Institutional Paradigm: An Approach of Watching Political Change in China

On the grounds of neo institutionalism, the author establishes an institutional paradigm composed of Situation, System and Performance that applied in studying Chinas political change. The neo institutionalism pays much attention to institutional arrangement under a fixed political and economic situation. However, in China, institutional change not only refers to institutional arrangement, but also means change of institutional situation. The logic construction of this paradigm shows that institutional situation determines institutional system, which in turn determines institutional performance. Based on the paradigm, the paper analyzes the general relations of politics and economy in China and its dilemma in vision of neo institutionalism, explains relations among property, institutional arrangement and institutional competition, and further points out that institutional competition should be the foundation of state power.