Public Interest Research

With the continuous advancement of China's market-oriented reform, public interest increasingly becomes a major issue which needs to make breakthroughs theoretically and practically. In theory, the public interest is an important and hot topic discussed widely in the law, public administration and management disciplines. As the basic concept of political philosophy, study on the issue of public interest is obviously insufficient from the domestic political philosophical point of view, and thus it is particularly necessary to study the issue of public interest from the perspective of political philosophy.In practice, public interest has become the scapegoat, and those issues including the house demolition, land requisition, the loss of state assets, environmental pollution and the commercial behavior of monopoly are all against the public interest in the current process of urbanization. Based on this, this article tries to analyze public interest in contemporary China from the perspective of political philosophy, tries to examine carefully the history and the basic content of public interest, the relation between public interest and relevant interests and the relation among public interest, public authority, civil rights. And it protects realization of public interests institutionally, spiritually and lawfully. The full text includes introduction, body and conclusion. The basic contents are as follows:Introduction focuses on the current status of research, research significance, research methodology, innovations and weakness of public interest in contemporary China as well as the basic framework of logic.The first chapter analyses the highlight of public interest in contemporary China from the practical point of view. With the implementation China's market-oriented reforms, the public interest is becoming increasingly apparent, and as a result, the public interest not only faces difficulties in practice but also is insufficient in theory. Therefore research on the issue of public interest is a very important and necessary task in contemporary China.Chapter II studies the issue of the development of interest and public interest in history. Interest is the top concept of public interest, so it is necessary to explore historically these two concepts together as the close relationship between the two. From the historical perspective of Chinese philosophy, it analyses "the debate of Yi and Li" and the Confucian and Mohist on the idea of public interest, and points out that the influence and evaluation of interests and public interests in the history of Chinese philosophy on contemporary thinking. From the historical perspective of the Western Philosophy, it concentrates an analysis of the development and change of interests and public interests from ancient Greek and Roman period to the contemporary in the West. From the Marxist point of view, it points out that the interest is a breakthrough in the creation of Marxist historical materialism and it studies the basic concepts and characteristics of interest.Chapter III discusses the basic concepts of public interest. It takes Marx's historical materialism as an analytical tool. It explores the emergence and realization of public interest and its development in human history in different communities. In addition, this article makes a definition of public interest from the perspective of political philosophy .The public interest is closely related to the public and the people; is open and public to the people and the public; is shared and enjoyed by the people and the public; satisfies the requirements of social relations of a certain form of the principal (the people, public) nature.Chapter IV clarifies the distinction and links between the public interest and related concepts. To further analyze the concept of public interest, it is necessary to clarify the distinction and links of the concept of public interest with the relevant private interests, national interests and collective interests. Public interest originates in the realization of private interests, and the public interest abstracts from private interests and goes beyond; the public interest and national interests overlaps partly; the collective interest is the top concept of the public interest; both appeared in alienation in a class society.Chapter V analyzes the relationship between public interest and public power and civil rights. The relationship between public interest and public power is: public interest is the purpose and the end-result of public power; public interest is an important basis for the legitimacy of public power which is protection of public interest and means to achieve public interest. The relationship between the public interest and civil rights is: who has the greater priority? The neo-liberal advocates that civil rights should take a priority over the public interest; and communalism advocates that public interest should take precedence over civil rights. In the condition of Socialist market economy, the realization of public interest, public power and civil rights has a new and different content.Chapter VI focuses on the protection of the realization of public interest in contemporary China, which needs institutional, legal and spiritual protection. Superiority of the socialist system has institutionally ensured the realization of public interest. It is an urgent need to speed up legislation and to improve the law to achieve the protecting function of the current laws for public interest because of lack of effective protection for public interest. Public spirit is the spiritual basis of the realization of public interest. Market economy is external basis of public interest, while civil society gives the intrinsic power in the formation of spiritual values and plays a guiding role.As a result, in contemporary China we need to improve the socialist market economy, to increase the strength of civil society, to foster public spirit, and finally to realize of the spiritual protection of public interest.The conclusion stresses that the public interest and the interests of individual citizens have the dialectical and united relationship. It demands not only to realize the co-ordination between public interests and the interests of citizens but also to benefit all citizens.