However, reforms defy easy categorization. At times the state can be characterized as being predatory, at other times corporate, at other times engaged in a social partnership with society. What individuals can say is that it is evolving over time, and that multiple models are operating simultaneously. While social space has opened up, the state is not impotent. Rather, state powers have moved to where domination is possible, and are far from creating a civil society as traditionally defined.
Social organizations can have considerable impact on the policy making process.
Understanding that a strong link to the state is more effective than total autonomy, several NGOs have begun to negotiate their own niche within the state. They then are able to strive to circumnavigate and deflect the state's wishes and evade party control. Dr. Saich concluded by stating that with a shift in the legitimacy of the Party, state objectives and the objectives of the Party are no longer always synonymous. Dr. Saich believes that what individuals looking at China need to do is provide justice to the complexities of China's social reality. Most importantly, Dr. Saich highlighted his belief that all of these forces are most pronounced at the local level.