processes. Considering different agenda priorities of ‘Tiao’ and ‘Kuai’ in China, the study modified the MSF by categorizing the policy window into two different types: ‘Tiao-window’ and ‘Kuai-window’. Tiao refers to the functional departments, and Kuai refers to the governments at the central, provincial, municipal (prefectural), county and township levels.
The case study identified the multiple entrepreneurial roles taken by a local ‘Tiao’ agency to influence agenda setting: crunching the feedback information, redefining the problem, designing the implementation plan, recommending policy proposals attractive to the municipal party committee and government office, and building the implementation networks across functional departments and jurisdictions. This agency was found to have successfully pushed the agenda of combating counterfeit cigarette policy from its ‘Tiao-window’ to the ‘Kuai-window’, and mobilized political support and cross-agency resources to implement the policy.
This case took place in the early years of Xi Jinping’s administration (2012–2015), and demonstrated that the activities in local policy implementation is by no means a top-down process, but involved considerable bottom-up initiation by the local government.
While empirical studies about policy implementation in China have found collaborative implementation networks comprising both governmental and non-governmental actors (e.g., Huang et al., 2022), few explain the effectiveness
Wei Li and Fang Chen
of these networks. Chapter 3 applies the collaborative network theory to investigate the causal conditions for the effective performance of contracted social services in Chongqing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Unlike many studies that adopt social network analysis to study network performance (e.g., Yi et al., 2021), this study conducted a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of 24 cases of nonprofit organizations (NPOs). It found three pathways towards effective contract performance:
1) NPOs have capability to mobilize resources through governmental networks and civil society networks, and keep reciprocal relationships with the neighbourhood community.
2) NPOs lack the capability to mobilize resources through civil society networks, but retain the reciprocal relationship with the neighbourhood community and have the capability to mobilize government resources.
3) NPOs have the capability to mobilize societal resources through civil society networks, but lack political connections.
The study demonstrates that the institutional environment encountered by NPOs during project implementation affect their resource mobilization capability. This explains why the same NPO may have different contract performance in different sites of project implementation. It also provides evidence contrary to what previous studies suggest (e.g. Zhan & Tang, 2016; Zhao, Wu & Tao, 2016): NPOs in China do not always rely on political connections to mobilize resources, nor do they have to maintain reciprocal relations with the neighbourhood committees for effective contract delivery. These NPOs are found to have access to civil society networks and also to be capable of mobilizing resources through these networks.
While studies have found that the CCP exerts political control over civil servants’ personnel management (e.g. Chan & Li 2007), few studies have examined how such control impacts policy processes and outcomes of administration. In contrast to the ideal of ‘Weberian bureaucracy’, which assumed that the politicization of administration could be incompatible with effective policy making and administration (Sager & Rosser, 2021), Chapter 4 demonstrated that party-led reforms could effectively manage the cases of citizens’ complaints and respond to citizens’ demand.
Based on the case of the X City government in Central China, three steps of politicization taken by the party secretary of the city government were identified: 1) transforming an administrative problem into a political problem narrative; 2) establishing ad hoc working groups to bypass the hierarchical ladders and allocating resources to lower-level governments; and 3) mobilizing citizen participation through an integrated digital platform. The case showed how the CPC adopts the ‘mass line’ governance method to exercise strong political control over the bureaucracy while also obtaining public support for implementing its policies. The authors also point out that politicization may lead to instability within the bureaucracy and undermine the state authority. They suggest
conducting more research to study under what conditions politicization can facilitate institutionalization, and under what conditions the institutional innovation can be sustained.
In Taiwan, political elites and interest groups have been said to exert increased influence in Taiwan’s policy processes after the political reforms in the late 1990s and the change in the ruling party in 2000. Nonprofit organizations were also more involved in the delivery of social welfare and health care due to the downsizing of the government during this period (Huang & Tu, 2010). After the Asian financial crisis, Taiwan’s social welfare policy became more inclusive, expanding its coverage for the unemployed (Kwon, 2009). However, it is not clear to what extent other social policy measures in Taiwan have been used as instruments for economic development.
Chapter 5 applied the employment theory to analyze three Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) of different origin in Taiwan and identified three strategies to empower the disabled people: individual empowerment, social empowerment and political empowerment. The comparison of three cases concludes that when a WISE is more market-oriented, and has a high level of integration with the supporting foundation, it is more likely to adopt the political empowerment strategy, namely involving people with disabilities in the governance and management decision-making process of the organization. The study found that in the development of WISEs in Taiwan, the revisions and promulgations of relevant laws and policies have promoted the transition from sheltered to supportive employment for disabled people.
The findings imply that the government policy can support the missions of WISEs by creating a favourable social and market environment, instead of a high-level financial commitment. The role of government in the three cases is consistent with the general transition of Taiwan from a developmental state to a regulatory state where the private sector takes the lead in development (Yeh, 2009). As a social governance mechanism, the WISEs discussed in the study contribute to solving the structural unemployment problems of the disadvantaged through the market. All three cases are bottom-up initiatives enabled by government regulations and policies. Therefore, empowering disabled people does not have to rely on political mobilization.2 However, the role of the WISEs in influencing social policies is limited.
Different from previous studies that identify learning, imitation and cadres’ career mobility as mechanisms of innovation diffusion across jurisdictions (Liu & Yi, 2023; Zhang & Zhu, 2019), Chapter 6 conceptualizes one novel mechanism of innovation diffusion both between levels of governments and across jurisdictions: the lack of functional linkages between government departments. This mechanism also drives the adoption of the river chief system (RCS) reform, a type of institutional innovation. By interviewing government officials directly involved in the operation of the RCS, the study opened the ‘black box’ of the adaptation and diffusion of innovations across the country. It found three diffusion models: bottom-up diffusion through local innovations; top-down diffusion through pilot schemes; and horizontal diffusion
through learning and imitation. The study contributed to the innovation adoption and diffusion theories by integrating China’s fragmented Tiao-Kuai system and the experimentalist governance approach (e.g., Zhang et al., 2022) in the analytical framework.
While China has been dubbed an authoritarian regime, few studies have investigated to what extent the party-state has exercised its coercive power in regulation and governance. One way to fulfil this purpose is to examine the type of policy instruments being adopted in regulating the private sector. A few studies about the adoption and implementation of policy or regulatory instruments are mainly in the environmental policy and public health domain. For instance, Koska (2016) found that binding environmental targets for local officials are the main policy instruments to enforce environmental mandates, but they have limited effects to control policy implementation. Li and Taeihagh (2020) analyzed the evolution of the policy mix for the sustainable energy transition during the period 1981–2020, and concluded that the Chinese government tends to use authority-based instruments to combat air pollution coercively, and use other types of instruments to reduce costs of renewable energy technologies and mitigate CO2 emissions. Wu and his colleagues (2022) found that all prefectural-level cities in mainland China had adopted the instrument of information disclosure during the COVID-19 pandemic although the content, frequency and timeliness of information disclosure varied.
Chapter 7 analyzed the changing mix of policy instruments adopted by China’s central government in regulating the online ride-hailing industry during 2016–2022. It applied Howlett and Ramesh’s classification of policy instruments to analyze the content of policy documents, and found that coercive type policy instruments accounted for the highest proportion, followed by hybrid incentive type and voluntary type. The study identified different patterns of policy mix at different stages of policy development. In the initial stage, the market played a major role in developing the industry, and coercive instruments were rarely used by the government. When problems of the new industry accumulated, more coercive and hybrid types of instruments were adopted to guide its orderly development. The findings suggest that the authoritarian policy style (the adoption of coercive policy instruments) has been persistent in China’s regulatory governance. In China, authoritarian policy style was not only found in government responses to crisis like COVID-19 (Mei, 2020), but has also been followed in the regulation of the ride-hailing industry.
The Multiple Streams Framework is one of the most frequently applied frameworks of policy processes in the context of China. Different from previous studies that analyze policy documents issued by government agencies to study policy stream (e.g., Ge, Shi & Wang, 2020; Zhou & Feng, 2014), Chapter 8 utilized proposals submitted from the delegates of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the NPC Standing Committee Gazette to assess the dynamics of the policy stream. Applying China-focused MSF hypotheses, the study adopted quantitative and qualitative content analysis to identify the driving forces of the 2004 amendment of the Law on the Prevention and
Control of Infectious Diseases (PCID law). It found that the 2002–2003 SARS pandemic revealed preexisting policy and legal problems, which were recognized by high-level political leaders as a threat to social stability. This focusing event and support by top political leaders opened the policy and political windows for the law amendment to be proposed and included in the legislative agenda, and swiftly adopted after consensus building.
The case of amending the PCID law a decade ago showed that the state censorship of traditional media could shape agenda setting by preventing the streams from maturing at the beginning, while accelerating this process once the problem turned into a crisis. In recent years, the rapid growth in social media users in China may have weakened the government’s ability to control agenda setting through media censorship, as is shown by the case of COVID-19, where the attentive public have the ability to influence government agenda (Dai et al., 2021). More research is needed to understand the role of different types of media in China’s policy processes.
Notes
1 According to the official document, the ‘whole-process people’s democracy’ integrates the models of electoral democracy and consultative democracy (The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China, 2021).
2 As was argued in a recent article by Jun-Jie Lin and Heng-Hao Chang (2023).
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2 From Tiao-window to Kuai-window Strategies and Policy Entrepreneurship in Combating Counterfeit Cigarette Policy
Fang Chen
2.1 Introduction
Counterfeit cigarettes production and sales significantly harm the public interest and consumer interests as well as the commercial interests of tobacco companies. Combating the impacts of the counterfeit cigarette market is one of the main responsibilities of China tobacco administration at all levels. Given the advances of information technology and the growth of the logistics industry, tackling counterfeit cigarettes has become increasingly challenging.1 One example of a local government agency entrusted with combating counterfeit cigarettes is the Municipal Tobacco Administration Bureau of Z City (MTABZ). This study examines how MTABZ successfully promotes the goal of combating counterfeit cigarettes within a government structure consisting of various vertical line departments (“Tiao” in Chinese), and horizontal levels of government offices (“Kuai” in Chinese). While there has been some literature focusing on policy implementation in China, there has been relatively little dealing with how local policy actors influence the policy process and policy outcomes.
The Multiple Stream framework (MSF), one of the most tested policy process theories in Western political contexts, has helped Chinese scholars to observe the dynamics and complexity of China’s policy processes. MSF (Chen & Lin, 2021; Wang, 2021; Yang & Zhi，2020; Ye & Li, 2020; Zhou & Luo, 2021), along with policy entrepreneurship theory (He & Ma, 2020; Zhao & Gu, 2022；Zhou & Li, 2016；Zhu, 2008; Zhu, 2013; Hammond, 2013; Zhu & Xiao, 2014; Zhu & Xiao, 2015; Zhu, 2018; Gu & Zhao, 2021；Lu, et al. 2019；Yu，2021；Tang, et al., 2019；Pan, et al., 2021), are commonly employed to explain the dynamic policy process and the strategic behaviour of policy actors. However, the majority of MSF applications in China have focused primarily on agenda setting at the national level of government (Zhang & Su, 2016; He & Ma, 2020; Zhao & Gu, 2022; Zhu, 2008; Chen & Lin, 2021; Wu, 2014; Yang et al., 2016; Bi, 2007; Zhang, 2014) rather than agenda setting and implementation at the local level of government.
Some studies have applied the MSF to the Chinese context and made adjustments to the framework.
First, political actors play a crucial role, and political streams dominate policy activities. Liu et al. (2017) found that local governments and academics are the main actors in advancing the China-Myanmar pipeline project. Zhang & Su (2016) discovered that the preferences of political leadership are closely related to the ruling party’s ideology with regard to changes in education policy. Furthermore, some argue that the political stream is the key to understanding policy changes in China (Wu, 2014; Zhu & Chen, 2015).
Second, the assumption of stream independence is not always valid (Yang et al., 2016): The political stream is not independent; rather, it is interlinked with the problem stream and the policy stream (Huang & Xu, 2012).
Third, the emergence of these streams follows a particular sequence. Bi (2007) discovered that they follow a sequential order of Problem stream–political stream–policy stream; Ren & Chen (2016) argued that the political stream plays a constructive role in shaping the problem stream and the policy stream during the process of refining Regional Spirit. Similarly, Zhang’s (2014) study on College Entrance Examination policy demonstrated that the political stream and the policy stream are the primary forces driving change.
Fourth, the emergence of self-media has transformed the traditional centralized information dissemination mode and agenda-setting practices. A study on taxi polices (Wei & Sun, 2016) demonstrated that self-media has strengthened the influence of public opinion on policy agendas.
Fifth, policy entrepreneurs at the local level often possess multiple roles. A study on school bus safety regulation (Huang & Xu, 2012) revealed that some policy entrepreneurs have a dual identity, for example, serving as both academics and deputies of the People’s Congress or representing the bus industry as well as holding deputy positions. These entrepreneurs actively participate in all three streams and enjoy easy access to decision-makers. Additionally, an analysis of the free trade zone in Shanghai (Zhu & Chen, 2015) discovered that policy entrepreneurs can come from both within and outside the government. The policy proposals they initiate quickly evolve into policies through the establishment of a policy community between Shanghai municipal government and central government.
From the above, it can be observed that the MSF is applicable in the context of the Chinese policy process. However, it does have certain limitations. First, local policy processes often involve a greater variety of policy windows compared to the national-level processes. The MSF was originally proposed to explain agenda activities at the national level and had limited elaboration on policy windows. Although some studies (for example, Exworthy & Powell, 2004) later advocated the need to extend the application of multiple stream theory to the local level, further exploration is still needed. Second, there is potential for further development in exploring various strategies employed by policy entrepreneurs. This aspect requires more attention and research.
To explain a policy process led by a fragmented local government and the refinement and implementation of policy goals set by higher-level government, this study introduced modifications to the multiple-stream framework. It categorizes the policy window into two separate parts: the ‘Tiao-window’ and the ‘Kuai-window’. The adapted framework analyzes the entrepreneurial role and strategic actions of the local Tiao agency, specifically the Municipal Tobacco Administration Bureau of Z City. This agency successfully advanced the agenda of combating counterfeit cigarettes policy, transitioning it from the ‘Tiao-window’ to the ‘Kuai-window’ and effectively mobilized cross-agency resources for policy implementation. The study demonstrates how the adapted MSF can effectively explain the integrated process of agenda setting and implementation.
2.2 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework Proposition
2.2.1
Multiple Stream Framework and Policy Entrepreneurship
The Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) has been widely used to elucidate actions in the policy process across various contexts. It posits that while good fortune plays an important role in the success of decision-making, this does not mean that public policy is a completely random outcome (Jones et al., 2016, pp. 13–36). The strategic behaviours of policy actors play an indispensable role throughout the entire policy process. MSF comprises five components: problem stream, political stream, policy stream, policy entrepreneur and policy window (Kingdon, 1995, pp. 113–205). The problem stream refers to the problems that the policy subject aims to solve, which can be assessed through monitoring indicators, focus events, the capacity load of the organization to resolve the problem, and the information feedback from similar projects related to the problem. The policy stream primarily focuses on the alignment between proposed policy’s value and existing polices, the technical feasibility of the proposal and its implementation, the adequacy of resources, the characteristics of the relevant policy community in terms of size, method, capacity and accessibility, and whether the policy network can facilitate the proposal’s development, etc. (Zahariadis, 1999, pp. 73–93). The political stream includes: the prevailing public opinion on specific events, values or solutions, often referred to as the national mood; the overall advocacy of particular political groups, such as party ideologies; and the balance of power among all participants and relevant stakeholders.
The policy window usually exists in the problem stream or political stream, and the opening of the policy window is related to stream coupling logic and decision-making style (Herweg, Zahariadis, and Zohlnhöfer, 2017, pp. 65–92). Decisions are made when all three streams are coupled together more likely at specific points in time, which Kingdon has called policy windows. A policy window is defined as a fleeting “opportunity for advocates of proposals to push their pet solutions, or to push attention to their special problems” (Kingdon 1995, p. 165). Herweg, Christian, and Zohlnhöfer (2015) have suggested a distinction between “agenda window” and “decision window” to differentiate the opportunities to get an issue on the agenda from opportunities to get policies
adopted. Those efforts are helpful in “captur[ing] important nuances”. However, the policy window is still widely used in the literature in a more generic sense. MSF assumes that each stream operates independently. When a policy window opens, policy entrepreneurs seize the opportunity to promote the coupling of three streams. As a result, the issue is propelled into the policy window, marking the end of the agenda-setting phase and the initiation of the formation of a new policy. The strategic activities undertaken by policy entrepreneurs play an crucial role in this process, as they directly influence the fate of the policy issue.
Kingdon (1995, pp. 226–230) considered policy entrepreneurs as individuals who seize the moment and open the window of the agenda setting, and who are more willing to invest time, energy (and sometimes money and reputation) than others to break the existing policy deadlock, market their pet policy proposals to others and trying to turn it into a new decision. They are those who make policy proposals and promote them, or advocate policy change (Weissert, 1989; Mintrom & Norman, 2010). Policy entrepreneurs mainly adopt the strategies such as problem definition, social acumen (Mintrom & Vergari, 1998), marketing, team-building (Burt & Ronald, 2000；Di Maggio, 1992) and setting an example, etc. Policy entrepreneurs often act as policy pioneers who take the lead, express the willingness to improve social outcomes, and set milestones for change to earn credibility (Kotter, 2009). Aviram, Cohen and Beeri summarized 20 kinds of policy entrepreneur strategies from the current research and classified them according to policy stages (Frisch, Cohen and Beeri, 2019). Strategies such as problem framing, solution seeking, and venue shopping are often used during the agenda-setting stage. In policy formation, process planning, symbols, risk taking, salami tactics and strategic information dissemination are usually used before the strategies of team building, such as team leadership, stimulating potential beneficiaries, forging inter-organizational and cross-agency partnerships and networking.
2.2.2 A Modification of MSF: Distinction Between “Tiao-window” and “Kuai-window”
While it is generally believed that China applies a top-down policy-making model within a centralized administrative system, where industry tasks and objectives are established (Trevor & Li, 2011), in practice, local policy activities extend beyond implementation. Local policy implementation processes involve refining policies according to local conditions and constrained resources. As a result, local policy activities are much more dynamic than initially expected. This can be attributed to the following reasons:
First, policy implementation involves activities such as clarifying policy goals, assessing environmental constraints and opportunities within subsystems, mobilizing resources, and selecting the proper instruments (Hogwood & Gunn, 1984; Pressman & Wildavsky, 1984; Sabatier & Mazmanian, 1981) and so on;
Second, local administrative agencies often possess discretion and flexibility in interpreting policy goals and selecting implementation methods;
Third, local government is not a unified entity; different government bodies have diverse priorities, experiences and knowledge (Zhang, 2022). Consequently, inter-organizational frictions become more pronounced at the local level.
The intergovernmental relations significantly contribute to the complexity of local policy implementation. Lin (1998) describes China’s intergovernmental relationship as the Tiao–Kuai model. Tiao refers to the functional departments, and Kuai refers to the governments at the central, provincial, municipal (prefectural), county and township levels. Tiao and Kuai have formed ‘a multi-level and multi-angle 3D cross of the power structure’ (Zhou, 2020). Tiao-tiao represents the relationship between different functional departments at the same government level or between upper-level government functional departments and their counterparts at lower levels (Xie, 2000). Kuai–kuai refers to the relationship among different levels of governments. Tiao–kuai relations are even more complex, primarily reflecting the relationship between government functional department(s) and government(s) at one or several level(s) (Xiong & Cao, 2007) (Figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1 Tiao and Kuai in the Chinese government system.
These structural settings in China’s policy processes inevitably influence local policy activities. Therefore, when applying MSF in the Chinese context, it becomes necessary to consider these characteristics and make two modifications to the framework.
According to the Tiao-kuai characteristic of Chinese governments, policy windows can be categorized into “Tiao windows” and “Kuai windows”. “Kuai windows” provide coupling opportunities to access and influence decision-making through the venues of the party committee and government office; by contrast, “Tiao windows” offer coupling opportunities to access and influence decision-making through the venues of functional departments within the government. Due to the diverse functions and responsibilities of Tiao and Kuai, each window opens for different issues and the priorities rarely align. The cooperation between Tiao and kuai heavily relies on the concurrent opening of Tiao windows and Kuai windows. In other words, the cooperation is only possible when Tiao windows and Kuai windows share the same priority on a particular policy issue.
The other modification concerns policy entrepreneurship. While MSF argues that policy entrepreneurs act strategically to influence agenda setting, when applying MSF to study local policy implementation, we need to broaden the analytical scope. This includes examining policy entrepreneurs’ strategies and influence beyond agenda setting, encompassing other activities throughout the implementation process.
2.3 Case Scanning
2.3.1
Case Selection and Data Collecting
This work adopts an exploratory approach by focusing on a single case study. This approach ensures that sufficient details about the implementation process and practices are explained thoroughly. The chosen case is MTABZ, a local governmental Tiao agency, which serves as a successful example of strategically taking actions to promote the coupling of Tiao–Kuai windows and constantly create supporting resources to achieve its ultimate policy goal. This case is both instructive and deserving of a comprehensive investigation.
The data collection process consisted of two periods: the first period spanned from 2011 to 2015, during which we tracked the implementation process of “Hat removal”2 task conducted by MTABZ. This process involved field observations and the examination of internal meeting documents. The second period data collection took place from 2016 to 2018 and involved conducting unstructured interviews with nine cadres from the municipal Party committee, the municipal Tobacco Administration Bureau, the Leading Team of Combating Counterfeit Cigarette in Z City. Additionally, publicly reported news and articles related to this case were gathered and utilized for triangular verification (Yin, 2013, pp. 321–332) of the interview data. The case took place during a three-year period from 2012 to 2015.
2.3.2 ‘Hat Removal’ of the Worst-hit Area of Counterfeiting and Selling Cigarettes in Z City
Y County in Z City has been notorious for counterfeiting cigarettes. The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and the Ministry of Public Security jointly initiated a ‘Special Campaign’ to crack down on the illegal actions of counterfeiting cigarettes regularly in places where the practice was rampant. The unlawful cigarette processing and selling in Y County still went viral and it quickly developed into the worst-hit area in the country, caused widespread attention within society and becoming the focus of much action on the part of the national authorities. In 2012, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration began a new initiative of eliminating counterfeit cigarettes in Z City, acting jointly with the Ministry of Public Security. Around the new goal of “Hat removal”, MTABZ strictly implemented and promoted this goal in cooperation with the Municipal Public Security Bureau, mainly through cracking-down campaigns which were staged every six months. However, it is hard to sustain the achievement. Given the difficulties and challenges they encountered, MTABZ reconsidered their practice and carefully analyzed the situation, breaking through the stereotype of simply relying on the joint actions between the two line departments, and seeking implementation resources as widely as possible to complete the mission of ‘Hat removal’.
2.4 Case Analysis: Strategies Adopted by
Policy Entrepreneurs in Combating Counterfeit Cigarettes in Z City
At the local level, the action of combating counterfeit cigarettes taken by MTABZ covers multiple stages of the policy process, including problem redefinition, agenda setting, policy elaboration and implementation. What actions (strategies) will a local Tiao agency, such as the Municipal Tobacco Administration Bureau of Z City, undertake to successfully accomplish the policy goal set by the upper-level government? A close examination is as below.
2.4.1
Who is the Policy Entrepreneur?
Will the local authority be the policy entrepreneur when implementing the state policy? Kingdon (1995, p.179) first defined policy entrepreneur in multiple-stream theory in the following terms: “advocates who are willing to invest their resources – time, energy, reputation, money – to promote a position in return for anticipated future gain in the form of material, purposive, or solidary benefits”. Kingdon did not link policy entrepreneurs with a specific formal position. But Mintrom and Norman (2009) argued later that policy entrepreneurs are more than mere advocates of particular solutions; they are also manipulators of problematic preferences and unclear technology.
In this case, the Municipal Tobacco Administration Bureau of Z City was in charge of combating counterfeit cigarette policy. The implementation process can be seen as a policy refinement process, which involves various activities
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Title: The well in the desert
Author: Adeline Knapp
Release date: June 10, 2022 [eBook #68279]
Language: English
Original publication: United States: The Century Co, 1908
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THE WELL IN THE DESERT
BY ADELINE KNAPP
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1908
Copyright, 1908, by T C C .
Published August, 1908
All rights reserved
THE DE VINNE PRESS
TO A. L. C.
IN
MEMORY OF DESERT DAYS AND GREEN PASTURES
BOOK ONE THE VALLEY OF BACA
THE WELL IN THE DESERT
CHAPTER I
Blue Gulch was relaxing after the ardors of its working-day. From the direction of the Cheerful Heart Dance Hall issued sounds of mirth and festivity, and a weaving fantasy of shadows on its canvas walls proclaimed to those without that the cheerful hearts were in executive session.
A man coming furtively along Upper Broadway made a detour to avoid the bar of light that shone through the open door of the hall. He passed behind the building, and around the big fandango, where the trip of feet mingled with the tinkle of a guitar and the whirr and thump of a wheel of fortune.
“It can’t be anywhere along here,” he muttered, coming back to the road and pausing to survey the starlit scene.
Blue Gulch had but one street, the two sides of which lay at different levels, separated by the wide yawn of the gulch itself, thrusting into the mountain from the desert below. From where the man stood he commanded a very complete view of the place. In nearly every house was a light, and the shadows thrown upon the canvas walls gave a fair clue to the occupations of those within; so that during the early part of each evening at least neither half of the town need be in any doubt as to how the other half was living.
The life and gaiety of the community in relaxation seemed to gather upon the upper plane. Across the gulch Lower Broadway lay
in comparative darkness.
The man drew back again as a couple of shadowy forms came wavering down the road. One of these carried a lantern, which hung low at his side, revealing the heavy miners’ boots of the pair, and casting grotesque shadows up the mountain-side.
“Where’s Westcott? Why ain’t he along?” one asked, as they passed.
The skulking figure in the shadow strained his ears to listen, one hand pressed upon his mouth to keep back the cough that would have betrayed him.
“He’s back at his office, digging,” was the careless response. “Westcott ain’t a very cheerful cuss.”
The two laughed lightly, and disappeared within the dance-hall.
When they were out of sight the man came forth again, hurrying past the glowing windows of the Red Light Saloon, stopping beyond it to muffle with his shapeless hat the cough that took toll of his strength. He leaned panting against a boulder, waiting to regain his breath.
The way was more dimly lighted now. He was nearing the civic center of the place, the one bit of level ground in the gulch. Here, a faint light showing from one window, was the mining company’s hospital. Beyond this the man passed a big, barn-like structure of wood, that announced itself, by a huge, white-lettered sign, showing faintly in the starlight, as an eating-house. Next it was the low adobe hotel of the place, and farther on, beyond a dark gap, was a small building, boasting a door and two windows in its narrow front.
The visitor regarded this place consideringly. He thought it more than likely that it was what he sought. Light streamed from both windows and, stepping close, the prowler looked within.
What he saw was a man writing at a rough pine desk. The room was not large. One or two chairs, a couch, and some rude shelves, where a few law books leaned; a small earthen-ware stove, now glowing with heat, completed its furnishings. The watcher’s eyes yearned to that stove. He was shivering in the chill autumn night, and he wore no coat. With a muttered curse he opened the door and stepped quickly into the room.
The man inside looked up from his writing, peering past the lamp the better to see his visitor. For a moment he stared, incredulous, then, as recognition was confirmed, he softly slid a hand toward one drawer of his desk. The new-comer noted the movement.
“You can stow that,” he snarled, scornfully, “I haven’t got any gun.”
The other’s fingers had already closed upon the handle of a revolver that lay in the drawer. With the weapon in his hand he crossed quickly, from one window to the other, and carefully pulled down the shades. The intruder had stepped into the full glare of the lamp, and now bent forward, his hands upon the desk.
As he stood thus, gaunt, haggard, panting, he seemed little calculated to awaken fear. The hands that clutched the table’s edge were trembling and emaciated, and of a curious, waxy pallor. This same pallor was in his drawn, sunken face, and from out the deathlike mask of its whiteness the man’s deep-set eyes gazed, heavy with despair.
“I haven’t got any gun, Westcott,” he repeated. “You needn’t be afraid. You played a damned, dirty trick on me, three years ago, but that’s all done with. I ain’t here to throw it up against you; but I want you to do me a favor.”
The lawyer had turned the key in the lock and stood near the door, watching him intently, noting the close-cropped head, the thin, pallid face, the nondescript garments of the wayfarer.
“You managed to escape,” he finally said, slowly.
“Yes, I did.” The man coughed, clutching the table for support.
“I got away last week,” he explained, panting. “Yes—and I stole the clothes,” with a glance at the sleeves of his rough gray shirt. “I’m a thief, now, just like you, Westcott.”
The other made an inarticulate sound in his throat.
“We’ll let all that pass,” the intruder said, with a toss of one gaunt hand. “I’m up to no harm, but I’ve got to have help. I’ve got out of that hell you left me in at Phoenix; but it won’t do me any good. I’m dying!”
Another fit of coughing shook him, until he reeled. Westcott pushed a chair toward him and he sank into it, still gripping the table.
“I’m dying,” he said again, when the cough had spent itself, “and I want to get back and die in God’s country.”
Westcott sat down opposite him, still watching him, intently.
“I can’t walk back,” the man went on, “and I ain’t fit to beat it back. You’re welcome to the fifteen hundred you got off me; but can’t you— for the love of God, won’t you—give me the price of a ticket back to Iowa?”
His dull, sunken eyes were akindle, and he leaned forward, an agony of eagerness in his eyes. The prison-born look of age fell from him for the moment and it became apparent that he was not only a young man, but must once have been a comely one, with a powerful frame.
“I heard you were attorney for the Company here,” he went on, as Westcott still kept silent. “You ought to be able to do that for me. You had fifteen hundred of mine.”
The attorney flinched, ever so slightly, then he rose, dropping the revolver into his coat-pocket, and took a turn about the room.
“I—I wasn’t such a beast as it looks,” he finally said, speaking with difficulty. “I’ve been ashamed of myself: I meant to stay and try to clear you. I don’t know how I came to do it; but Jim Texas swore’t was you; and I lost the money playing faro at Randy Melone’s.”
The brief glow in the sunken eyes had burned itself out. The man surveyed Westcott, apparently without interest.
“Jim Texas lied,” he said, apathetically, “and now you’re lying. You paid some of that money to Raoul Marty for a horse; and you got away with most of the rest of it in your clothes. You can hear things, even in jail.” This was said with a weary laugh, in which was no mirth.
“You don’t always hear ’em straight,” the attorney replied, with studied gentleness.
“I was ashamed, Barker,” he went on, quickly. “I’ve been sorry ever since.”
“Then you’ll give me the price of a ticket?” Hope gleamed again, in the dull eyes. Westcott considered.
“I haven’t got the money here,” he mused; “but I think I can raise some by to-morrow. How would you get down to the railroad?”
“I’ll take care o’ that—” another siege of that racking cough. Barker leaned back in his chair, faint and gasping. Westcott drew a flask and poured some of its contents into a tin cup. The other drained it, eagerly.
“That’ll help,” he murmured, handing back the cup. “I ain’t always so weak as this; but I’ve been hitting the trail for a week, without much grub.”
“Did anyone see you come in?” Westcott asked, with apparent irrelevance.
“No. I kept out of sight.”
“Good!” The other nodded. “That’s what you’ll have to keep doing.”
“I’ve got to go out and see what I can do about that money,” he continued; “and you’ve got to have something to eat. I guess I’ll have to lock you in here while I’m gone, in case anyone should come along. You needn’t be afraid but that I’ll come back,” he added, as the other looked up, in quick suspicion. “It’s safer so, and I want you to have something to eat.”
“I sure need it,” was the reply. “Mighty bad.”
“I know you do; I’ll bring it soon’s I can.” Westcott moved toward the door. “You lay low till I get back.”
“You’re not going back on me?” Barker still studied him.
“Going back on you?” Westcott laughed, shortly.
“Lord!” he exclaimed, “Do you think I didn’t have enough of that?”
He threw some lumps of coal into the little stove. “I’ll have to douse the glim,” he explained, “since I’ll be out around town, and someone might wonder who’s here. You can lie down there.”
He waved a hand toward the couch and Barker nodded.
“I’m pegged out,” he said, wearily. “I’ll just sit here by the fire. Lord! How long is it since I’ve been warm?”
He drew his chair nearer and bent to the glow. Westcott lowered the light and blew out the flame.
“I’ll lock the door on the outside,” he said, “And don’t you worry, Barker: I’ll take care of you. Just trust me.”
“I guess I’ve got to trust you,” was the helpless reply, “I can’t do anything else.” And Westcott stepped out into the night, locking the
door behind him.
Once outside he walked along the plaza to the head of the gulch and stood looking down upon the town. The varied sounds of a mining settlement at night came plainly to his ears. A new dancer from over the border was making her first appearance at Garvanza’s that evening, and the Mexicans were gathered in force. There was a crowd of miners in the Red Light Saloon. He could hear their voices.
“How I hate it all,” he muttered. “I wish I was out of it!”
The post-office was on Lower Broadway in the Company’s store, where a single light burned, dimly. Farther down was the schoolhouse, where the school-teacher labored by day, with the half-dozen white children of the town, and twice as many young Papegoes. Behind the gulch, climbing heavenward, verdureless, copper-ribbed, austere, lay the mountain, where the mines were.
Westcott had been in Blue Gulch for more than a year. He had drifted out of Phoenix after the Barker affair, glad to get away, where he was sure no one knew of the matter.
There had been no question about Barker’s guilt. Jim Texas swore to having seen him knife Lundy. He couldn’t have saved him if he had stayed, Westcott told himself. He had never understood why they had not hung the fellow, instead of sentencing him for life.
“Better have done it outright than to kill him by inches in their hell of a jail,” he thought.
But now what was to be done with the man? Westcott stood scowling at a house down the gulch. There was a light inside that threw upon the canvas side-wall the gigantic figure of a woman, coughing. It reminded him unpleasantly of Barker.
“Damn the fellow,” he muttered. “Wha’d he come up here for, anyway? He’ll never live to get back east.” He walked on, turning up the collar of his coat. “It’s coming winter. The cold’ll kill him.”
Again he stood pondering, while one by one the lights down the gulch went out. Then he bethought himself of his errand and went stumbling down Lower Broadway in the dark.
The storekeeper was just closing up, but the young fellow turned back to wait upon him.
“I won’t keep you more’n a minute, Farthing,” he said, and proceeded to buy bread and cheese, a tin of meat and a couple of bottles of beer. A little package of tea was an after-thought.
“Going prospecting, Mr. Westcott?” the clerk asked, as he made up the packages.
“Maybe,” was the reply.
Westcott was at the door as he spoke. Young Farthing was putting out the light.
“Oh, Johnnie,” the attorney said, with the air of just remembering, “I want to telephone ... ‘long distance.’ I’m afraid it’ll take some time.” He half hesitated.
The boy looked disappointed; he had planned to get over to the fandango in time to see the new dancer. He spoke cheerfully however.
“That’s all right, Mr. Westcott,” he said, and turned up the lamp again.
“Why can’t I lock up, Johnnie?” Westcott asked; “I’ll bring the key up to the hotel when I come.”
“If you wouldn’t mind—” Farthing looked relieved, “Everything’s all right but just turning out the light,” he added.
“All right.” Westcott gave him a little push; “You go on,” he said, cordially; “I can lock the door as hard as you!”
“I guess that’s true, Mr. Westcott,” the boy laughed, and with a relieved “good-night,” he departed, as Westcott was turning toward the telephone-booth.
Half an hour later the attorney was in his own office, boiling water in a tin pail, on top of the little stove, while Barker, warmed and cheered, made great inroads upon the bread and cheese and the tinned meat. Presently Westcott made tea in the pail.
“Seems like old prospecting days, don’t it?” he said with ostentatious cheerfulness, as he filled the tin cup. “I dare say you’ve had your share of them?”
“Some.... A-a-h!” Barker drank, blissfully, of the strong, scalding brew.
“I located a good claim once,” he said, setting down the cup. “But it was jumped. All I ever got was—”
He paused, in some embarrassment, and changed the subject. “Great stuff, that tea,” he said, and Westcott refilled the tin cup.
“I’ve done better for you than I hoped to,” he volunteered presently. “I couldn’t raise the money in the town—too near pay-day; but I got a pal of mine on the ’phone. He can let me have the cash, and I’ll get it to-morrow. Don’t you worry, Barker.” He answered the question, in the other’s eyes, “I’m looking out for you all right. You don’t need to worry.”
“I’m a pretty sick man,” Barker answered, his white face flushing. “I know I’m done for; but I want to die in the open.”
“Don’t you talk about dying.” Westcott went about the place making it secure for the night. “You’ll be snug as can be here,” he added, “By seven o’clock to-morrow morning this town’ll be practically empty. All the men’ll be at the mine. Sime’s going down to the plain to meet the stage, and the school-teacher’ll be busy. We’ll get you off in good shape.”
He took some papers from the desk and put them in his pocket.
“I wouldn’t show myself, though,” he said. “Keep the curtains down, and lay low. Lock the door after me, and take out the key.”
At the last words the man’s look of anxiety vanished.
“All right,” he replied. “I’ll sure lay low. I haven’t slept much in a week. I’ll be glad enough to take the chance.”
“So long, then,” Westcott said, slipping out.
“So long,” and the key turned in the lock.
CHAPTER II
Having secured the door, Barker took the key from the lock and hung his hat upon the knob.
“Don’t want anyone peeking in,” he murmured, as he resumed his seat by the fire. He was no longer cold, but there was companionship in its glow.
The meager little office was a palace compared with the cell from which he had escaped, he thought as he looked about him in the dim light from the open door of the stove.
“If he plays me any more tricks—” His mind reverted to Westcott, and the cold sweat stood upon his forehead at the idea of possible treachery.
“Pshaw!” he muttered. “There’s nothing more he can do. He’s done it all. God! To think I swore to kill him at sight, and here I am begging favors of him.”
The angry snarl in his voice changed to a cough, and ended in a whimper.
“I couldn’t do anything else,” he pleaded, as though arguing with someone. “I want to get back east. I want to die in the open. Hell! I was going mad in that hole.”
He rested his head between his fists, torturing himself with memories of the days before he crossed the Divide, the youngest chain-man in the surveyors’ gang of a projected new railroad. He had come from Iowa, and boy-like he sang the praises of his native state all across the alkali plains, until, in derision, his fellows dubbed him “the Iowa barker.”
The name stuck. In Nevada he was plain “Barker.” The others seemed to have forgotten his real name, and as Barker, when he left the outfit, he drifted down into Arizona. He blessed the easy transition when the trouble came that fixed the killing of big Dan Lundy on him. He had kept his real name secret through all that came after.
What had it all been about? What was he doing here to-night? Why hadn’t he killed Westcott, instead of sitting here by his fire?
He passed a wavering hand before his eyes. Oh, yes. Now he remembered. Westcott was going to send him east—to God’s country. Meanwhile, he was dead for sleep. He caught himself, as he lurched in his chair, and rising heavily, he threw himself upon the couch.
It was past noon when he woke. The sun lighted the yellow curtains; the door stood open, and Westcott bent over him, shaking him by the shoulder.
“Barker! Barker!” the attorney called.
“Barker! Wake up! Time to get out of this. I’ve got a chance to send you down to the railroad.”
By degrees he struggled to consciousness, and sat up. Westcott had brought him a big cup of steaming coffee.
“Drink this,” he said, not unkindly.
“My friend came up with the money,” he went on, as Barker drank, sitting sidewise on the couch. “He’s going to take you down in his buggy. He’ll fix you up all right.”
Barker was still dazed with sleep. His ears rang, and the lawyer’s voice sounded strange and far away. The coffee made him feel better. It soothed the cough that had racked him the moment he sat up.
“Now eat some grub,” Westcott said.
He had brought food from the hotel. Barker was still too far off to wonder at this. He had no desire for food, but he ate, obediently.
Westcott, meantime, had gone outside. In front of the hotel stood a big, rangy bay horse, hitched to a light road-wagon. Near the outfit lounged a tall, determined-looking man, who came forward when he saw the attorney.
“I’ve got to be getting a move on soon,” he said. “It’ll be late night, as ’tis, before we get there.”
“He’ll be ready in the shake of a horn,” the other replied.
“Say, Frank,” he continued. “He don’t know who you are. I’ve let on you’re a friend of mine, going to take him down. Let him think that till you get out of town.”
“Must be a dead easy one,” the man addressed as Frank said.
“Well, you see,” Westcott laughed, nervously, “I doped him pretty well last night—the poor devil coughed so,” he added, in explanation,
and the deputy sheriff gave a grunt that might mean anything. It brought a flush of embarrassment to Westcott’s face.
“Come on,” he said, shortly, turning toward his office. The deputy climbed into his buggy and drove after him.
“Got to hurry, Barker,” Westcott called, opening the door.
He escorted his charge briskly outside.
“This is Mr. Arnold,” he mumbled, beside the wagon. “A friend of mine that’ll see you fixed all right.”
The man holding the reins scrutinized Barker closely as the latter climbed up beside him.
“All right,” he decided, finally, speaking to Westcott, and handed the attorney a folded paper.
“That’s what you were after,” he said, briefly. “So long.”
A word to the bay colt and they were swinging down Upper Broadway at a pace that made Barker catch his breath as he noted the narrow road, and the steep cañon-side.
“It’d sure be a long fall,” his companion said, answering his look, “But we ain’t goin’ to take it. You can bank on the colt. He’s surefooted as a deer.”
“I ain’t afraid,” Barker responded. The fresh, sweet air was beginning to clear his brain and he sat up straighter, a touch of color coming into his death-like face. The other man avoided his glance, giving all his attention to the colt, who was swiftly putting distance between them and the town. The exigencies of the steep, rough road made such attention necessary and neither man spoke again until they had traversed the narrow pass, and were out of the gulch. A sudden turn of the way brought them among the foothills, the broad, yellow expanse of cactus-dotted plain before them.
“Doesn’t seem as far as it did when I footed it in last night,” Barker said at last, with an attempt to smile, and Arnold nodded. The bay colt was a good traveler, and they were on the level now, following the road that wound its spiritless, grey way among the cacti. The colt took it in long, free strides, that promised to get them somewhere by daylight.
“Good horse you got there,” Barker said, with a country-bred man’s interest in animals. “Mighty good shoulders.”
“You bet!” was the deputy’s hearty response. “Good for all day, too.”
“I raised him myself,” he went on, “and he’s standard bred, too, Daystar, out’n an Alcantara mare.” He spoke with proper pride, as the owner of a good horse may.
“They raise some fine stock back in Iowa,” Barker remarked, and his companion’s fount of speech seemed suddenly to run dry. Barker waited, expectant, for some little time.
“Where are we going to hit the railroad?” He asked, at last.
“The railroad?” Arnold looked puzzled.
“Westcott said you’d land me where I could get the train east,” the other explained. “He said you had the price of a ticket for me. It’s all on the level, ain’t it?” he demanded, his voice going higher.
“Oh—Oh! yes, yes! It’s all fixed. Don’t you worry none.” The bronze of the deputy’s face crimsoned.
“Don’t you worry none,” he repeated, with a glance at the sky.
An ominous cloud lowered, overhead. The sun was hidden, and the air had grown chill. A fit of coughing had followed Barker’s flash of excitement, and he crouched in his seat, shivering slightly.
“Look here,” Arnold exclaimed, “you ain’t dressed warm enough. They’s some kind of weather breeding.”
He reached beneath the wagon-seat and pulled forth his own coat.
“Put this on,” he directed. “I’ve got my sweater on, and don’t need it.”
Barker pushed it back.
“I’m all right,” he said. “You’ll need that yourself.”
“You do what I tell you,” the deputy insisted. “Put it over your shoulders. The wind’s at your back.”
He thrust the garment across his companion’s wasted shoulders and Barker drew the sleeves across his chest.
As he did so his hand touched something hard, under one lapel. He glanced down at it, and started.
“What’s that?” he cried, turning the metal badge up for closer inspection.
A groan of horror escaped him as he recognized the object.
