The Political Regulation Wave

Shiran Victoria Shen is a Stanford-trained political scientist and environmental engineer currently based at the Hoover Institution. Her research explores the intersections of political science, public policy, environmental sciences, and engineering, with a particular interest in how local politics influence environmental governance. This is her first book.

• 1. Introduction: an inconvenient truth; 2. Theory of the political regulation wave; 3. Local governance in China; 4. The case of sulfur dioxide control; 5. The case of fine particulate matter control; 6. The tradeoffs of the political regulation wave; 7. Conclusion: rethinking governance.

'How China implements environmental policy is one of the critical questions of our times. Shiran Victoria Shen's book breaks new ground in our understanding through the concept of 'political regulation waves.' Using an extraordinary blend of on-the-ground interviews, sophisticated quantitative analysis, and other methods, she illustrates the interplay between central and local officials over time and the tradeoffs at play. Not limited to the Chinese context, she shows how her findings have purchase in democracies and authoritarian systems alike.' Alex Wang, Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, UCLA School of Law