Policy effectiveness evaluation of rural environmental sanitation governance in China: based on the PMC index model

Background: Rural environmental sanitation governance is of vital importance for improving rural living standards and narrowing urban-rural gaps in China. However, the effectiveness of existing policies remains suboptimal due to structural design flaws, highlighting the need for systematic evaluation to address these issues. Methods: This study integrates the "Policy Modeling Consistency (PMC-Index)" with text-mining technology to quantitatively assess 24 local policies from 7 Chinese cities, with 7 representative samples selected via stratified sampling. The evaluation framework comprises 9 primary variables and 37 subvariables, systematically analyzing the integrity of policy texts through a structured approach. Results: (Policy Functions), indicating challenges such as insufficient feedback mechanisms, lack of mid-term planning, and limited stakeholder inclusivity. Conclusion: This study conducts a quantitative evaluation of rural environmental sanitation governance policies in 7 Chinese cities. Although the overall content design of these policies is basically reasonable, obvious deficiencies exist. To enhance policy effectiveness, it is necessary to construct a holistic framework integrating dynamic adjustment mechanisms and multi-stakeholder collaboration.