Evolution And Optimization

This thesis is a study on historical development of the public opinion regulatory mechanism in China since 1949. It presents a synthetic analysis of the pubic opinion regulatory mechanism over different periods of time, in terms of government guidelines, institutional systems, unique features, and experiences and lessons drawn from the operation of the mechanism in question.The thesis has four parts. The first three is mainly a review of the public opinion regulatory mechanism the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government have put in place for guiding, diverting and controlling public opinion, its evolution, and its optimization over the last six decades. Prior to the Reform and Opening up, the Communist Party government had already set up an elementary mechanism nationwide for public opinion communication, putting in place a series of guidelines for conveying, diverting and controlling public opinion, which proved to be proper and effective. These guidelines and mechanisms, however, failed to perform normally as the Anti-Rightist Campaign went beyond the expected scale. The situation aggravated during the Cultural Revolution when the Party Committees at different levels failed to exercise authority and the whole country went into chaos. The Reform and the Opening Up started from emancipation in minds and thoughts, and therefore the mechanism and means for guiding the public opinion were gradually put back into place. Despite problems of different kinds, the regulatory mechanism for public opinion keeps evolving and optimizing as political democracy in China progresses and the idea of "human-oriented" in the rule of the country starts to take root. Administrative institutions have been set up, protocols have been issued, and guidelines have been specified for regulating public opinion. Meanwhile, means of regulation has become more diversified, and the skills and techniques for public opinion regulation have been strengthened. There has been a shift in the regulatory mechanism itself, from a more implicit approach to an explicit one, and from a micro perspective to a macro perspective. As a result, no large-scale campaigns nationwide have been launched any more for criticism over ideologies, whereas more attention has been paid to public opinions and responses. The final part of the thesis draws experiences from the existing public opinions regulatory mechanisms in China and those in other countries, and it observes that an effective public opinion regulatory system should include the establishment of systems in monitoring and gathering of public opinions, in analyzing, diverting, and guiding public opinions, and responding and assessing public opinions.The research finds that the Party and the Government have been attaching increasingly importance to public opinion regulation, which has now become more and more standardized, and more human-oriented as well. Laws and regulations for public opinion regulation have continued to improve and regulatory means and approaches have taken a new outlook, though problems remain. The author of the thesis argues that a systematic mechanism should be established for overall operation, and China should learn from other countries which have their own strengths in regulating public opinion. Such a mechanism should aim to enable people to live a pleasant life in a stable society. Meanwhile, it should observe and follow the law of the development of public opinion itself, and guide public opinion in a more scientific and artistic approach.