Policy Experimentation Trapped in <i>Tiao</i>-driven Authoritarian Environmentalism: A Case Study of National Park Policy in China

Abstract Departing from simplistic portrayals of Chinese environmental governance as authoritarian, this study identifies a hybrid policy style that combines authoritarian environmentalism with policy experimentation, as evidenced in national park policy. A detailed examination of the North-East China Tiger and Leopard National Park shows that this hybrid increasingly tilts towards authoritarianism during implementation. To explain this dynamic, the study moves beyond the prevailing central–local lens and employs the tiao – kuai model, which captures the power relations among top leaders, central departments ( tiao ), and local governments ( kuai ). The analysis reveals that organizational interests centred on conservation have led central departments to expand their authority, marginalize local governments and narrow the space for experimentation, thereby suppressing community development demands. Even when top leaders intervene from above, the entrenched power structure of tiao and kuai still limits the effectiveness of corrective measures. The study contends that a hybrid policy style, supported by balanced power relations between tiao and kuai , is essential for reconciling conservation with development through environmental policy experimentation.