China’s rural governance transformation from state-centric total administration to legally institutionalized grassroots rule of law represents one of the most profound institutional shifts in contemporary social development. This paper systematically sorts out the evolution of rural governance across three historical stages, identifies three core persistent predicaments, and puts forward a compound rule of law framework as a targeted institutional solution. Drawing on interdisciplinary research covering law, sociology, political science, this paper further elaborates supporting governance models, operational mechanisms and differentiated governance paths for ethnic minority regions and summarizes the internal paradoxes restricting grassroots rule of construction.
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Wang, S. (2026) From Rural Governance to Grassroots Rule of Law: Historical Evolution and Legal Response of China’s Social Governance Model. Journal of Social Development and History, 2(3), 20-26. https://doi.org/10.71052/jsdh/KRFP4099