Research on Digital Governance of Local Governments and the Transformation of Government Governance Modes

The in-depth application of a new generation of information technologies has driven digital governance to become a core driving force for the modernization of national governance systems and capacities. Local governments, as the cornerstone of national governance, are experiencing a profound transformation in their governance modes from the traditional model to the digital one. This paper adopts the comparative analysis method to construct a multi-dimensional analytical framework for traditional bureaucratic governance and modern digital governance, defining their core characteristics in the dimensions of governance philosophy, subjects, structure, tools and value orientation. Then, several typical digital governance practices of Chinese local governments in the fields of government services, urban management and grassroots governance are selected, such as Beijing’s “Responding to Complaints Immediately”, Hangzhou’s “City Brain” and Zhejiang’s “Zhezhengding”, and an in-depth comparison is made with their corresponding traditional governance processes. The study finds that digital governance, through data-driven, platform-enabled and network collaboration, has significantly reshaped the problems of hierarchical barriers, information silos, rigid processes and passive responses in traditional governance, and promoted the transformation of government governance towards integrity, refinement, collaboration and proactive service. However, the transformation process is also accompanied by new challenges such as the digital divide, data security, algorithmic ethics and the reshaping of organizational culture. Finally, this paper looks forward to the future development trend of local government governance and puts forward corresponding countermeasures and suggestions, aiming to provide theoretical reference and practical enlightenment for the in-depth development of digital governance practice of local governments.