| Political participation as a way for citizens to constitute the political systemof political life and influence the operation mode, the political behavior of themovement rule and the policy process, is an important way to realize citizen’spolitical rights, reflect the citizens’ social and political life position and function aswell as the selection range, and meanwhile it embodies the essence of politicalrelationship, and contains the tendency of certain political value. The middleclass political participation, as an expression of political values and theimplementation activity group interests, shows the people of the value of politicalparticipation in the original sense, according to the actual situation of Chinesesocial development during the transition period, which is important formaintaining social and political stability in China with the aim of strengtheningthe political legitimacy and promoting political the democratization process. Byparticipating in political life to meet their desire and enhance politicaltransmission and feedback system as well as the political supervision andpolitical safety valves, the middle class plays a role in consolidating andpromoting the social and political stability. But social class political participationhas the chracteristic of complexity and diversity in the real life, especially it iscertain to exist many uncertain factors between the middle class and politicalparticipation and political stability. Because of the political participation of thediversity and functional duality, the degree of political participation and politicalinstitutionalization, political participation of the balance between the degree oforganization and political participation form used to affect the social and politicalstability. Middle class social political function is a variable, which can become a"stabilizer", constantly enhancing the social stability, promoting the national longperiod of stability; while it also may become negative factors, reducing to harm social stability force. Similar to other class, middle class and political relationsand political legitimacy can be divided into two aspects. On one hand, comparedwith the other class, if the turst is the lower, their psychological mind togovernment evaluation on social equity is negative, which means that they arenot very satisfied with the work of the government, and whose social discontentwill be more intense, hence, the result would be the identity crisis for the nationalsystem of rationality and legitimacy and political risk the transformation of theexisting social order. On the other hand, compared with the other class, if thetrust in government psychological becomes stronger, their evaluation of socialfairness level would be higher, more satisfied with the work of the government’sleading social development, which will become the positive factor leading to theestablished social order maintenance, and the process of the social transitionfrom their political attitude will be relatively stable. The process ofindustrialization as the democratic system of manufacturing conditions, while themiddle class will play a decisive role in the process of modernization, which willinevitably lead to the rise of the middle class and growth. They desired forpolitical participation and have a high degree of political awareness, asking for apush into the political democratization, thus put forward the challenge to thetraditional political power. The present stage of our country is still a developingcountry, the middle class is the core strength of the developing countries toachieve democracy and the rule of law. The reason doesn’t lie in the fact thatthey are driving force, but also in their quality and political demands, so that theybecome the backbone of democracy.In the period of social transformation, the political participation of Chinesemiddle class has changed a lot. Environmental justice, political participation,rational, orderly and healthy citizens’ awareness of personal politicalparticipation influence the policy of the party and the government. Through theirparticipation in politics they try to safeguard their own interests. Through politicalparticipation, citizens access to their advantage decision results, the middleclass people change their political attitude to the political process, from passiveacceptance into an active participation. By improving and enhancing theenvironment of the political participation, the middle class in China’s politicalparticipation has made great progress. Chinese middle class political participation way of shows the characteristics of diversity, direct participation andindirect participation, institutional participation and non-institutional participation,passive participation and participation, and initiative participation in traditionaland emerging intertwined. The initial motivation of the Chinese middle classpolitical participation is usually to protect their own economic interests, improvetheir own political status, but with the change of their own economic interests toconsolidate and their ideas and concepts, many middle-class people participatein the political motivation for the sake of change, i.e. beyond the maintenance oftheir own interests demand, but for social responsibility, more for maintaining theoverall interests of others and the society, the maintenance of social justice, andfinally realize its social value, that meet the needs of self-realization. Generallyspeaking, the middle class gradually raise the awareness of political participationin China during the transitional period, but part of the middle class people stillhave political indifference, and political awareness is not strong or completelyscarece. With the development of market economy in transition, the middle classeconomic status has been raised. The growing economic strength, further toimprove their cultural quality and skills, and get to know the development trendof domestic and international political, social, maintain and enhance theirpolitical insight and judgment, all these factors leading to improve the abilitygradually. Due to the diversity in the middle class’s cultural and educationalbackground, as well as occupation, there is a big difference, therefore, theability of different groups in different, showing multi-level. The transition periodChinese middle class belongs to the reformist political attitude is more gentle onthe entirety, although they want social democracy and legal system furtherperfect, hope to reform the political and institutional construction of gradual toprotect their legitimate interests, get free development space and moreopportunities, but they don’t go to extremes, usually against radical politicalreform, but tend to maintain or local reform of the existing political system. Theyusually have no political preference and have a strong, independent personalpolitical views and concerns on the candidate policy advocates, and rely on theirown independent consciousness to dominate their political behavior. Thedifferent members of middle class in China’s political and economic status is notthe same, because individual cultural quality is different, therefore, they have their own ways to participate in political life. Political, economic status highmiddle class tend to through the way of institutional political participation legalparticipation in politics, political, economic status of the lower middle class maythrough donations, lobbying, conveying interests non-institutional politicalparticipation channels. Most of the Chinese middle class has no system andcorresponding management, political participation and the communicationchannel is not perfect, not smooth. As a whole, political independence andmaturity is not enough, in the guide of social development to the democraticdirection of co.. From the trend, pluralism, rational and orderly politicalparticipation is the basic direction of the middle class in china.The main problems facing the transition of political participation in Chinesemiddle class has its own reasons, but also there exists external environment.The western middle class is generated to reduce the degree of publicparticipation in politics, to avoid the impact of the existence of a large number ofproletarian society. This property, in our country also has a certain degree ofhomogeneity, affecting China’s middle class’s political participation. The extentof China’s social development to the household registration policy as therepresentative, has led to considerable long-time neglect of normal identity,which directly control their own identity, also leads to political affairs indifference.China’s capital accumulation is still in its early days, but has to bear a economictransformation and leap to bring cultural inadaptability and social welfare lag.Significantly, accompanied by a double GDP growth is not the decrease of Engelcoefficient on the other hand, is a matter of survival quality concerns, leading tothe middle class is very difficult to have the attention to political issues ". Atpresent, China’s middle class participation channels are not smooth, andnon-institutionalized participation increases; institutionalized politicalparticipation motivation is not enough, political apathy of emotional contagion;class differentiation is serious political demands, problems difficult to uploadsystem. From the main factors, the middle class in China itself are not mature.As a result of the development of market economy since the reform and openingup, compared with the western capitalist countries of the middle class,development time is short, its development level is relatively low, in terms ofquantity, structure and quality are showing that the class is not mature, this also to a large extent restricted the middle class’s political participation the effect andinfluence of. From the objective factors, the transition of political participation instructure and function is not perfect. The middle class political participation isless opportunity, participate in the procedure is not standard, participationchannels of a single, narrow the scope of participation, participation in politicalparticipation effect is poor, lack of integration. From social factor, during theperiod of social structure change and economic development is not coordinationtransformation in china. The current Chinese economic structure has reachedthe middle industrialization level, but the social structure adjustment lag, is still inthe early stage of industrialization, this is the biggest structural contradiction.The formation of the planned economy period of residence, employment,personnel, social security system is not eliminated, resulting in the urban andrural structure, employment structure and so hard. Institutional factors thathinder the middle-class liquidity and growth, social risk and equity issues alsorestricted the middle class’s political participation. From the cultural factors, ourcountry facing the disintegration of the old culture and the new culture ofimmature alternating period. The traditional "scholar culture" disintegrate, newculture in the process of the establishment of the irrational and political culturetends to loose, have weakened the middle class’s political participation andcultural foundation.To look forward of the system of middle class in China during the transitionperiod, firstly, orderly political participation is needed to optimize the Chinesemiddle class social ecological environmen, and cultivate the social middle classso as to construct reasonable social class structure, which should shouldbecome the core of social construction in transition period. The aim of increasingrevenue and improving the quality of life should be taken as the basic conditionof the social basis of the expansion of the middle class for a reasonableregulation of distribution system. From the two dimensions of citizenshipbehaviors and ideas, the government should build and consolidate the socialismwith Chinese cultural characteristics, improve the comprehensive quality ofpeople, enhance people’s political identity, political centripetal force. Secondly, itis needed to explore the institutionalization of Chinese middle class’s politicalparticipation mode. In additonk, it is necessary to promote the orderly political participation of the middle class must be under the leadership of the party, andsuitalbe to China’s national conditions, starting from the primary stage ofsocialism in our country the biggest practical, progressive development andexpansion of the middle class and orderly political participation. Graduallyestablish and perfect the system of the middle class’s orderly politicalparticipation, improve the national basic political system and standard system toimprove the system of political participation of the middle class. Third, the middleclass needs innovation path of orderly political participation. Through the systemguarantee to actively improve the middle class political participation, theimplementation of middle class to the public government information right, toimprove the media supervision mechanism, to perfectparticipating mechanism ofmiddle class, to enhance the efficiency of middle class participation channelssuch as political participation orderly unimpeded middle class; through thenormative system construction it is imperative to strengthen the middle class’spolitical participation, strengthen policy the middle class political participation inthe formulation, implementation of the middle class to participate in politicaleducation measures to cultivate the carrier of orderly political participation of themiddle class, to improve and perfect the participation system, consolidate thefoundation of democracy at the grassroots level, to expand the network toparticipate in, the development of deliberative democracy, and in a word, all theabove factors should be taken into consideration carefully. |
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