Research On Provision Mechanism Of Chinese County-level Rural Public Service During Social Transition

The foundation of the People's Republic of China witnessed the beginning of our country's social transitional history. As a result, Chinese people have been enjoying more and more public services. However, it is true that our public service are still unbalanced and at a low level. This is especially demonstrated by the severe shortage of county-level public service provision which has influenced and hindered the coordinated development of rural economy and the building of a harmonious society. Then, how to change this situation, i.e., how to bring innovation and reform into the provision mechanism of Chinese county-level rural public service, has become a research subject of great significance in realistic as well as theoretical value.Based on the Marxist political science and construction theory of modern states, choosing as the topic the provision mechanism of Chinese county-level rural public service, surveying synchronically the rural policies and mainly employing demonstration analysis method, literature analysis method and statistical analysis method, this paper is a thorough and systematic study of provision structure and provision mechanism of rural public service and other issues occurring during the four phases since the beginning of new China's social transitional period. Also, the paper attempts to offer some rather innovative ideas and solutions.This paper consists of three parts: introduction, four chapters and a basic conclusion.The first part, after a brief introduction about the reasons for writing this paper, the research design and some basic concepts, expounds this paper's theoretical hypothesis and problem consciousness, analysis instruments and research methods, and research samples and sources of material.The second part of the paper is the body consisting of four chapters. Through integrated analysis of construction theory of modern states, changes of rural policies and the primitive state of Yanjin County's politics, economy, culture and society, this part describes and explores the rural public service provision mechanism during the four periods since the foundation of the People's Republic of China.Chapter One discusses county-level rural public service provision mechanism. It first analyses three aspects: modern states and rural public service, construction logic of modern states, and our country's state construction as well as social integration and rural public service. Then it points out that the construction of a modern state entails the enhancement of rural public service and the improvement of people's living standards. During the beginning period of new China the Rural public service provision mechanism is part of our country's state construction and integration of the rural area. In the economic field, the People's Republic of China practiced nationalization of property and politicization of economic organizations, thus putting the vast rural area into the national administrative management framework by setting up such organizations as cooperation team, primary socialist collective ownership organization and advanced socialist collective ownership organization. With the help of these organizations, our country provided low-level public service in agricultural production and peasants' lives. Secondly, this chapter authentically describes Yanjin County's development of education, health care, five guarantee system, and agricultural technology. Lastly, this chapter points out that the economy in the rural area in this period still featured decentralized small-scale peasant economy. In view of the weak national economic base and limited finance, the government adopted the policy of State Monopoly over Purchase and Marketing, leaving a little fund for the recovery and development of agricultural production. During this time, the government's tax income from the agriculture was much more than its input into the agricultural development. Consequently, the source of the rural public service fund was rather limited and the cost of public service was very often extracted from peasants.Chapter Two is about the provision mechanism of county-level public service in the rural area during the time of the People's Commune. The chapter starts from the analysis of "national strategy and People's Commune", "the application of the People's Commune in the rural area", and "Public Service during the time of the People's Commune", pointing out that during that historical period China's government has prioritized the development of industry in order to make our country stronger, the people wealthier, and the economy more prosperous. While making use of the raw materials from the rural area to develop the industries, the government founded institutionalized methods to lower down the cost in the deals with the peasants and to avoid political upheavals. The People's Commune was the most effective social organization during the strategic transition and offered a political background for the process of industrialization. Then, the chapter goes on to discuss the institutional features of the systems of the People's Commune——"Yi Da Er Gong" (large in size and collective in nature) , "Zheng She He Yi" (the commune integrated government administration with communal management) and "Owership of Three Levels with the Production Team as the Base"——and analyzes the distribution system of the People's Commune—"Labor Score Institution" . Then, from the viewpoint of demonstration analysis, Chapter Two thoroughly describes Yanjin County' s conditions of rural education, health care and so on during the People' s Commune period. Lastly, Chapter Two points out the features of the provision mechanism of rural public service during the same period.Chapter Three discusses the provision mechanism of county-level rural public service during the period from "the allocation of fields to the household" to the Tax Reform. During the early 1980s, the economic reform, focusing on the application of the Household Contract Responsibility system, was widely carried out in the rural area with governmental enforcement and the peasants' spontaneous support. This reform marked the end of "the People's Commune system" which was based on the "integration of the government and the Commune". The governing pattern of Town Administration--Villager Autonomy began to be established in the rural area. Meanwhile, the chapter demonstrates the changes in the policies of finance, tax, public service, and funding system since the administration of "the Household Contract Responsibility system". In addition, the chapter illustrates in its third section the conditions of the public service in education, medicine, the social welfare of the five guarantees, and the promotion of agricultural technology in Yanjin County, thus showing the evolutionary process of the development of public service in the rural area.Chapter Four analyzes the provision mechanism of county-level rural public service after the Comprehensive Tax Reform. Since 2000, the government has carried out a tax reform in the countryside, having cancelled gradually the Agriculture Tax, Livestock-Slaughter Tax, the fee of township fund and educational fund, Labor Accumulation, and Compulsory Labor. Before completely canceling the Agriculture Tax the government also regulated the Agricultural Tax and the Tax of Agricultural Specialty, and managed to limit agricultural fees by replacing public welfare fund and management fees with Agricultural Tax and Tax of Agricultural Specialty. These reforms, especially the cancellation of the Agricultural Tax, demonstrated the great national transition from "Assimilation integration" to "Service Orientation Integration". Allocating resources as much as possible to the rural area and invigorating the intrinsic energy of the agricultural areas, this reform has a far-reaching influence in the process of the national integration in the rural area. Supporting and enforcing agricultural development with industrial and urban development, this policy aims at integrating the urban and the rural. The second section analyzes the policies of public financial system, tax reform, township reform, and other related policies, among which the tax reform is especially significant to the mechanism of public service. The tax reform, abandoning the funding policy of "three deductions (for public reserve funds, public welfare funds and management fees) and the five charges (charges for rural education, family planning, militia training, rural road construction and subsidies to entitled groups)", successfully transformed the public service mechanism from township welfare to national welfare at large. Empirically, the chapter demonstrates the unprecedented achievements of Yanjin County in education, medicine, the social welfare of the five guarantees, and the promotion of agricultural technology. In addition, the chapter also illustrates in detail the serving process of Jin Li Wheat Commune as a public service organization. With the development of a socially-benefiting public financial system, the public service mechanism in the rural area has been through significant changes in the policies of supply, strategy, funding, production and management, and functional effect.The third and also the last part of the thesis is the conclusion part, including the summarizing discussion, the conclusion and future outlook. First, this part makes a comprehensive analysis of the features, changes, progresses, difficulties, and outlook of the township public service mechanism which has been government-oriented. In addition, this part makes a forecast of future target of township public service mechanism—the transition from "supplier manipulation" to "demand manipulation", that is to say, a transition from a public service mechanism based on the government's allocations to a public service mechanism based on the peasants' demands.The most distinct creative achievements of this thesis are in the following aspects. First, the thesis takes an original approach by locating the future target of the public service mechanism in the rural area on the demands of the peasants. This is quite different from previous studies in the same field which usually focus on governmental supply strategies. Second, the thesis is creative in using the demonstration method, making interdisciplinary analyses of numerous data and experiences of various cases, involving the theories of sociology, politics, management, economics, computer science, and so on. Third, the thesis manages to achieve ground-breaking conclusions. Through analyzing its distinctive features, achievements, future outlook in education, medicine, five guarantee system, and the promotion of agricultural technology in four different historical periods, the thesis points out that the transition from "supplier manipulation" to "demand manipulation" is a necessary and inevitable step in the development of the public service mechanism in the rural area. Fourth, the thesis is original in its attempts at using triple clues—the chronological clue, the question clue, and the theoretical clue—in its analyses. As to the chronological clue, the thesis follows the analysis of the four historical periods since the establishment of the People's Republic of China and their distinctive features. As to the question clue, the author's question consciousness is very strong throughout the study. By analyzing the five dimensions (supplier, decision-making mechanism, fund-raising mechanism, production and management mechanism, and performance) of county-level public service provision mechanism in every period, the thesis explores the advantages and benefits of the provision mechanism of each period, the dilemma the mechanism encountered and its developing trend. Finally, as to the theoretical clue, the thesis illustrates the interactive relationship between the governmental strategy and agricultural supply, and the influence of governmental policies such as rural reform, agricultural tax reform, farming reform, and township institutional reform, on the mechanism of public service in the rural area.