The Journal of Chinese Sociology (Mar 2023)

Platform governance and sociological participation

  • Peng Lu,
  • Lvjun Zhou,
  • Xiaoguang Fan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40711-023-00181-w
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 24

Abstract

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Abstract The positive and negative effects of the participation of digital platform companies in governance are a major issue of the times. Starting from the three subfields of internal governance, external governance, and co-governance, we construct an analytical framework for digital platform governance to understand the four-sided relationship among digital platform companies, the state, the market, and society. From the perspective of enterprise autonomy, we should view the effectiveness of platform company participation in social governance dialectically. The key of promoting good platform governance is to improve the external structural pressure from the state, promote the reform of the endogenous governance of enterprises, and build a sustainable architecture for co-governance. The mission of sociologists includes not only explanation but also intervention.

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