Selection and Application of Bohai Sea Environmental Governance Policy Instrumental: A Quantitative Analysis Based on Policy Text (1996–2022)

Abstract

The Bohai Sea is the only inland sea in China and serves as an important carrier for the Bohai Sea Economic Zone. However, it is also one of the areas with serious marine environmental pollution. This paper selects the policy text concerning Marine environmental pollution control issued by the central and local governments from 1996 to 2022 as the research object. Based on the three policy instruments of government environmental regulation, market incentive mechanisms and public participation, and using a content analysis method to encode and quantify the text content, it was found that the Bohai Sea marine environmental governance suffers from issues such as a singular concept of the use of policy instruments, imbalance in the proportion of their use, and insufficient supervision in the event of their use. Consequently, it is recommended to adopt diversified policy concepts, optimize the structure of policy instruments, and strengthen in-process supervision in the governance of the Bohai Sea marine environment.

1. Introduction

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China made the strategic deployment of “developing the marine economy, protecting the marine ecological environment, and accelerating the construction of a maritime power”. The construction of maritime ecological civilization is also an important part of China’s overall ecological civilization construction: the party and the government are paying increasing attention to marine environmental matters [1]. The Bohai Sea is the only inland sea in China and an important carrier of the Bohai Rim Economic Circle (Figure 1), but due to the long-term disorderly development of the Bohai Sea and the fragile ecological environment, the Bohai Sea environmental pollution is serious. Since the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment issued Agenda 21 of China’s Oceans in 1996, in the face of increasing pollution of the Bohai Sea, governments at all levels have issued a series of policies and regulations, providing an important regulatory basis for the protection of the marine environment of the Bohai Sea. In 2018, China issued the Announcement on the State of China’s Marine Ecological Environment, which proposed to “further strengthen the ecological environment protection work in the Bohai Sea”. With the continuous advancement of Bohai marine environmental policy, defects such as inefficient policy implementation, the uneven use of policy instruments, and high government burden costs have gradually emerged. Marine environmental policy making in the Bohai Sea is facing enormous challenges. In the context mentioned above, it is of great practical significance to conduct research on policy instruments for achieving marine environmental governance goals. Previous scholars’ research on marine environmental policies have tended to discuss how to achieve coordinated policy implementation and optimize marine environmental governance through development history, content structure, and policy means [2,3].

This study takes a different approach by using content analysis to analyze the marine environmental policies formed in the Bohai Sea from 1996 to 2022, aiming to explain the following questions: what are the characteristics of the Bohai marine environmental policy? What are the laws of implementation and development? How can we further optimize the Bohai marine environmental policy? This paper aims to optimize the policy system for the Bohai Sea marine environment, promote improvements and innovations in policy decision-making mechanisms, and provide new references for ecological civilization construction and the formulation of marine environmental protection policies.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Policy Instruments Research

Policy instruments refer to the specific methods and approaches adopted by government departments to address social public issues or achieve specific policy objectives during the formulation and implementation of policies. It is the medium between policy aims and policy outcomes, and it is also the means for governments to implement policies. Since the 1950s, the prominent environmental issues have driven countries and people to urgently seek various policy instruments in an attempt to prevent the global deterioration of the environment. From a historical perspective, environmental policy instruments have undergone three stages of evolution. The first stage is the phase of command and control, the second stage is the phase of economic measures, and the third stage is the phase of cooperation and participation [4]. In various environmental policy studies, different scholars have proposed different ways to classify environmental policy instruments, according to the differences in the use of policies. Gu et al. divided policy instruments into regulatory policy instruments, driven policy instruments and information transmission policy instruments [5]. Xiao et al. made a local division of policy instruments, arguing that ecological and environmental policy instruments have experienced the development and evolution of command-control instruments, marketing-driven policy instruments, voluntary environmental-agreement instruments, and information-disclosure instruments based on public participation [6]. Policy instruments are the product of a government’s learning stage to respond to specific problems that arise over time and adapt to changing conditions [7]. The selection and design of policy instruments is a key link for the government to achieve policy goals and a medium for effective policy implementation. Without the scientific selection and application of policy instruments, it will be difficult to achieve policy goals, and the failure of marine environmental governance policies will become inevitable [8].

2.2. Marine Environmental Policy Research

The problem of marine environmental pollution is becoming increasingly serious. With the drafting of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in the 1980s, scholars from all over the world have begun to pay attention to the problem of marine pollution. Different countries have adopted different policies and measures for the protection of the marine environment. By evaluating Cuba’s national framework for marine environmental policies, Hassan et al. identified the need for Cuba to develop an integrated and forward-looking ocean policy that can effectively achieve the country’s sustainability and environmental protection goals [9]. The marine environmental governance policy system in the United States has gone through a process from sector-oriented management to comprehensive management. From the 1960s to the beginning of the 21st century, marine environmental governance policies were formulated with sectoral orientation, such as the “Marine Resources and Engineering Development Act”, “Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act”, and “Shore Protection Act”. Since the 21st century, marine environmental governance has been developing in a comprehensive way, such as through “An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century” and “Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes” [10]. Issahaku Adam et al. explored the tools used in the governance process of marine pollution, noting that effective governance of the oceans requires a combination of policy instruments, stakeholders, and policy advocacy [11]. Hou Shuhua et al. proposed a hybrid command and control environmental policy instrument as a means of environmental governance, combining market-based approaches and command and control regulations. This instrument serves as two primary tools utilized by policy-makers to achieve environmental conservation goals [12]. According to Fraser A K et al., a content analysis of policy tools at different levels of governance for the Great Barrier Reef suggests that the main policy gap affecting management outcomes is the lack of a mechanism to manage the cumulative impacts, leading to the degradation of key ecosystem processes and biodiversity. Improving the understanding of the policy implementation process and its relationship between policy implementers is crucial for strengthening the connection between policy and on-the-ground management [13]. In 2008, the European Commission adopted the “EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive”, which was the world’s first comprehensive management strategy of the marine environment, aiming to achieve a good environmental status of the oceans. It employed advanced ecosystem-based approaches to incentivize collective action among member states. Furthermore, the European Commission presented a green paper on the EU future ocean policy, identifying the need for an EU sustainable development and ocean management policy. [14]. In general, the emphasis of Western scholars on marine pollution control focuses on the organic integration of policy subjects, policy objectives and policy structures to achieve the coordinated governance of the marine environment.

The analysis of China’s marine environmental protection policy can reflect the structured and institutionalized behavior stage of China’s marine ecological environment governance [15]. At present, compared with other countries, China’s research on marine environmental protection started late, and the literature on marine environmental policy from the perspective of public policy focuses on two main aspects: (1) Research on the structure and model selection of marine environmental policies. Zheng et al. proceeded from the reality of China’s marine environment, proposed the modernization of the marine environment governance system, and believed that China’s marine environment governance should tend to be institutionalized, standardized and procedural [16]. Zhang et al. elaborated on environmental degradation and pointed out the importance of improving the marine policy system [17]. Wang et al. believe that marine environmental policies can reflect the attention of the government’s environmental governance, and by sorting out the changes in attention of marine environmental governance in the past, it can provide a reference for the selection of future marine environmental governance models [18]. Based on the limited nature of marine public policy instruments, Xiang Youquan proposed ideas to overcome the limitations of public policies for marine environmental protection, and proposed a series of remedial measures for the shortcomings of China’s existing marine policy system [19]. (2) A comparative study of Chinese and foreign marine environmental governance policies through the comparative analysis of the implementation of marine environmental governance policies in China and Japan. Zhang et al. provided experience and enlightenment for China’s policy improvement [20]. Through a comparative analysis of Chinese and American public participation in marine environmental policies, Gu et al. believe that strengthening marine environmental education, broadening participation channels, disclosing information, and improving laws are the keys to improving the intensity and effectiveness of public participation in China [21]. Zhu Xianji conducted a comparative analysis of the marine management systems of China and South Korea, so that China and South Korea can understand each other’s management differences in order to establish their most reasonable and effective management systems, a study which has practical guiding significance and reference value while helping to maintain the close cooperation between China and South Korea [22].

Through a review of existing research results, it can be seen that with the continuous advancement of China’s maritime power strategy, marine environmental issues have become more epochal and important, and the study of marine environmental policies is of great practical significance. However, China’s attention to marine protection started late. Its research on marine pollution has showed fragmented characteristics, and the research content was mostly theoretical discussion. In addition, China’s marine environmental policy research has the characteristics of discontinuity and generalization, and lacks the overall analysis and interpretation of specific policy content from an overall perspective.

The research contributions of this paper are as follows: (1) Based on the theory of policy instruments, a three-dimensional model of “policy instruments-policy control-policy time” was constructed, and the time and stage differences of marine environmental policies in the Bohai Sea were analyzed in depth, so that the research was scientific. (2) Using a content analysis method to quantify the Bohai marine environmental policy text. By analyzing the current policy structure and law of the Bohai Sea, we can identify policy shortcomings and clarify the characteristics of policy evolution, so as to make policy research more targeted and practical.

3. Modeling of Marine Policy Instruments

Chen et al. believe that the government’s selection, combination and application of policy instruments is an important bridge between policy objectives and policy implementation results [23]. The policy objectives are also the main factors affecting the choice of policy instruments, and the two support and complement each other. In the existing policy evaluation stage, scholars mostly evaluate from the aspects of policy objectives and policy instruments, and do not give attention to policy time and policy stage. However, all policies are carried out in a specific time and space, and the entire policy stage is always run through the time factor. Policy subjects cannot avoid the constraints and restrictions of time on their cognition and actions [24]. Public policy theory holds that when formulating and implementing policies, policy subjects must organically combine them according to the objective relationship between policies in order to form policy resultant, and complement each other in function to exert ideal policy effects. Therefore, a reasonable policy structure requires policy subjects to take into account their own policy position, that is, the relationship between them and other policy subjects. For example, the temporal dimension is manifested as the succession between the prior policy, the current policy and the subsequent policy, and the spatial level is manifested as complementation between multiple parallel or different levels of policies [25]. Previous studies have mainly focused on two-dimensional models, and this paper further modifies and expands based on the two-dimensional model, adds the time dimension, treats time as an endogenous variable of public policy, and brings it back to the research center of public policy theory, and a three-dimensional model of policy instruments–policy control–policy time is formed. The X-axis represents policy instruments, that is, the types of instruments mainly involved in the governance of the Bohai marine environment, including command and control, and market driven and public participation. The Y axis represents policy control, that is, the stage of marine environment governance controlling the Bohai Sea, which is divided into preliminary control, concurrent control and feedback control; the Z-axis represents the policy time, which is divided into three stages according to the different national goals of Bohai marine governance, namely the policy initiation stage, the policy development stage and the policy optimization stage. By objectively linking the relationship between policies, the model is more suitable for the environmental analysis of the Bohai Sea marine policy, as shown in Figure 2.

3.1. X-Dimension: Policy Instrument Dimension

Policy instruments can transform the government’s policy intentions into policy behaviors to promote the implementation of policy content. Subject to the “non-exclusivity” of the environment as a public resource and the legitimacy of its use by coercive means, the degree of government involvement is an important basis in the classification of environmental policy instruments [26]. The use of policy instruments to analyze policy texts is conducive to the deepening of the understanding of policy content itself by all parties of policy, and meanwhile, it enables policymakers to better grasp the existing policy patterns and future development directions [27].

Based on the classification of MacDonald and Elmer’s policy instruments, and combined with the actual situation in China, the marine environmental policy instruments were divided into three categories: command control instruments, marketing-driven instruments and public participation instruments. Among them, command-and-control policy instruments refer to the government’s reliance on its own authority to formulate rules that regulate social behavior, focusing on the use of administrative control means and measures. It mainly includes total pollutant discharge control, marine environment monitoring, standards and decrees. Command-control instruments have the advantages of being mandatory, immediate, and cost-effective, but their disadvantage is a lack of flexibility. They can be compared to setting a clear lower limit for environmental protection, which may undermine incentives for technological innovation in environmental protection by enterprises [28]. Marketing-driven instruments refer to inducing policy-implementer or policy-target groups to comply through positive or negative feedback. This involves adopting the method of charging fees or subsidies, and using explicit economic incentives to promote enterprises to choose between the cost and benefit of pollutant discharge, and determining the production technology level and pollution discharge volume of enterprises. Compared with the command and control measures, the greatest feature of this mechanism is its ability to promote innovation and the diffusion of pollution prevention and control technologies, and the overall formation of a low-cost and high-efficiency system for pollution prevention and control [29]. Public participation policy instruments refer to indirectly promoting the implementation of relevant laws, regulations and activities by means of public opinion and moral pressure, and then affecting the effect of environmental governance, including encouragement, publicity, guidance and appeal. Public participation policy instruments may not have binding force, but they can reduce the cost of monitoring and controlling the marine environment. They can also guide and incentivize enterprises to engage in environmental protection efforts.

According to the classification of environmental policy instruments in China and the West, combined with the characteristics and practical experience of marine environmental policy, this paper believes that the types of policy instruments for marine environmental governance can be divided into command-control instruments, marketing-driven instruments, and public participation instruments at a macro level. Each of the three types of policy instruments includes specific policy measures. In this paper, we conducted research and summarized the basic types of policy instruments and specific measures for marine environmental governance (

Table 1. Instruments and classifications of marine environmental policy.

Command-Controlled Instruments	Marketing-Driven Instruments	Public-Participation Instruments
total quantity control of pollutant discharge	third-party environmental governance	environmental protection, publicity and education
pollutant emission standard control	marine ecological compensation	information disclosure
regulation of the behavior of pollutant discharge	environmental capital investment, subsidies, compensation	public participation in environmental impact assessment
marine environmental monitoring	pollution charge system
special enforcement action	pollution discharge permit
registration permit approval	paid system of sea area use
bay (beach) chief system	marine pollution insurance system
Environmental-impact assessment system
marine ecological red line
ecological and environmental protection
Marine-pollution emergency response system
joint maritime law enforcement
responsibility system

).

3.2. Y-Dimension: Policy Control Stage Dimension

In order to avoid the defect of policy instrument analysis only describing the general characteristics of policy, and further reveal the uniqueness and internal law of the governance stage of the Bohai marine environment, the Y dimension is established, that is, the dimension of the marine environment policy-control stage. Policy control refers to the behavior of decision makers who influence their members in order to achieve organization objectives. Among them, the preliminary control of marine environmental governance refers to the prevention of marine pollution, including the registration permit approval system, discharge standards for marine pollution, paid system of sea area use and publicity and protection education, etc. This control method can reduce the cost of pollution control and is the most economically rational and direct way of environmental control. However, due to the uncontrollability of corporate behavior and the limitations of management information, with the pre-control method, it is difficult to achieve ideal results and implementation is more challenging. Concurrent control refers to the direct supervision, command and guidance of the environmental behavior of different subjects in the stage of marine economic development, and the timely control and adjustment of behaviors that may or have caused environmental pollution, and correct behavioral deviations at any time [8]. The simultaneous control of marine environmental pollution requires the government to grasp accurate environmental information in a timely manner, be able to respond sensitively and act quickly on environmental pollution behavior, have especially keen observation and rapid response ability, and effectively control environmental pollution behavior with flexible control methods. Feedback control refers to the stage by which marine exploitation has been completed or measures have been taken in areas that have polluted the marine environment. It mainly includes the summary of information of preliminary control and concurrent control, cause analysis, and punishment of relevant responsible persons, etc. Different control stages are interconnected and influence each other, and it is only when all governance subjects cooperate with each other in the stage of marine pollution control that the desired results can be achieved. The losses and impacts generated from environmental pollution are difficult to compensate, and the environment is not easily restored. All three types of environmental pollution control have their own advantages and disadvantages, and they do not exclude each other. They can be used in combination in marine environmental management. Through complementing each other’s benefits, we can achieve effective governance of the marine environment.

3.3. Z-Dimension: Policy Instrument Time Dimension

Policy instruments are constantly adjusted over time. China’s implementation of its maritime power strategy has promoted the development of a modern marine economy and the comprehensive growth of the Bohai region’s economy. However, the development of the Bohai rim economic circle has caused more diversified marine environmental problems, which calls for changes in policy instruments to ensure effective pollution control. Only by sorting out the use patterns and different stages of policy instruments in the Bohai Sea marine policy system can we clarify the reasons for the development of marine policy instruments so far and effectively grasp the development law of policies. An overall quantitative analysis of the Bohai Sea marine policy system was performed. The promulgation of China’s Ocean Agenda 21 can divide the Bohai marine environmental policy system into three stages, that is, the policy initiation stage, the policy development stage and the policy optimization stage [30]. Based on this, the use of policy instruments at various stages of policy change was analyzed and summarized (see Appendix A).

4. Policy Text Selection and Coding

4.1. Policy Text Selection

In order to ensure the scientific nature of the policy sample, the samples of marine environmental policies selected in this paper are all derived from publicly available data, and the policies issued by the State Council, ministries and commissions, and local governments and departments that are closely related to the Bohai marine environment are used as analysis samples. Due to the large number of policies and the existence of policy documents that are ineffective for policy tool analysis, this paper carried out the identification and screening of policy text samples. In order to ensure the accuracy and representativeness of policy selection, the types of selected policy texts are mainly opinions, decisions, regulations, methods, programs and notices. A total of 85 effective policy documents related to the Bohai Sea marine environment issued from 1996 to 2022 were collected through the identification and screening of policy analysis samples (

Table 2. Policy stages and sample size.

Stage	Sample Size
1996–2007 Policy initiation stage	10
2008–2017 Policy development stage	25
2018–2022 Policy optimization stage	50

).

4.2. Coding Analysis of Policy Text Content

The analysis categories of policy samples include command-controlled instruments, marketing-driven policy instruments, public-participation instruments, preliminary control, concurrent control, feedback control and specific policy instruments such as the regulation of the behavior of pollutant discharge and the pollution charge system. First, the qualitative text analysis software Nvivo 11 was used to encode according to the specific time of release and the order in which the content of the coding unit appeared, and finally 400 policy instrument coding units were formed. Secondly, the internal consistency coefficient of Cronbach α was used to statistically analyze the coding opinion (

Table 3. Reliability and validity analysis of text coding in Bohai marine environmental policy.

Cronbach’s α	Based on Normalization Coefficients	Items	KMO Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin	Salience
0.824	0.849	23	0.719	0.000

). The internal consistency coefficient was used to measure the consistency level among multiple measurement indicators of the same concept. If the internal consistency coefficient is greater than 0.7, it indicates that the reliability of the scale is high. In this study, SPSS software was used to conduct a reliability test on 85 texts related to the Bohai Sea marine environmental policy. The results showed that the coding reliability was 0.824 and the validity was 0.719, indicating good reliability and validity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the coding analysis of this file has high internal consistency and no significant differences. This suggests that the text used in this study about the Bohai Sea marine environmental policy is reliable and the coding of this text is credible.

According to the established three-dimensional framework of marine environmental policy instruments, the policy texts are categorized and organized, and finally the coding table of marine policy instruments is formed (

Table 4. Codes of marine policy instruments.

Type of Policy Instrument	Instrument Name	Stripe Coding	Quantity	Total	Ratio 1%	Ratio 2%
Command-controlled instruments	Total quantity control of pollutant discharge	1-1; 4-6; 5-1; 7-1; 9-1; 11-2; 12-3; 12-15; 12-20; 13-4; 13-7; 16-1; 22-3; 24-1; 25-2; 26-3; 31-1; 35-7; 35-11; 36-1; 37-1; 41-3; 41-5; 43-3; 44-3; 47-4; 48-2; 83-2	28	270	7	67.5
	Pollutant emission standard control	11-1; 16-2; 21-3; 25-1; 26-1; 35-9; 38-1; 41-1; 43-1; 47-3; 55-4; 58-9; 63-4; 66-1; 73-5; 73-6	16		4
	…	…	…		…
	Marine environmental monitoring	1-2; 4-2; 7-4; 12-1; 12-17; 13-1; 13-3; 16-4; 16-6; 18-2; 19-5; 20-3; 21-5; 22-5; 27-1; 31-7; 33-6; 35-4; 41-2; 42-4; 43-13; 44-1; 44-11; 45-5; 46-1; 47-13; 48-7; 49-1; 55-4; 57-1; 58-10; 73-8; 75-2; 76-4; 80-2; 82-1; 84-1	37		9.25
Marketing-driven policy instruments	Third-party environmental governance	35-10; 48-3; 54-1; 58-3; 58-12; 58-15; 73-9; 74-3	8	66	2	16.5
	Marine ecological compensation	9-2; 12-6; 12-24; 15-1; 25-7; 31-4; 32-2; 39-5; 43-12; 44-10; 55-7; 58-16; 60-1; 61-1; 63-5; 66-2; 67-5; 76-6; 84-3	19		4.75
	…	…	…		…
	Pollution charge system	12-5; 12-23; 25-6; 38-2; 58-15	5		1.25
Public-participation instruments	Environmental protection, publicity and education	11-5; 12-8; 12-25; 13-8; 19-4; 30-3; 41-8; 43-16; 44-14; 48-11; 53-3; 55-10; 58-7; 72-5; 74-6; 77-3	16	64	4	16
	Information disclosure	9-3; 10-2; 11-6; 12-9; 12-26; 23-3; 26-4; 30-2; 41-9; 42-5; 43-14; 44-12; 47-14; 48-12; 51-1; 54-2; 57-4; 58-4; 58-6; 59-1; 64-3; 68-1; 71-1; 74-5; 76-9; 77-4; 82-2	27		6.75
	Public participation in environmental impact assessment	9-4; 10-3; 11-7; 12-10; 12-27; 13-8; 14-1; 23-4; 35-2; 39-7; 42-6; 43-15; 44-13; 46-6; 47-15; 48-13; 58-5; 71-2; 72-4; 76-10; 82-3	21		5.25
Total	N/A	N/A	400	400	100	100

).

From the statistical results of the Bohai marine environmental policy instrument project (Table 4), it can be seen that 85 Bohai marine environmental governance policies take into account the use of command-control, market-driven and public participation policy instruments. The content involves the government, enterprises and the public, providing multi-faceted incentives and regulations for the governance of the Bohai marine environment. From the perspective of the proportion of use of the three types of policy instruments, the Bohai marine environmental governance was mainly compulsory, accounting for 67.5%, while the other two types of policy tools accounted for 16.5% and 16%, respectively, showing no obvious preference for use.

5. Three-Dimensional Policy Framework Analysis

5.1. Dimensional Analysis of Policy Instruments

In “Reforming Government”, Osborne called the image of policy instruments the “arrow” of the government, revealing the prominent role of policy instruments in the implementation of government policies [31]. Therefore, the analysis of marine environmental protection policy instruments has a positive effect on supervising the marine environment, promoting the construction of marine environmental protection and ultimately realizing good governance of the marine environment.

As shown in Figure 3, among the three marine environmental policy instruments, command-controlled policy instruments are the most frequently used, accounting for 67.5% of the overall policy frequency. Among them, the three instruments of marine environment monitoring, regulation of the behavior of pollutant discharge and total quantity control of pollutant discharge ranked in the top three, accounting for 9.25%, 7.25% and 7%, respectively, which are the most commonly used instruments in command-controlled policy instruments. In addition, the frequency of use of command-controlled policy instruments reflects government preferences. Government preferences for the use of policy instruments can be seen from the use of marine environmental monitoring instruments, with a frequency of 37, to the environmental impact assessment system, with a frequency of 4. The use of marketing-driven instruments and public-participation instruments did not reflect significant differences in usage preferences, and there was a large gap between them and command-controlled instruments, accounting for 32.5% of the total number of policy instruments, of which market-driven instruments account for 16.5%. Marine ecological compensation, environmental capital investment, subsidies, and compensation and pollution discharge permits are the main regulatory methods of market-driven policy instruments. Public-participation policy instruments accounted for 16%, and the use of the three instruments of environmental protection, publicity and education, information disclosure and public participation in environmental impact assessment was relatively balanced, of which information disclosure was a more actively used by the government. It can be concluded that the government should create a relatively relaxed governance environment, expand the market and public participation in the governance of the Bohai marine environment, and give play to the role of other market players in the governance of the marine environment.

5.2. Dimensional Analysis of Policy Control

Based on the basic policy instrument dimension, the marine environment control dimension was introduced, and the statistical distribution results of the frequency of policy instruments in the control stage, shown in Figure 4, were obtained.

The 400 marine policy documents covered the whole stage of marine environmental governance, including preliminary control (41.5%), concurrent control (37.25%) and feedback control (21.25%). In the stage of preliminary control, the government mainly uses command-controlled policy instruments for direct control. Most of them regulate enterprises that may cause marine pollution by means of registration, permitting, marine ecological protection red lines, and public participation, etc. Judging from the frequency of the use of policy instruments in the stage of preliminary control, the government can prevent marine pollution in the Bohai Sea before it occurs, and has a certain degree of foresight. Therefore, the reason for the inefficient governance of the Bohai Sea area is more likely to lie in the irrational policy means than the government’s inaction. The proportion of the frequency of use of policy instruments in concurrent control is second only to the proportion of the frequency of use of policy instruments in preliminary control. The control of the marine environment in the Bohai Sea is also in the form of command control, with the total quantity control system and marine environmental monitoring as the main control means. At the same time, advanced monitoring technology is used to accurately monitor the marine environment, control the total amount of pollution in a timely fashion, and realize the governance of the Bohai Sea marine environment. The government’s preliminary control of the Bohai Sea marine environment is mainly based on marketing-driven policy instruments, that is, after the Bohai Sea marine environment is polluted or damaged or property is damaged, it adopts enterprise compensation, administrative penalties and ecological damage compensation to make up for it after the fact. However, for the losses and irreversible damage that have already been caused, making up for it afterwards not only consumes a lot of manpower and material resources, but may also have little effect. From this, we can draw enlightenment; that is, in the management of the Bohai marine environment, the government needs to make rational use of policy means, increase the frequency of use of policy instruments in advance and during control, control the total amount of pollution in a timely manner, and improve the efficiency of governance.

5.3. Dimensional Analysis of Policy Phase

After analyzing the types of basic policy instruments and control dimensions, the phase dimension of policy analysis instruments (Figure 5) is introduced, which can reflect the use of policy instruments in the stage of historical changes.

Since 1996, the central and local governments have issued a series of rules and regulations to support the protection of the Bohai Sea marine environment, and have also formulated a series of policies to promote the sustainable development of the Bohai Sea marine environment. By sorting out the laws and regulations related to the Bohai Sea marine environment and extracting high-frequency keywords, as shown in Figure 5, with the change in time, the government has gradually realized the transition from development and construction to the ecological protection of the Bohai Sea, and the issue of marine environmental protection has received continuous attention. At the same time, the central government and “three provinces and one city” have also issued policy documents for the Bohai Sea marine environment, and the two-dimensional distribution of policy documents in terms of time, number and region is shown in Figure 5. The size of the circle in the figure reflects the number of documents issued by relevant policy entities. It can be seen that under the “pressure-type” system of China’s administrative system, the central policy intention has a strong role in promoting the attention of local governments to promote the protection of the Bohai Sea marine environment, and the issuance of central policy documents has driven the policy response of local governments [32]. In the stage of policy optimization and policy development, the number and frequency of publications in Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin and Shandong have been increasing. It can be concluded that the government’s behavioral logic of the formulation and implementation of marine environmental policies is directly affected by the policy concept and is a direct and concrete expression of its policy philosophy [33]. The number of documents issued by governments at all levels has continued to increase with historical changes, reflecting the fact that China’s marine environmental policy concepts have become gradually tilted towards environmental protection and coordination.

5.4. Comprehensive Analysis

(1) X-Z Dimension Analysis. Based on the analysis of the X-dimension (policy instrument dimension) and Z-dimension (policy time dimension), a time series change map of marine environmental policy instruments in the Bohai Sea was constructed (Figure 6).

Over time, the use of policy instruments has shown different characteristics, and governments have shown obvious preferences for command-controlled policy instruments. In the initial stages of policy from 1996 to 2007, governments tended to choose command-controlled policy instruments and paid insufficient attention to marketing-driven and public-participation policy instruments. In the early stage of the establishment of the policy system, the country was in a stage of economic adjustment and development, and the backward policy system and inefficient government management ability were the macro background for the government to choose policy instruments. During the policy development stage from 2008 to 2017, although the government still preferred to adopt command-controlled policy instruments in marine environmental governance, the frequency of use declined, while the frequency of use of marketing-driven and public-participation policy instruments began to gradually increase. By the beginning of the 21st century, China has established a relatively sound marine legal system, laws, regulations and standards, and formulated a series of specific implementation plans, and the monitoring of the marine environment and the behavior regulation of sea-related enterprises are gradually improving. At the same time, the problem of marine environmental pollution began to attract widespread attention in the country and society, and the diversified governance pattern of the Bohai Sea marine environment gradually took shape. With the improvement of China’s policy instrument structure and the continuous implementation of the strategy of maritime power, in the stage of policy optimization, policy documents related to the protection of the Bohai Sea have been frequently published, and the marine environment management system of the Bohai Sea has been basically established. On the basis of government regulation, the participation of the market and the public has gradually increased, and more emphasis has been placed on the coordinated interaction between multiple subjects such as the government, the market and society.

(2) Y-Z Dimension Analysis. By analyzing the Y dimension (policy control dimension) and Z dimension (policy time dimension), the time series change map of the policy control stage of marine environmental policy in the Bohai Sea was constructed (Figure 7).

The changes in the control stage of marine environment policy reflect the continuous improvement of China’s marine environment policy system. In the early stages of policy development, the state and society lacked attention to the control of marine pollution, the methods of marine pollution control were still in the stage of active exploration, and the government’s governance of the marine environment in the Bohai Sea was mainly based on preliminary control. From the perspective of the Bohai Sea marine environment, in recent years, the problem of marine environmental pollution has not been effectively solved. In the stage of policy development, the marine environmental policy system has been continuously adjusted, a large number of policy documents on environmental issues in the Bohai Sea have appeared, and China’s marine environmental policy system has entered a stage of practice. It can be seen from Figure 7 that the government has strengthened the supervision and control of marine-related subjects, and the means of control are increasing, but the preliminary control is still in a backward stage compared with the concurrent and feedback control, and China’s marine policy structure needs to be further improved. In the stage of policy optimization, China has gradually formed a relatively stable mode of using marine environmental policy instruments, and while carrying out prior approval and the control of marine-related entities, post-event feedback and guidance have also received more and more attention.

(3) X-Y-Z Dimension Analysis. There is an imbalance in the policy instruments and policy control of the Bohai marine environmental policy at different policy times, and there is also an incongruity between the three dimensions (Figure 8).

The Bohai Sea marine policy instruments are unstable and unbalanced at different times and in different implementation and control stages. Compared with the stage of policy development and policy optimization, the policy instruments of marine environment in the initial stage of policy show the characteristics of excessive coercion. Moreover, the governance of the marine environment is mainly based on preliminary control, does not pay attention to marine feedback and assessment after the implementation of mandatory policies, and uses a single policy instrument or single control for a long time to achieve policy objectives. The governance effect is not obvious. With the promulgation of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for National Environmental Protection, the state has continuously increased the importance of marine environmental issues and gradually realized the importance of other actors in the stage of marine environmental governance. In addition, the overall control stage of the marine environment is constantly improving.

Comprehensive three-dimensional analysis can clearly reflect the shortcomings and gaps of the entire policy system. In the stage of marine environmental governance in the Bohai Sea, regulatory policy instruments are used too much, and there is room for improvement in the role of marketing-driven and public-participation policy instruments. The use of policy instruments is not linked to the actual governance needs, resulting in an increase in the number of overall policies but a decrease in the intensity of governance, and the unbalanced or unreasonable combination of the use of policy instruments, which is not conducive to the stability and effect of policies.

6. Research Conclusion and Recommendations

6.1. Research Conclusion

(1) The simplification of policy philosophy. The government’s policy philosophy directly affects the decision-making and implementation of marine environmental governance. Throughout the historical evolution of environmental governance in the Bohai Sea, China’s marine environmental protection system is gradually improving, but on the whole, it is still dominated by the state. The characteristics of public goods in the marine environment determine the provision of public policies, financial input and the supervision of public resources. It can be seen from the frequency of use of marine environmental policy instruments over the years, although the total amount of policy instruments used varies over the years, and the frequency of use of different policy instruments is also changing, the pattern of regulatory instruments in the first place still remains stable in the Bohai marine environmental governance model, which is influenced by certain policy philosophies. The simplification of policy concepts can easily lead to the irrational use of policy instruments, resulting in delays in the discovery of marine pollution problems, and the simplification of governance models is difficult to cope with the complexity of the marine environment, which will lead to ineffective governance of the marine environment, damage to national interests and damage to the ecological environment.

(2) Unbalanced use proportion of policy instruments. Command-controlled policy instruments account for about two-thirds of the total number of policy instruments, which occupy a dominant position in the governance of the Bohai marine environment, and reduce the space for marketing-driven and public-participation policy instruments. In general, the structure of the use of marine environmental policy instruments is uneven, the differences are obvious, and the pattern of pluralism and co-governance has not yet formed. The excessive use of coercive policy instruments will lead to deviation and stagnation in policy implementation, and in the long run, policy formulation will lose flexibility and inhibit the use of other policy instruments. As a public good, the characteristics of the marine environment determine that the government is the main bearer of marine governance, but it is difficult to effectively manage the marine environment by relying solely on national measures, and the excessive use of compulsory measures will produce obvious results in the short term, but it is not conducive to the sustainable development of the marine environment.

(3) Concurrent inefficient supervision. From the quantitative analysis of the Bohai marine environmental policy text, it can be seen that the Chinese government has placed more emphasis on preliminary control of the marine environment, and the policy instruments are diverse and used frequently. In different stages of the operation of the marine environmental policy system, the environmental policies formulated by the government fully demonstrate the willingness to effectively prevent environmental problems, which to a certain extent reflects the forward-looking and predictive nature of the government’s marine environmental decision-making. In addition, the Chinese government tends to the behavioral logic model of mandatory “front-end” control of the marine environment, which restricts the behavior of the main actors of the marine environment, so that all actors must carry out marine environmental governance actions within a legal framework, the market environment is complex, and the relevant subjects may produce opportunistic behaviors out of their own interests. Looking at the Bohai marine environmental policy, within the legal framework, there is insufficient supervision of marine environmental actors, lack of effective accountability for cross-border actors, single form of punishment, weak supervision during the event, low accountability, and it is difficult to form effective constraints and warnings for environmental actors.

6.2. Recommendations

Through the analysis of the marine environmental problems in the Bohai Sea, the following suggestions can be drawn: Firstly, promote the diversification of policy philosophy. Transform the policy philosophy, open the policy system, achieve the singleness of policy makers, and diversify the policy implementers. That is, transform the mode from a command-controlled type to guided governance. Mobilize and give full play to the subjective initiative of environmental stakeholders, and guide them to actively participate in environmental protection and take measures conducive to environmental protection through encouraging and incentivizing means, so as to form a situation in which governments, enterprises and the public interact and participate together. Secondly, optimize the structure of policy instruments. Reform the government and governance model, optimize marine environmental policies, coordinate internal government conflicts to improve implementation efficiency, and reduce the inefficient use of mandatory policies. Take market-oriented policy instruments as the breakthrough point, strengthen the policy pull, explore marine ecological compensation mechanisms, and develop a green marine ecological economy and promote the transformation and upgrading of the marine economy. With public participation policy instruments as the starting point, broaden the channels for public participation in the governance of the Bohai Sea marine environment. Finally, strengthen the concurrent supervision of marine environmental management. Promote the construction and implementation of the Bohai marine supervision system, improving supervision work and implementing corresponding warning mechanisms. To ensure effective connection before, during, and post-control, we need to establish a sound accountability system for marine environmental management.

This paper is the starting point of the Bohai marine environmental policy research, in order to provide a basis for more in-depth policy research and put forward feasible countermeasures and suggestions for improving the use of marine environmental policy instruments. The paper also has its limitations; it does not introduce other relevant participants in the process of Bohai marine environmental governance, and the research methods are relatively simple. The follow-up research will introduce social participation into the public participation module to analyze the specific impact of society on the governance of the Bohai marine environment, continue to deepen the research on the Bohai marine environment, and provide ideas for the Bohai environmental governance with more in-depth research methods.