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The Research On Problems Of Rural Governance And Rural Public Products Provision

Posted on:2008-07-27Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:S YuFull Text:PDF
GTID:1116360242465754Subject:Land Resource Management
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
This thesis researches into such issues as the supply system, mechanisms and efficiency of China's rural public products from the perspective of the relationship between rural governance and public products supply. Through theoretical studies and empirical analyses, it discusses the effects of different rural governing patterns on efficiency of rural public products provision, compares typical rural governance patterns between northern and southern areas in Jiangsu Province and explores the diversities in rural public products supply system and their in-depth reasons. Meanwhile, it analyzes the rural administrative governance system, the role of tertiary departments in rural governing structure, mechanisms of farmers' political participation and need-expression, efficiency of rural public products supply as well as low efficiency caused by the principal-agent structures on all the levels utilizing financial funds, and reconstructs new farmer's cooperative organizations to reform these low-efficient structures. Additionally, discussions on how to improve the communicative mechanisms between farmer's cooperative organizations and the government, and ever-working mechanisms of public financial investment are also included in this thesis. In the process of exploring the relation between rural administration and public products supply, the current study illustrates the policy-making mechanisms of rural infrastructure construction and operation and their influences on society, politics, technologies, economy and eco-environment, and investigates the supply system of rural public products and its comprehensive effects in an all-round way in terms of institutional and social factors. The thesis has significant theoretical and practical value to the evaluation of the efficiency of cross-regional rural public products supply and after-project management.The research conducted in this thesis chooses as study cases several administrative villages in Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, the three cities in southern area of Jiangsu Province and in Lianyungang, Xuzhou, Yancheng, Suqian and so on in the northern Jiangsu Province. Its research methodology comprises literature review, questionnaire survey, typical case investigation, interview and discussion, theoretical analysis and on-the-spot inspection. The thesis makes a policy-supportive study of rural public products supply mechanisms and efficiency, power and duty structures in the model of rural governance and employment of financial funds on the basis of an investigation into the theoretical foundation for rural public products, the evaluation of overseas experience, the consummation of the overall framework, and an analysis of implementation difficulty as well. Finally, the thesis incorporates the analyses of the present situational characteristics, empirical analyses, comparison and use of international experience for reference, case studies, policy implementation and concrete suggestions, etc., based on a thorough literature review, organizes expert symposiums to analyze and draw up corresponding investigation and study plans, makes on-the-spot inspections and interviews in certain regions in Jiangsu to form more explicit viewpoints and thoughts and after that, formulates conclusions and suggestions. The thesis consists of six parts.Part One tackles the application of polycentric theory in rural administration and rural public products supply. The biggest practical value of the theory lies in its suggestion that the mono-center government model be smashed to establish a multi-center administrative pattern under the three-dimensional framework of government, market and society in the reform of government's management. The polycentric administrative system has massive advantage of solving rural problems, especially the problems of rural public products supply. From the angle of economics, the new system equates managing public affairs with producing and supplying public services, assigning part of the manufacture of public products and services to social organizations and personal institutions through means of contracts, concession, voluntary services and state-private partnership, etc., so that they can provide the public with products and services of higher quality and efficiency by their advantages of cost, technology and competition. A new ruling structure of comparatively independence and divisional cooperation is taking shape among public departments, personal economic and tertiary departments. As the new structure grows mature along with the development of market-oriented economy and civil society, it is necessary to set up a polycentric governing system characterized by clear division between rights and duties and separate fulfillments of duties among the government, market and society.Part Two pertains to drawing on relevant overseas experience and its implications to our country, summarizes experiences of some countries in Asia, Europe and America as regards rural governance and rural public products provision. Some Asian countries endeavor to improve rural infrastructure, provide excellent inhabiting environment, and accelerate the development of diverse rural cooperative organizations in order to promote rural living quality, their experiences worth borrowing. European and American countries set the goal of agricultural sustainable development, center on restructuring rural powers, advocate multiculturalism and social movement of empowerment, and emphasize duties and corresponding policy-decision rights of laws in local governments' supply of rural public products. With multiple supply entities, perfect supervision system, local governments' lawful responsibility for rural public products provision and financial adequacy in so doing, a material foundation is laid for local governments to feed back public products demands. Due to a painstaking division in this respect, high efficiency is achieved, leaving no room for local governments to shift their responsibility of shouldering the tasks assigned by laws. Rural public products supply can be realized by different financial channels. Faced with the usual shortage of financial revenues, governments in villages and towns can guarantee the supply via civic voting. Local governments' over-reliance on ventral financial allotment and central tax revenues reduces partially the efficiency of pubic products supply.Part Three inquires into rural public products supply methods and mechanisms under different patterns of rural governance at different times. To realize country's effective management is the political objective all the governments dream about and pursue. Rural political systems ranging from the village-kiosk system in Qin-han period, the village-neighborhood system in Sui-tang period, the Bao-jia system after Song peiod, the village self-government system during the time of Republic of China, the people's commune system after the founding of PRC and the present rural-village system are all the results of the governmental pursuits. The study is classified into four phases according to historical evolution, with four rural governing patterns summarized. The analyses of rural public products supply methods and mechanisms in the four patterns, namely, Chinese traditional rural governing system, rural administrative system in the era of early modernization, rural governing model integrating government administration with commune management as well as the system of town governance and village autonomy, can be used as historical experience and reference by present village governance and rural public products supply theories. After focusing on five current rural governing models and probing into the China's difficulties in this regard, it proposes that the predicament in rural governance results from the following causes: financial trouble of local governments trapped in survival plight, decrease in public service supply, unsmooth institutional relation between county and villages caused by stress-inducing system, rural social dispersion for the sake of administrationization of village committees, etc. On one hand, government's overall control over rural society in terms of finance, politics, population and land forms control system on rural society. The forced administrationization is diverted from desired directions, leading to worsening effects. On the other hand, people complain about over powerfulness and management of governments and call for village autonomy for a balance. Because of incompleteness in organizational system and competence at village level in our country, the existence of informal organizations such as religious powers and their negative influence, rural autonomy is insufficient, unable to maintain rural social stability and stimulate rural economic and social development.Part Four discusses that the development of the tertiary departments is an effective path to solve problems of rural grassroots democracy, rural public products provision and rural advances. It analyzes the current status and development of rural specialized economic cooperatives, farmers' rights-defending organizations, and rural comprehensive social organizations, explains the problem of property rights in rural governance and rural public products provision, and discusses the multiple game-playing processes in rural public products provision. New rural cooperatives can compensate for functional inadequacy in county and town governments. The application of polycentric theory to construct new rural cooperatives contributes to diversify rural public products provision mechanisms, realize rural social strengths' participation in public products planning and construction, diversify supply bodies and capital-raising channels, form efficient duty supervision system in the course of public products' production, and guarantee rights of our nation, local areas, farmers and society. Especially, in the era of post-taxation reform, the decline in rural political power easily brings about unstable factors in local politics, and while perfecting farmers' appealing ways for legitimate interests, rural cooperative organizations keep those unstable factors under control efficiently.Part Five constructs a polycentric-governance-based framework for analyzing rural public products provision. Polycentric governing mode knocks down the intricate vertical power chains, and clears away the basis for the stress-inducing system to exist. As a result, rural governing entities obtain decision-making rights in rural public products provision, and the transition from top-down to bottom-up in policy-making is fulfilled. With an advantage in mastery of information about public products supply and demand, they avoid misleading peasants' favor of public products to the greatest extent. More importantly, the bottom-up authority leads governmental officials at the basic level to maximize peasants' support other than pursue support from governments at the superior levels. Thus peasants have the say in public products supply and in evaluating the legitimacy of basic governments in accordance with their performance in this respect, which ensures the formation and consummation of public choosing mechanisms of rural public products supply. In the light of public products supply features, we should establish multiple systems and money-collecting modes, reconstruct the structure of public products supply entities, i.e. the integration of government, rural communities, private departments, tertiary departments and fanners, implement the cost co-assumption mechanism of core duty for government plus co-assumption by multiple entities in regards of supply body, capital source and supply ways, and divide scientifically and reasonably duty and rights scope for related departments to supply public products and supply types. With the execution of lawfully constraining money-raising bodies and restricting arbitrariness of basic governments in the process of public administration, peasants are empowered to supervise money-collection and supply of rural public products; the supervision mechanism of standard planning plus overall supervision plus performance assessment takes shape; rural administrative and public financial systems are perfected to make sure increasing enhancement of financial funds-raising capacity; the priority order and policy-making mechanisms of rural public products supply are made definite.Part Six confirms that polycentric rural governing pattern is the ideal system design for high efficiency in rural public products provision through an empirical study on governing models in southern and northern areas of Jiangsu and rural public products provision. The cross-regional imbalance in economic development results in different governing patterns and rural public products supply efficiency and mechanisms. On the basis of the theory of polycentric rural governing mode, we compare and analyze economic developments in southern and northern areas of Jiangsu, regional discrepancy in governmental economic functions, village autonomous organizations in rural governing power structures, role orientation of village carders, peasants' organizations, village relations, rural democratic situations, and bodies, mechanisms and duty supervision in rural public products supply, and try to define dissimilar governing models. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are employed to evaluate comprehensive results in the respects of quality, quantity, functions of supplied rural public products in southern and northern Jiangsu and their influence on ecological environment and regional economy, with the aim of constructing one governing pattern suitable for developed areas in which villages play a leading role, accompanied by governmental assistance and villagers' participation and the other governing pattern suitable for less developed areas in which governments play a leading role, accompanied by village assistance and villagers' supply of either money or labor.
Keywords/Search Tags:rural public products, rural governance, tertiary departments, mechanisms and patterns, efficiency assessment
PDF Full Text Request
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