Relational state capacity in environmental governance: responsibility–capacity alignment in Nanjing’s waste sorting

Conventional wisdom associates strong state capacity with effective environmental governance, but this explanation cannot account for variation in policy implementation within a state presumed to possess constant capacity. To better understand these variations, we develop a responsibility–capacity alignment framework to reconceptualize state capacity as relationally constituted. Drawing on Nanjing’s mandatory household waste sorting policy, we show that alignment between administrative responsibility and government capacity supports early implementation success. However, governance faltered when responsibility shifted to citizens who lacked corresponding capacities. Although local governments adopted adaptive strategies, including policy simplification and third-party outsourcing, these measures primarily compensated for, rather than developed, citizens’ insufficient capacity, thereby failing to resolve the underlying misalignment. Our findings advance a relational conception of state capacity and identify a capacity paradox of China’s state-led environmentalism.