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Studies Of "Urban Community Self-organizing Governance

Posted on:2004-08-15Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:W D ChenFull Text:PDF
GTID:1117360092993143Subject:Scientific Socialism and the international communist movement
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
The subject of this dissertation is the concept of urban community self-organizing governance (UCSG for short) and measures of boosting it. It specifically addresses the following topics: (1) what are the profound background and intrinsic mechanism of urban community construction in China since 1990s, (2) how to comprehend the connotation of UCSG and (3) what are the concrete patterns in the process of UCSG and what institutional arrangements are required to attain a state of UCSG.To answer the first question, a macroscopical perspective is necessary, that's a perspective from the system reform and social structure transition undergoing in current China. Based on the mutual adaptability between the demand and supply structures, the social structure is subdivided into three sections: state, market and community. After clarification on their respective roles, organizations, goals and coordinating mechanisms, it argues that community functions irreplaceably in satisfying the residents' need. Community construction can't only meet the residents' need, it is also an inevitable result of the social structure transition. With the transforming of the planned system to the market system, socal structure is also transforming from a centralized one to a state-market-community tri-polarized one, meanwhile, the community springs up from behind the shadow of the state, accompanied with the fall of the former "Danwei system" under which "Danwei" worked for taking charge of all his after hours affairs such as healthcare, housing and insurance. Meanwhile, community build and self-governance are the motive and main approaches to furthering the differentiation among state, market and community, they are, at the same time, the subject of socialist courses with Chinese characteristics.The connotation of UCSG is a problem baffling both the researchers and the practical workers. The theory of "self-organizing governance" is explanatory to community self-governance. Self-organizing governance is defined as a process in which multiple stakeholders in a given space and time enhance mutual trust through democratic negotiation, they integrate resources within the community, collaborate to arrange their common affairs and gradually achieve "self-organization". The basics for self-organizing governance include: (1) Collaborating competency-each and every group must be independent entities, (2) Collaborating foundation-the mutual common benefit,(3)Collaborating mechanism-negotiation face to face, which means no party can force its will on the others,(4)Collaborating condition -equal share of the cost and benefit, (5) Collaborating effects-the state of self-organizing.As to the definition of community self-governance, there are two conflicting conceptions in the mainland academic circle, though both orginate from the theory of self-government in conventional politics. One simply confronts government administration with community self-government, and the other argues for modernizing the neighborhood community tradition during the end of Qing dynasty and early years of Minguo with a reference to the western experiences of local autonomy. Unfortunately, they both ignore the coordination of the right relations among the stakeholders involved. To comprehend the community self-governance, three erroneous notions should be cautioned against. One conceives community self-governance as the sheer independence of community organizations, or the differentiation of right, responsibility and benefit between the government agency and community organization. The second deems community self-governance the equivalence of local autonomy. The third assumes self-governance the exclusive patent of developed countries. Actually, the differentiation and independence, especially the cooperation of government agency, community organization and non-profit organization in the management of community affairs are the objective requisites for meeting the diverse demands of the residents. This article, centering on the concept of UCSG, a...
Keywords/Search Tags:urban community, self-organizing governance, network structure, institutions
PDF Full Text Request
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