Volunteer Service And Construction Of Civil Society In Contemporary China

Contemporary China undergoes social transformation, which in the scope of politics is transformation from Subject Society to Civil Society.Our basic premise is that there exists positive correlation between volunteer service and construction of civil society and civil culture. Based on the premise above this dissertation reviews and analyses the volunteer actions including its organizational structures, ideal foundations and behavioral models in order to formulate the positive correlation between volunteer service and construction of civil society and civil culture systematically.Whereas civil society includes 3 aspects, organizational structures, civil consciousness and civil behavior, we reveal the inner relations between volunteer service and civil society in these 3 aspects.Chapter 1 Volunteer organization: embryo of civil society begins with the organizational structures and operational models, and explores the relations between volunteer organization’s structure and civil society in contemporary China. Through analysis of inner structure of volunteer organizations we confirm that volunteer organization is the association of independent and equal individuals. Through analysis of inner management of volunteer organizations we confirm that volunteer organization has obvious characters of democracy. Through analysis of recruitment of volunteer organizations we confirm that volunteer organization is the association of independent and liberal individuals. Volunteer organization is the embryo of civil society, and they share structural similarities including constitutional principles, inner relations, managerial models and so on. Volunteer organization has preliminarily possessed the characters of civil society. Though most of them are apolitical, citizens have experienced the lives of civil society in volunteer organizations.Chapter 2 Volunteerism and Civil consciousness mainly studies volunteer’s mental mechanism and its influence on political culture, discusses volunteerism and civil consciousness in it, including national identity, social identity and sense of effectiveness. National identity, social identity, cognition of relations between companions, public spirit, philanthropic spirit and mutual aid spirit displayed by volunteer actor are helpful to cultivating the civic participation. Based on the comparative analysis of civil culture, subject consciousness and civil consciousness, we confirm the civil content in volunteerism. Through discussing national identity, we confirm the volunteer’s modern sense of national identity. They strengthen their national identity through volunteer service. Through discussing social identity, we confirm volunteer’s social cognitions of self, companions, roles which are helpful to formation of citizen’s dignities, confidences and reliance. Through discussing sense of effectiveness, we discover that in contemporary China volunteers have high sense of self effectiveness which manifest that volunteer service is helpful to cultivating citizen’s participation. At the same time we discover that volunteers have low sense of exterior effectiveness which manifests that Chinese civil society developed insufficiently. In a word volunteer service makes volunteers change positively and is helpful to construction of civil society.Chapter 3 Volunteer service and behavioral models of citizens mainly study volunteer’s behavioral models and their influence on formation of modern civil and political behavioral models and political personalities. We analyses 3 types of volunteer organization: official supported volunteer organization, foreign supported volunteer organization and grass-root volunteer organization. We discover the there exist 3 types behavioral models in these 3 types volunteer organizations. Though there exist differences, independence, autonomy, positivity, self-government, self-discipline, rationality, forgiveness, compromise spirit displayed by volunteer actors are compatible with modern civil behavioral model though their expressions and degrees are different. As there exists positive correlation between volunteer service and construction of civil society, volunteer service is the important way to cultivate civil society and civil culture, and is the ideal civil school, though it has some lacks and needs further development.