Embedded Governance Perspective on the Theoretical Development and Evolution of Minority Village Regulations

Village regulations, as an informal institution, can only function when embedded in specific social networks. In traditional times, village regulations were endogenous, embedded in the “cultural governance network” of traditional rural society, forming an important part of the rural governance system. Since modern times, especially since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the “cultural governance network” supported by Confucian ethics, gentry, and clans has been replaced by an “organizational integration network” supported by modern state power, administration, institutions, and modern culture. The current village regulations are constructed by modern state forces and are detached from the current rural social network, thus their role in rural governance is limited. As an important form of “three-governance” integration in grassroots governance, village regulations need to be adjusted according to rural social networks to play their expected governance functions, activate autonomy to cultivate endogenous subjects, practice moral governance to revitalize the cultural foundation, and promote rule of law to optimize the state’s presence.