The China Graduate Public Administration Case Competition 2019 Successfully Held
Founded in 2016, the China Graduate Public Administration Case Competition is co-hosted by the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC) and the National MPA Education Steering Committee. As one of the theme events of the China Postgraduate Innovation Contest, the Competition is entrusted to one university for organization each year.
The Competition aims to guide graduates, especially MPA students, to focus on practical public administration issues in China. It is expected that through social research, case writing and analysis, and on-site debate, the Competition can improve students’ ability to solve practical problems of public administration by applying related theories. Also, it is a way of promoting case-based teaching in MPA education and further integrating MPA education with public management practices and the overall plan of national development.
The competition is divided into two stages: preliminary and final.
For the preliminary, each team is required to determine their case of study based on the given topics. They need to collect first-hand information through methods like field research and write and analyze the case to form a complete case body and an analysis report. Participants should also propose feasible and innovative policies or solutions according to the case situation and relevant public management theories. In the preliminary round, the review will be undertaken in anonymity. Judges will make an anonymous review based on the submitted case and analysis report, and select teams for the final.
The final consists of two parts: text evaluation and live finals. Cases and analysis reports will be reviewed anonymously in the first part, and two rounds of competitions will be held in the second:
The first round is one-on-one on-site competition. After presenting their cases and analysis reports submitted in the preliminary, the two teams on the stage will first answer the questions from each other, and later, from the judges in turn. The result of the first-round competition consists of the weighted sum of scores of the text evaluation and the first round of the live finals. The top four teams will advance to the second round.
The second round will decide the ranking of the top four teams. These teams will be required to complete the case analysis within the prescribed time based on the same case provided by the organizing committee. Then, they will give presentations and take questions. The judges will score each team’s case analysis and performance separately, and the weighted sum of which will determine the ranking and the attribution of awards.
Our past awards are as follows:
2017 (The First Session, organized by Zhejiang University):
Champion: “Rainbow Bestkey Team”, Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU)
“Most Valuable Member Award”: Guo Peng
2018 (The Second Session, organized by Fudan University): two teams in our School entering the Top 100.
2019 (The Third Session, organized by SYSU):
Champion: “Quest for Truth Team” from SYSU (First Prize) (Supervisor: Professor Liu Junqiang)
Third Place: “Luyao Team” from SYSU (First Prize) (Supervisor: Associate Professor Zhang Shuwei)
Best Case Award: “Dangerous Innovation – a tortuous path of poverty-alleviation through financial aid in county T” by “Quest for Truth Team”
Most Valuable Member Award: Gao Xunmeng of "Quest for Truth Team"; Zhang Zilu of "Lu Yao Team"
Excellent Organization Award: SYSU
The 3rd National Graduate Public Administration Case Contest attracted 1106 teams from 178 universities. In the final, 27 committee members and judges were invited, and nearly 570 teachers and students were at the scene. Four teams won the first prizes, 12 for the second prizes, 16 for the third prizes, and 68 for honorable mentions. Four contestants received the “Most Valuable Member Award”, five teams for the “Best Case Award”, and 10 “Excellent Organization Awards” were decided.
The Competition encourages MPA students to focus on real-life issues and devote themselves to the practice of Chinese public management. By analyzing and studying cases, students can recognize telltale signs, understand public governance methods, and bring fresh air to related theories and practices. In this way, the Competition hopes to promote the development of public administration as a discipline. The Contest concerning public administration echoes the founding mission of the School of Government of SYSU – “Creating Good Governance for the World and China”.
