Abstract: From the perspective of administrative adaptability, the bureaucratization of village-level governance results from township governments’ active adopting a series of administrative strategies to adapt to changes in their organizational environment. Facing increasingly dense primary-level governance affairs and growing administrative assessments, township governments have strong incentives to extend the administrative chain downward. In D Town, South China, the township government not only promoted the professionalization of village cadres by implementing organizational personnel intentions and setting unified salary standards but also strengthened institutional constraints on village heads by regulating the use of collective funds. In transferring numerous administrative tasks downward, the township government ultimately transformed administrative villages into solid bureaucratic entities within primary-level governance. The main consequences of this bureaucratization include the rapid contraction of village-level governance autonomy and profound challenges to the development of primary-level governance capacity. If village-level governance retains a certain degree of autonomy, the utilization of village governance resources can be closely integrated with the construction of publicness in social governance, allowing significant room for reshaping primary-level governance capacity. Otherwise, it may lead to the failure of village-level governance.

Key words: administrative adaptability, bureaucratization of village-level governance, township government, governance autonomy, primary-level governance capacity