China's Rural Social Security Law System

With the further deepening of reform and opening up, the continuous improvement of the socialist market economic system and the acceleration of the process of building democracy and the rule of law, the problem of "the agriculture, the countryside and the farmers" has become the one that has to be faced in the political, economic and the cultural construction of our country. It is stated in the ILO Declaration that without social stability, social development was an empty concept; and without social security, there could be no social stability. Hence for a developing country with over 70 percent farmers, it is of special significance to establish effective rural social security institutions to achieve the steady development of rural areas.As an institutional arrangement that has developed with the new China, the social security institutions of our country has made remarkable achievement. But under the dominance of the dual urban-rural economic structure, the social security structure which was decided by such social structure was definitely bound to be dual. The social security institutions which develop along the path of dual urban-rural economic structure, took the household registration for recognition standard, and the urban community for the core, with the result that rural social security of the overwhelming majority of the population was set in the rather secondary position. If such kind of social security institution trades the farmers' interests for the rapid economic development of our country, it is the high time the present dual urban-rural economic structure had to be rebuilt. The reality suggests that the lagging behind of the Chinese rural social security system has become the weak link of the construction of social security system, which not only seriously constrains the development of the agricultural economy and the progress of the rural community, but also affected the economic security and social stability of the countryside, even the whole county. It has become, so to speak, the bottleneck barricade in promoting Chinese modernization and rural market-oriented reform.In the perspective of the rule of law, Chinese rural social security institution results and develops from the ideas of survival, social equity, social association and other civilized thoughts. It realizes the legal systematization of the institution under the force of the legal system of the modern civilized country. Both the three ideas and the core of the rule of law take the assurance of human dignity, human freedom and human right for their purpose. However, without property, one will be in no position to hold his dignity. In other word, it is on the basis of the property that one can survive, develop and participate the social activities. So, in the case of overall backwardness of the rural economic development and the imbalance of rural economic development at local level, and in the case of there being a broad gap between the security for the poor and the farmers in rural areas and the security for the urban residents, the present rural social security legal institution has become the obstacle which hinders the realization of the human right. Therefore, establishing and perfecting rural social security institution is the very effective approach for each farmer to possessing the property which can maintain the minimum life necessities. And it is on this point that Chinese rural social security institution make the state become the subject that assures every fanners a dignified life, and as a result, the state has been turned into a doer in answer to the citizens' request from night-watcher who never interfere with individual right.Based on this view, and centering on the life problems of living, old age and illness, this dissertation suggests establishing legal institutions of rural minimum living security, rural social endowment insurance and rural cooperative medical insurance. Meanwhile, as to the present problems of social security for landless farmers and fanner workers, it suggests constructing legal institutions of landless farmers' social security and farmer workers' social security. These five rural social security legal institutions should all base their entire contents on the thoughts of survival right, social equity right, social association right and rule of law-centeredness. Through the international comparison and contrast of the five rural social security institutions, and by analyzing the background of its emergence and development course in China, the dissertation uncovers the shortcomings and its causes in the present five rural social security legal institutions, and then put forwards the specific thinking of establishing and perfecting these five social security institutions. Lastly, after making an analysis of the focal points, the difficulties and the relations to be particularly dealt with in constructing and perfecting rural social security institutions in China, the dissertation first suggests that in our country a unified Rural Social Security Law should be made, and then makes a preliminary framework design.