The Loss And Restoration Of Trust In Chinese Local Government In Transitional Period

Trust in government refers to the citizens' positive psychological tendency,e.g.satisfaction,approval,support and confidence,result from government and government actions conform to their normative expectation,which is based on the interactive cooperation between citizens and government.It is a process of historical,dynamic evolution and continuous adjustment.The loss of trust in government refers to citizens' dissatisfaction and alienation to the government,and then result in the level of trust in government is declining,which caused by various internal and external factors,such as the rise of citizens' expectation,the increase of civil rights consciousness,the decline of government performance,the anomie of government actions,the alteration of interest structure,and the change of social culture.The restoration of trust in government refers to the process of one party or both sides of trust in government to take effective measures to restore the level of trust in government and rebuild the trust relationship between citizens and government when the positive effect of trust in government is dispelling and its negative effect is emerging,which is caused by the loss of trust in government.Local government is an important part of Chinese government system,and is at the forefront of daily interaction with citizens.Its level of trust in government directly reflects the relationship between citizens and government whether is harmonious or not.This dissertation chose trust in local government as research object,and put it into the complex dynamic process of Political System Theory,probe into the operation mechanism of trust in government,analyze the causes of the loss of trust in local government,explore the restoration path of trust in local government by using system analysis,case study,literature research and comparative research,etc.This will not only help to enrich,deepen and develop the theory of trust in government,but also help to consolidate government legitimacy,maintain political stability and improve government performance.To begin with,this dissertation establishes an analysis model of trust in government based on improved Political System Theory,identifies variables,such as inputs,conversion process,outputs,communication system,domestic environment and international environment,and uses it as the theoretical perspective and analytical framework of the dissertation.Next,this dissertation expounds the forms,the overall status and the severe situation of trust in Chinese local government in transitional period,to provide historical orientation,objective basis and actual evidence for analyzing the loss and restoration of trust in local government.During the transitional period,the forms of trust in Chinese local government are in the transition phase which evolving from personality-based trust to institution-based trust.The overall status of trust in Chinese local government in transitional period are as follows:the characteristics of hierarchical difference of trust in government is obvious,the pressure of distrust in government is increasing,and the situation of the loss of trust in government is adjustable and controllable.The severe situation of the loss of trust in Chinese local government in transitional period are as follows:the rampant rumors and negative public opinion is on the rise,the expansion of non-institutionalized political participation,guanxi operation and prevailing of hidden rules,the diffuse of political indifference,the growing number of overseas emigrants from China,etc.And then,in order to make the research of trust in local government more practical,this dissertation selects 6 PX events as the case,and finds that local government experience the accumulation of distrust,the exacerbation of trust loss,the formation of trust gap before,during and after the PX event respectively,and always face the trust dilemma.According to Sztompka's Three-Dimensional Viewing Indictors,the loss of trust can be identified in the following aspects.Firstly,the remark indicator,such as shouting slogans,holding banners and posters,posting online,etc.Secondly,the action indicator,such as vote no,demonstration,attack government agencies,etc.Thirdly,the functional substitutes for trust in government,are mainly reflected in people ask for help from international environmental group and foreign government.The trust dilemma manifests in the following aspects:Firstly,it's shown by the analysis of Three Circles Theory that PX event contains the loss of trust in local government.Secondly,the loss of trust in local government is the crux of PX event.Last but not least,PX event is a kind of social private remedy behavior when citizens resort to social public remedy in vain,which fully highlights the loss of trust in local government.On this basis,this dissertation uses the analysis model of trust in government to carry out first-order coding,second-order coding and third-order coding on 6 cases of PX event,and thus construct 92 first-order concepts,16 second-order concepts and 6 third-order concepts respectively,thereby find out the reasons for the loss of trust in local government.The reasons are as follows:Firstly,the overload of demands at the input terminal,manifests as the growth of critical citizens,the awakening of civil rights consciousness,and the expansion of citizen participation.Secondly,the government failure of conversion process,manifests as rent-seeking and corruption,as well as the low level of government transparency.Thirdly,the failure of outputs at the output terminal,manifests as the failure of public policies,the lack of public services,and the anomie of government actions.Fourthly,the malfunction of communication system,manifests as communication channels are obstructed,the lagging response of government,internet public opinion is out of control.Fifthly,internal interference of domestic environment,manifests as the underdevelopment of civil societies,the lack of fairness and justice,and the lack of social trust.And finally,external interference of international environment,manifests as the impact of the globalization waves,the intervention of overseas NGOs.At last,this dissertation presents the way to restore trust in Chinese local government:Firstly,cultivate modern citizens which includes shaping civic awareness,guaranteeing citizens' rights,and promoting institutionalization of citizen participation.Secondly,optimize conversion process which includes creating a clean government and building a transparent government in the era of big data.Thirdly,improve government outputs which includes improving public policies,raising the level of public services,and regulating government actions.Fourthly,perfect communication system which includes maintaining communication channels open,constructing a responsive government,and guiding internet public opinion effectively.Fifthly,build a favorable domestic environment which includes advancing the healthy development of civil societies,maintaining and realizing fairness and justice,and nurturing social trust.And finally,deal with international environment properly which includes taking initiatives to handle the challenges in the global age,regulating the behavior of overseas NGOs.The innovations of this dissertation are as follows:Firstly,the innovation of theory improvement and model construction,namely establishes an analysis model of trust in government based on improved Political System Theory.Secondly,the innovation of theoretical perspective,namely uses the analysis model of trust in government which based on improved Political System Theory to study on trust in local government.Thirdly,the innovation of viewpoints,proposes three historical forms of trust in Chinese local government,namely convention-based trust,personality-based trust and institution-based trust.In addition,proposes the viewpoint of micro-trust in government,meso-trust in government and macro-trust in government.Last but not least,this dissertation systematically puts forward the comprehensive framework to restore trust in Chinese local government,namely restore trust in local government from inputs,conversion process,outputs,communication system,domestic environment and international environment,respectively.This dissertation establishes the analysis model of trust in government based on improved Political System Theory,and uses PX event as entry point to the research,clarifies and explores the system structure,constituent elements and operation mechanism of trust in local government,as well as the forms,overall status,severe situation,influencing factors and restoration path of trust in local government in the transitional period by the theoretical and empirical analysis on trust in local government.In view of the universality of Political System Theory,this dissertation may provide reference value for other researches on trust in government.