The Absence And Its Improvement Of China's Prefecture Government System During The Economic Transition Period

The local government system is an important constitute of the national system, including local authority's composition, organization, authority, local finance as well as the relation between central and local government and so on. It has closely connected with state structure form: the federal system country is different from the sole system country and the countries which implement the local self-government is highly different from the local government system of the centralization countries. It reflects a country's basic unit of political power and the relation of it and citizen's, and directly affects a country's macroscopic constitutional government system. Since 1970's, under the background of economical globalization, stemming from the need of developing economy, countries all chooses and impel the reform pattern of local government and construct local authorities with richer elasticity and the response ability, hoping for innovating the pattern, the movement form and the local authority system of existing official organization to close to the multi-level compound geography space of citizen. Depending on the official organization, the privately operating organization, the social organization and the folk citizen organization and so on, let's completes and realizes together with the public service and the social affair manages in order to take achieves citizen-centered, meet the citizen's needs, respond the environmental variation, place rich development vigor into the new social management system. It is a universal procedure of nearly each country in the world that they set up the local authority, determine the different level between government's jurisdiction, divide management responsibility respectively, construct effective government organization frame, make the local authority lighten the burden of the central government, make free for national management, provides effective service, safeguard the citizen's rights and interests, prevented centralization and maintenance social stability and so on. Local government management in developed countries such as British, American, France and Germany take the authority released, local self-government as the main tendency; they take the Service-oriented government as the main idea, transform the government function at the right moment, emphasize the completed legislation system, and achieve the local management legally. The economical transition countries should act according to specific circumstances. Since the reform and open-up policy, with the establishment and the consummation of market economy system, the Prefecture Government economic system has been playing an important role in the national economy status and the function is more and more important. However, the Prefecture government system which establishes in the high degree of concentration planned economy system has lagged by far compared with that in the market economy development regarding to the aspects of democratic government, modern government and concrete government function, is unable to meet our country's need to develop further market economy. The root of the flaw of our Prefecture government economic system is mainly because the political reform relatively lags behind economic system transition, the political system blocks economic reform and economy development, causing the economic system not to adapt to the locally administered level system.So, how to improve and perfect our economic system of the prefecture government? To copy the mature governance model in Western developed countries? Or to learn from it and establish the governance model which adapts to the needs of China's market economy, in accordance with the stage of China's economic and political reform development? obviously, there are many problems to be solved: For choosing the prefecture governments as the target of study, the specific reasons are as follows: Firstly, the prefecture government is an administrative level with Chinese characteristics and the product of China's planned economic system, while there is no administrative level as the prefecture in foreign countries, especially the developed Occident. We find no theoretical results about study on the system absence of government and managing the prefecture governance system. Secondly, it is in the 1990s when domestic theorists and society generally accept the prefecture-level cities as a separate, formed administrative level. Therefore, there are not many works or systematic study of domestic scholars on the prefecture-level city system. Thirdly, China's economic reforms are the government-led ones. Government's demands on local economic growth, structural reform, investment and the open to the outside world has become a huge internal driving force for China's economic development and the reform and opening up. However, with the regional economic and social development, because of its political and economic interests and the acts of mutation driven by interests of the sector, the local government will also become to impede economic and social development. We can find the fundamental causes of the existing various contradictions and problems from the distortion of local governments' economic behavior.What aspects are missing from China's prefecture government economic system during the transition period and how to deal with that? The use of a series of scientific analysis ways ,such as literature research, qualitative research, quantitative research method, functional analysis, cost-benefit analysis, experience summation, systematical analysis, case studies, comparative analysis etc. gives this article both macro-level and micro-level analysis as well as the general overview and the statement on cases. It provides a systematic and valuable suggestion on further promotion of the governance of the absence of economic system of China's prefecture government, and establishment and perfecting the prefecture-level city government economic system suited to the requirements of a modern market economy.To a large extent, the installation of prefecture governments fulfils the need of operation of planned economic system, settles the inosculation of districts and economic areas. Simultaneously, it promotes the process of urbanization and the development of various projects of our society. However, under the new circumstance of high-degree market economy and the establishment and consummation of national market, china's prefectures have brought some negative impacts to the society because of the conspicuous character of planned economy, such as the negative externalities of the phenomenon of "pulling carts by colt" of "cities administer counties" system, the phenomenon of "cities exploit counties" "cities eat counties", the malignant competition of cities and counties and the sharp increase of administrative and social cost of huge institution and low efficiency. All of these have become institutional factors restricting economy development of counties as well as the development of central cities. As a result, new reforms are needed to resolve the issues of prefecture administration. In this paper, the absence of systems in prefecture government and the theoretical and developmental issues in the process of governance will be discussed. We think that, with market economy, economic system is an important part of policies intervening economy of prefecture government. It is some kind of criterion and restriction of government behaviors for government's achieving public policy objectives. Therefore, we must establish the democratic government with incorruptness, diligence, efficiency and pragmatic spirit, solving the problems caused by the absence of economy system of prefecture government in the transition period of China.The conclusion: At the macro level, first, our prefecture governments must deepen the reform of Political system, nail down administrative principles, and adhere to people-oriented, scientific development and administrating according to laws. At the same time, it is necessary to separate the Party and the government, clear government functions, change administrative means and innovative social management system. Second, strengthening the supervision and restriction of People's Congress of the same level and giving full play to CPPCC's role in politics are also significant. With cutting down administrative ranks, we should choose a government-led and society-cooperated governance model, which will accord with national situations and adapt to the trend of the times. Third, it is supposed to deepen economy system reformation, deal with the relationship of government of the market scientifically and build the basic role of market in allocation resources. We should be aware that the intervention and regulation of government must be based on market mechanisms. The full exertion of the function of allocating resource of market mechanism is a prerequisite condition; we need to deepen the reform of the administrative system, rationalize the functions of government, condense institutions and establish public administration system. The implementation of large-sector system is a good choice; additionally, the reform of allocation of resources needs to be deepened and the public finance system and the social security system should be improved. The local governments should be endowed with the power of bearing financial responsibility independently. The function of providing public service of social security system should be strengthened. From microcosmic aspects, the establishment of scientific evaluation system of performance and E-government system is benefit to improve the efficiency of the government. Administrative accountability system and the perfect of supervision mechanism will conduce to build the responsibility of the government. What's more, the movement of promoting the openness in government affairs and the probity and Standardization of government behavior will redound to establish the transparency and credibility government.