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Research On Problems Of Citizen Participation In Local Government Performance Measurement

Posted on:2008-08-18Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:G LuFull Text:PDF
GTID:1116360215453136Subject:Administrative Management
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Government performance measurement as the core system that relates to the level of the government'governance and operational efficiency, has become the latest chief theme of administration development in the world today. When initially introduced to government departments, performance measurement was mainly taken as the tool for higher authorities to assess, control subordinates departments, using the top-down one-way feedback, and the measurement body is public organizations and specialized agencies. With the rise of customer-oriented, quality-oriented concept, the focus of government performance measurement in western countries has gradually turned from economy and efficiency to profits and "customers'satisfaction". Citizens and civil organizations have begun to widely participate in the process of local government performance measurement. In recent years, the Central Committee and the State Council raise some new conceptions such as "the interests of the public and govern for the people", "scientific concept of development and correct view on performance", "Party and government personnel evaluation focuses on acceptance by the masses"; some local governments have started to pay more attention to public opinion and include citizens in their measurement of government performance, therefore provide an appropriate channel for citizens to participate in and discuss politics and overcome the deficiencies of single internal measurement of government performance. However, how to regulate the behavior of citizen participation, how to make citizens in the measurement process to play a more positive and active role, how to help citizens participate in local government performance measurement on the fairness and effectiveness, are important issues that we are facing. Starting from the concern and analysis of citizen participation in the local government performance measurement, the paper strives to resolve the inherent difficulties of local government performance measurement, but more importantly, the author hopes that this study can provide some useful insight to the choice and orientation of democratization of Chinese local governance. This paper takes the study of citizen participation in local government performance measurement as an important starting point of the combination of public management and political science research, which shows the implementation of scientific concept of development and correct view of achievements with an advanced theory, realistic aim and practical guidance, and highlights the crossing and integration of multi-disciplines. Meanwhile, the paper combines normative and empirical research studies, historical research and comparative analysis, system analysis and factor analysis, and other methods and techniques, aiming to achieve integration and complementation of research methods.To sum up, in addition to the introduction and conclusion, the text is divided into six chapters.Chapter I, local government performance measurement -- the new platform of citizen participationAs a prerequisite for bedding, the chapter establishes the keynote of the whole paper. The chapter specifically discussed following issues: first, from the founding of P. R. China to the present, China gradually formed a democratic election, democratic decision-making, democratic management and democratic supervision, and other forms of citizen participation in the field of public administration. Compared to the four "traditional" forms, citizen appraisals government is a new form of citizen participation. To some extent, this is an integrated presentation of the four democratic forms. The birth and development of citizens evaluating government has roughly experienced the "social service commitment" to represent the formative stage, "popular political winds assessment" to represent the formative stage and "civil consultative government" to represent the development stage. Secondly, it analyzes the dialectical relationship between the local government performance measurement and citizen participation, pointing out that citizen participation should be concluded in local government performance measurement and local government performance measurement also affords a beneficial opportunity for the development of citizen participation. Thirdly, it points out that participatory democracy, democratic administration theory, and the people sovereignty thought and the important thought of "Three Represents" are the important theoretical basis of citizen participation in local government performance measurement. Finally, the chapter states the practical significance of citizen participation in local government performance measurement from both local governments and individual citizen aspects.Chapter II, the motives limitations of citizen participation in local government performance measurementThis chapter mainly deals with the issues that why citizens participate in. The participation behavior of citizens actually is the interaction results of internal motivation and external environmental factors of the subjects. The direct reasons includes the shooting for, realization and maintenance of the interests, the maintenance of sovereign status and rights of citizens, the realization of some ideal or belief, and the order, mobilization or hints of the organizations. The external constraints of the implementation of citizen participation includes relatively backward level of economic development, pressure-systems derived from authoritarian politics, the negative impact of traditional historical culture, immature development of civil society, and etc.. To comprehensively promote subjective and objective factors of citizens'participation, provide opportunities for citizens to positively participate in public affairs, break through the restrictions of external environment on the citizens participation, we need to improve the economic, social, and cultural environments, give citizens the right to participate in, strengthen their ability to participate in and enhance the will of citizen participation. Meanwhile local governments need to positively support and cooperate in citizen participation on levels of conception, material and behaviors, thus forming the situation that the bottom-up and top-down levels promote citizens participation together. Chapter III, the subject and scope of citizen participation in local government performance measurementThis chapter discusses that which citizens will be involved, what public affairs he citizens can express their views, and what aspects of the measurement will be participated in. The papers will classify the subject of citizen participation into ordinary people, the representatives of NPC, CCCPC members, experts and scholars, enterprises and the third department, and other several basic levels, pointing out that citizen participation should be extensive but not collective and specially analyzes the representation of participation subjects. Citizen participation in the area includes horizontal and vertical levels. The author thinks that the limited degree of citizen participation is that citizen usually participate in a link of measurement, and the content and indicator settings of citizen evaluating government performance are relatively single and wide. In order to achieve a universal and full citizen participation, we need to identify the main participation subject, and expand the scope of citizen participation. For this purpose, first, to control the scale of citizen participation and select appropriate representatives to participate in; second, to ensure the citizen participation in all phases of local government performance measurement; third, to design dimensions and indicators of the performance measurement that citizen satisfaction-oriented. In addition, the chapter analyzes the subject and scope in the specific practical process of citizen participation basing on the integrated social evaluation activities of Hangzhou municipal units.Chapter IV, the means and procedures of citizen participation in local government performance measurementThis chapter studies the question of how citizens participate, that is, by what kind of procedures and ways to participate. The paper thinks that the value of citizen participation lies in the avoidance of the arbitrariness of citizen participation that is composed of preparation, organization and implementation, conclusion and encouragement, and analyzes the current civic activities evaluating government performance in regard to the shortage of the opening and transparency. As for the ways of citizen participation, the paper studies through dividing it into system participation and non-system participation. For the different way of citizen participation, the system will be divided into direct involvement channels taking questionnaires, online appraisals, and indirect participation taking the petition and National People's Congress evaluation as representatives. Promoting the orderliness of citizen participation in the activities of the performance appraisal is a difficult and important job to improve current performance measurement system. It should starts from different aspects, in which the rectification of citizen participation proceedings and extension of participation ways are necessary. To more specifically explain the procedures and means of citizen participation in local government performance measurement, the chapter makes an empirical analysis on "10,000 people evaluation organs" in Nanjing.Chapter V, the costs and benefits of citizen participation in local government performance measurementThis chapter analyzes the cost and benefits of citizen participation. It is of great practical significance to make cost and benefits analysis, which can examine the mechanism for citizens to participate in the optimal level, find the problem in citizen participation and understand the reasons of citizen participation. However, this analysis also exists difficulties, that is, uncertainties and unaccountability. Therefore, in this paper, a detailed explanation of citizen participation in terms of the types of costs and benefits is given, but there is no specific analysis on the cost and benefits. It focuses on the methodology extending from the analysis contained, that is, the analysis on citizen participation should have a perspective and awareness to comprehensively compare and assess, therefore to make the analysis more interpretable and forward-looking. Participation costs must be reduced to the degree that citizens have the opportunity to participate in and the participation benefits shall be maximized. In other words, citizen participation must achieve higher benefits with reasonable cost inputs, which is not only realistic necessity, but a concern of ethical issues. Basing on these, all ways and methods contributing to lowering the cost and all system improvement and training benefiting citizen participation shall be paid attention to in developing citizen participation. Chapter VI, local government performance measurement development strategy basing on citizen participationThis chapter is the ultimate point of the paper. The fundamental purpose of speculation on citizen participation in local government measurement is to promote the development of local government performance measurement through improving citizen participation mechanism. Therefore, the chapter comes back to the discussion of the local government performance measurement and put forward four strategies based on it, that is, co-ordinate multiple assessment system; formation of the system of evaluation of the performance of synthetic effectiveness; unimpeded expression of people's will and the government response channel to form integrated power of assessment system; the assurance of the fairness and effectiveness to achieve the organic integration of tool and value ration; local governments shoulder the responsibility of civic performance and positively improve its own performance oriented with citizens.
Keywords/Search Tags:local government, performance measurement, citizen participation, democratic administration
PDF Full Text Request
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