Power Enhancement Of The Developed Town: The Restructuring Of Governance Model For South Jiangsu Township

As the lowest level of local grass-root government stipulated by China’s Constitution, township not only shoulders the important mission of the development of new urbanization, the boost of urban-rural integration, and the promotion of social harmony and stability, but also becomes the important foundation of rural industrialization and modernization. Since ancient times, our country is known for its farming civilization. Consequently the early developed township has very long a history. From the village kiosk in Qin and Han dynasties and the neighborhood administrative system in Sui dynasty with the prolonged coexistence of the power of emperor, squire and family, to the transformation of town coexistence into township regime and of the commune system into township government, the township organization system has experienced a long history of evolution.Since the Reform and Opening up, China has repeatedly carried out the reform of township institutions, and is more and more effectively making the township government adapt to the changing of the times and the environment. Particularly, from the Millennium on, the development of China’s township has been speeding up apparently, impacted and mobilized by the deeply development of the market economy and the integration of global economy. At the same time, associated differentiation occurs in the form of uneven development levels and various types of township. In recent years, taking advantage of the geographical superiority and the reform and development priority, a large number of villages in the eastern coastal region which have grown up into economically developed towns, are making a solid pace to the direction of becoming new small cities. But generally, they are still facing many problems and constraints in their way to sustainable development, such as the function and power, administrative system, institutional configuration and public services. The reform of the administrative system for constructing innovative economy strong township has been put on the agenda.As the birthplace of the Sunan Mode, the southern region of Jiangsu is the domestic pioneer in the scientific development. The rapid rise of the economy strong township, not only changes the space layout of the rural development, but also deeply impacts the pattern of the regional growth in South Jiangsu. Taking the economy strong township in South Jiangsu as the study object, excavation of the ingenuity of the enhancement in the region and its effectiveness is feasible, while the precious experience for future sustainable enhancement, the enlightenment and reference for the township governance reconstruction in the developing regions, and the thoughts and directions for the continuous improvement in China’s urbanization are doable.The consolidated mode, standard or answer, does not exist in the theory and practice for administrative system reform of the economy strong township, but still needs experience accumulation, countermeasure study and persistent summarization and improvement. By collecting, sorting and reviewing certain information, combined with the practice and exploration in the personal involvement in the enhancement reform, the author indicates that, to turn township government into the service-oriented, finite, responsible and law-oriented, and the satisfaction of the people, not only requires to straighten out the relationship between towns and counties and to remove the present systematical barriers, but also needs to accelerate the modernization of township governance system and capability.Part Ⅰ Introduction: This part mainly discusses the origin and the significance of this study and related researches at home and abroad, focusing on the definitions of relevant concepts and in-depth understandings of the theories concerned, so as to arrive at the possible creativities and shortcomings of this paper.Part Ⅱ Towns, Villages and Township Governance:This part reviews the development process of Chinese towns and villages through historical analysis, together with the evolution of the township governance models in China. It demonstrates the progress of our rural governance and the changing role of the township governments. It also dissects the existing problems and their reasons in the governance of towns and villages in China.Part Ⅲ Experience and Inspirations from Domestic and International Township Governance:Via a comparative study, this part elaborates on the lessons and inspirations we could draw in reconstructing township governance from the well-developed experiences and practices of domestic and international governance models of towns and localities.Part Ⅳ Development of "Sunan Townships" and the Motivations for Reconstruction: With favorable geographic conditions and a sound industrial base, the southern part of Jiangsu Province (namely Sunan) has caught hold of the opportunity of reform and opening-up and witnessed the rise of a large number of township enterprises with strong comprehensive strengths, featuring huge economic volume, high concentration of population, advanced level of urbanization, and distinctive features of industries. Utilizing the PEST analysis, this part introduces the macroeconomic environment and influencing factors of the reconstruction of township governance models in southern Jiangsu from the four aspects of politics, economy, society and technology. It also closely studies the motivations behind the governance reconstruction of such economically powerful townships from the facets of economy, politics and reality. By pointing out the stark conflict between the traditional administrative system of townships and the sustainable development of the rich Sunan townships, this part advises on reconstructing the governance model in order to explore opportunities, stimulate vitality and enhance performances.Part Ⅴ Research and Practices on Decentralization in Sunan Townships:Under the guidance of national, provincial and municipal policies, the Sunan Townships, based on their own conditions, have carried out pioneering explorations such as expanding management authority, comprehensive law enforcement, convenience services for people, optimizing institutional set-up and staffing, and developing innovation economy, etc.Part Ⅵ Achievements and Problems of the Decentralization in Sunan Townships: Apart from the positive effects of the authority expansion in Sunan Townships, this part elaborates on a number of problems thereof and reasons behind them. Through such decentralization, progresses have been made in phases in terms of self-optimization in the management system and promoting overall economic and social development. At the same time, however, the legitimacy of decentralization, the preferential resource policies, policy implementation, relevant responsibilities, and the institutional barriers still remain as problems that can hardly be ignored.Part VII Measures and Thoughts in Promoting Administrative Reconstruction of Economically Powerful Townships in China: the paper points out that an upgrade from decentralizing rich townships to enriching townships via decentralization is subject to an elevated thought height, the guidance of institutional design, the improvement of functional elements, the lawful use of administrative powers, and the urban evolution process; only by continuously promoting the complementary reforms in a strategic, holistic, systematic manner can we succeed in deepening the reconstruction and benefit from the "reform dividend".Part VIII Conclusion:This part summarizes the key points in the paper and tentatively proposes directions for further reflection in this regard.