In the context of a risk society，the temporal
recurrence and spatial diffusion of emergencies have broken the clear boundary
between normal and emergency states，giving rise to a “transitional state” that lies between them. As a
third governance model in a risk society，transitional state governance is theoretically
grounded in the cognition of governance boundary fuzziness through holistic
governance theory. Vertically，transitional state governance achieves the
forward movement of the threshold for emergency state governance, advancing
governance intervention from the emergency response phase to the early stage of
risk evolution, thereby facilitating the transformation of public safety
governance towards a preventive model. Horizontally，it promotes a
paradigm shift in the recovery and reconstruction phase of emergency management，upgrading the
recovery goal from “returning to the original state” to a “resilience
leap”，and incorporating an
exit mechanism into institutionalized emergency measures. By coordinating
development and security，and integrating normal and emergency states，transitional state
governance provides a new theoretical framework for building a whole-process，holistic risk
governance system.