Research On The Protection Of The Farmers’ Rights And Interests In The China’s Rural Homestead Replacement

Along with the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, local economicdevelopment has an extremely strong demand for more land. Therefore, in the conditionof strictly national farmland protection system, consolidating rural residential land whichhas been extensively used has become “golden key” for solving the problem of urbanconstruction land supply. However, homestead carries the responsibilities for courtyardagricultural operations, the survival habits and the low-cost lifestyle of farmers, so it isregarded as the last bulwark of circumvention of survival risk by many farmers. Fromthis perspective, the local government should respect the wishes of farmers whenadvancing the homestead replacement, give them good resettlement compensation, andmake them live and work in peace and contentment. But the fact is that the land rightsand interests of farmers, due to the imperfection of relevant legal system and farmers’weak social position, are seriously violated by local governments and other stronginterest groups during the implementation of homestead replacement, which results in aseries of social contradictions that threaten the social stability of China and the balanceddevelopment between the urban and the rural economy.As a result, analyzing the damageto the rights and interests of farmers in the homestead replacement,discovering the rootcause of the problems, and finding a valid path for the protection of farmers’ rights andinterests have an important theoretical and practical significance for a deeper and furtherstudy. The basic contents of this dissertation are as follows:Part one is a theoretical basis. First, domestic and foreign researches aresystematically combed and objectively evaluated. Secondly, on the basis of learning theland development rights and property rights public domain theoretical research, publicdomain theory of land development rights is proposed, then, public domain model ofhomestead development rights is built, with which the dissertation analyzes the change tothe rights and interests of farmers caused by the effects of those non-technical factorswhen farmers define the homestead development rights with the local government andexecute them,which lay a theoretical foundation for further study.Part two discusses the main problems of damage to the farmers’ rights and interests around the homestead replacement mode. After analyzing the evolution and currentstatus of the homestead system and the motivation of homestead replacement, the mainperformance of damage to the rights and interests of farmers are analyzed around themain modes concerning the homestead replacement. The dissertation points out that theperformances of the above mentioned damage are as follows: local government goesagainst the wishes of farmers by forcing farmers to accept the replacement. Incomedistribution of homestead development rights is unfair and compensation for farmers’homestead and estate is inadequate. The convenience for farmers to engage inagricultural production declines during their entire life in the building, while the cost oftheir living is rising.Some follow-up questions are unresolved after homesteadreplacement, such as the issue of land ownership, the issue of the social security forfarmers.Part three analyzes the causes of damage to the rights and interests of farmers inhomestead replacement according to the homestead development rights public domainmodel. It mainly talks about three aspects：First, the concerning legal system is imperfect,which relates to the lack of farmland development rights system, dummy main body ofhomestead ownership, the lack of specific law of homestead replacement, the lack ofpublic participation System, limited homestead transactions and paid exit systemmissing. This kind of imperfect legal system can’t protect farmers’ rightseffectively when farmers define the homestead development rights with the localgovernment and execute them. Second, due to over-reliance on land finance, localgovernments compress and blur the space of homestead development rights that farmersshould share. Third, the farmers’ weak status and the collective action logic make themunable to protect their rights and interests.In short, above mentioned three causes increase the marginal cost for farmers whenthey share the homestead development rights,the homestead development right whichshould be shared by farmers is stranded in the public domain, and thus the rights andinterests of farmers are cut apart by the local government and other powerfulstakeholders.Part four puts forward countermeasures. In connection with the problems and causesof damage to the farmers’ rights and interests in the practice of homestead replacement, recommendations to protect farmers rights and interests are proposed. It mainly talkabout three aspects: First, improving the corresponding legal system, they are:constructing agricultural land development rights system, clearing agricultural landproperty rights, establishing and improving the specific legal system on the homesteadreplacement, establishing effective public participation system and the homesteadtransactions and paid exit system. Second, improving fiscal decentralization and localgovernment performance appraisal system. Third, improving the ability of farmers todefend their rights and interests, such as building farmers’ safeguarding legal rights andinterests group, improving the cultural quality and rights awareness of farmers, andestablishing a valid path to realize farmers’ rights to equally vote.