Research On The Rule Of Law Education Of College Students In China

China is currently implementing the Basic Strategy of "Rule of Law", endeavoring to build the Socialist Country Ruled of Law, which is a fundamental change in the mode of our national governance. The fundamental subject of "Rule of Law" is the citizens with legal quality which means a character fostered by accepting certain Law Related Education (LRE for short in the following) and well understanding the core value of "Rule of Law". Compared to the process of legalization, the citizens’legal quality apparently has failed to adapt to the needs of the society ruled of law. The key to elevating the citizens’legal quality is education. Therefore, the LRE should play a crucial role in the construction of a society ruled of law. Among all the target groups for LRE, the college students should be the top priority of the LRE because they will have a major impact on the rule of law process in China."Rule of law" is a kind of political ideal, and it is increasingly becoming a common ideal of human beings. The emergence of the concept "rule of law" was a revolution to the concept "rule by man". Hence in a country with such a profound "rule by man" tradition, the establishment of "rule of law" in China is more necessary and more difficulty. The "rule of law" thinking dating from the "rule by good law" of Ancient Greece, to the Supremacy of law of Middle Ages, to the "Right balance" of the Bourgeois Revolution Period and the "protect citizens’rights and freedom " of the Modern Capitalism Period is not only a value target China’s "rule of law" construction should pursue, but also a spirit that should be promoted through LRE.Marxists laid the theoretical foundation of China’s "rule of law" construction by the research of law revealing that the Material Root of law, the class essence of law, the regularity of law development and the inheritance feature of law culture. Though the "rule of law" thought in ancient China was different from the one in modern times, the essence of traditional thought it still worth absorbing and inheriting. The "rule of law" in contemporary China is based on the social reality and bears its own unique characteristics. The Socialist Legal thoughts with Chinese characteristics and socialist "rule of law" concept developed in the process of China’s construction of the socialist country "ruled of law" have made enormous contributions to the legal thought of the world. Citizens in a society "ruled of law" should be possess four qualities:knowledge, consciousness, emotion and capacity of "rule of law". The "rule of law" knowledge a citizen should master includes:Knowing the reality and ought-to-be of "rule of law" knowing the rationality of" rule of law"; the " rule of law" concept itself and how to achieve it The most essential "rule of law" consciousness is Rule Consciousness and Right Consciousness. The ultimate expression of "rule of law" emotion is to trust and believe in the law. Trusting law should be a universal feeling of common citizens, while belief is the emotion held by part of the citizens-the legal professional community members should have. Holding the necessary capacity is the foothold of citizens’legal quality, which includes the ability to foresee the legal consequences of a behavior, the ability to evaluate the legitimacy of a behavior, the ability to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests and the ability to supervise public power and express individual claims.There are some categories closely related to LRE, such as Legal System Education, Moral Education, Ideological and Political Education and Citizen Education. As part of the LRE, the Legal System Education is an education about legal system currently in effect. Since "rule of law" replaced "rule by law" and became the Basic Strategy and the main Target of "rule of law", we shall clarify a formulation that "rule of law education"(as LRE in this paper) replaced with "legal system education", so as to realize the value transition of the LRE. LRE and Moral Education are both important parts of Ideological and Political Education and Citizen Education. They ought to mix together and jointly promote the coordinated development of citizen’s moral and legal quality.There are always some lessons to learn and experiences to repeat. Some countries governed under the "rule of law", Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan area have formed a systematic approach with distinguishing features on LRE, which is worth learning. Through the investigation of the abroad LRE of Undergraduates from the historical development to organization and implement to content mode, it will shed some light on our country’s LRE course.Since the adoption of the first National Legal Publicity and Education in1984, it has been nearly30years for China to launch LRE on a large scale. In hindsight, the National Legal Publicity and Education played an irreplaceable role in improving the citizens" legal quality. However, it should be noted at the same time that the loopholes such as value obligation education over right education, pay attention to provisions teaching, overlook spreading concept, attach importance to imparting knowledge, while neglect personal qualities cultivation are objective existence. They all made a big gap between China and modern countries under the "rule of law" in terms of the citizens’legal quality. The LRE effectiveness is also far from satisfactory. There are several reasons:the shackles of traditional culture, the contradiction between the ideal and the reality and the shortcomings of LRE itself on concept and methods all make a difference in the results of LRE of college students.Carrying on LRE is a necessary path to building a Socialist Country Ruled of Law. In light of the new’situation, it is necessary to further strengthen and improve LRE of college students and cultivate qualified citizens. Admittedly concept precedes action. To strengthen the LRE, firstly we should change the way of teach, and set up the concepts of "rule of law" education by combining rule-based orientation and value orientation, by integrating individual orientation and social orientation to dialectical unity, and by considering knowledge point and practice point overall.Secondly, we should step up our efforts to build the faculty of LRE. First we should expand the faculty by forming a working atmosphere where everyone is the coworkers of LRE by integrating the professional teachers, management cadres, logistical personnel into work team and giving full play of Help Counselors and Ideological and Political educators, absorbing the social legal professional to participate in LRE at the same time. Second, we should empower training programs, improve the school leaders’consciousness of exercising administrative power, modify the teaching skills of Help Counselors and Ideological and Political teachers, and improve the faculty’s legal quality and consciousness about education. Third, we should respect the pedagogue’s subjectivity, forming a benign interaction between the pedagogue and educators.Thirdly, we should make innovation on education carrier:First, improving Undergraduates LRE courses, building more curriculums, reforming teaching methods, improving effect of LRE courses; Second, innovating education activities, developing LRE practice, stimulating the students’self education function, designing self management activities which are easily accepted by students and influencing the students unconsciously by environment; Third, creating LRE position by operating Students Appeal Processing Organization and using Campus Media. Fourth, optimizing education environment. It has two aspects:on one hand, it is optimizing social environment including rule of law environment, public opinion environment and policy environment to promoting LRE. On the other hand, it is optimizing campus environment, forming a University culture environment breeds the value of rule of law, constructing a system reflects the requirements of rule of law", creating necessary material conditions for LRE.The sixth plenary session of the17th CPC Central Committee has set the goal of "building a strong nation of socialist culture". The "rule of law" culture is an indispensable component of Socialist Advanced Culture. The LRE will promote the legal cultural process, while the requirements of "rule of law" construction call for a reformation of LRE. The Socialist Core Values demand that we fully implement the LRE and the LRE should shoulder the responsibilities of promoting the development of the Socialist Legal Culture, carrying forward the Socialist Law Spirit and Value, fostering more high-ability talents for the construction of "rule of law" and accelerating the realization of modernization of Socialist Country Ruled of Law.