Research On The Changes Of China’s Rural Social Governance System Since The Reform And Opening Up

Since the reform and opening up,China’s rural areas have emerged many special governance patterns and accumulated a wealth of experience in governance.However,because of the change of social situation,the construction of rural governance system is facing different challenges and problems,for example,improper link between the two different systems of "township administration" and "village governance" has led to a series of problems in governance,such as the tense relations between rural cadres and the masses,autonomous power has become a mere formality,lacking of governance mechanism,imperfect governance system and other problems,it is urgent to solve the institutional dilemma through the adjustment and optimization of rural governance system.However,institutional reform is a long-term,complex and herculean task,facing different challenges in different stages of change.In order to put forward reform measures suitable for social development,it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the process of institutional change.This also leads to the core question of this dissertation,that is,what changes have taken place in China’s rural social governance system since the reform and opening up.This research question can be divided into the following questions,first,what are the characteristics of the change of rural social governance system? Second,what are the key factors that affect the change of rural social governance system? How do these factors affect the change of the system,that is,what is the logic of the change of rural social governance system? Third,how to choose the best path of rural social governance system in the new period?In fact,a rural governance system goes through a long and complex change process from planning,implementation,promotion to innovation and sustainable development,current institutional analysis methods rarely analyze this fact,and the stability reasons explained in the theory cannot well explain the changing results of institutional change.Therefore,combined with realistic predicament and theoretical research,the change process of China’s rural social governance system since the reform and opening up is taken as the research unit.By identifying the characteristics of institutional change and finding out the key influencing factors and their mechanisms,the reform measures of rural social governance system are put forward in the new era.Based on the review and summary of relevant studies on institutional change at home and abroad,combined with the practice of rural social governance in Zhejiang Province,this dissertation analyzes the principle of institutional change of rural social governance from three dimensions of "power structure-social stratum-regional culture",in order to provide a comprehensive analysis for the evolution of rural social governance system.First of all,the dissertation found that institutional changes of rural social governance have different stages and cycles.Secondly,the institutional changes have also experienced the transformation process from a single electoral democracy to a combination of electoral democracy and consultative democracy.At the same time,there is a process of transformation from idealist democracy to practical democracy and from result-oriented democracy to whole-process democracy.Then,combined with the empirical materials of three cases in Zhejiang,this dissertation analyzes the logic of changes in the rural social governance system from the three perspectives of power structure,social stratum and regional culture,and finds the following three explanations.(1)The Party,the state and society are the formal powers in rural social governance,the power contrast between these powers reflects the amount of social resources owned by these power subjects.Therefore,the power subject at the upper level of the power structure can play a decisive role in the distribution of social resources because of its higher political status,and thus can determine the type,structure,function,value connotation,change characteristics and development path of the rural social governance system.At the same time,these powers have a dynamic relationship in the process of governance,forming different power structures and producing different power behaviors and results,which directly affect the normal operation of the system and tend to become the turning point of system change.(2)The structure of social strata reflects the power of different classes in the political field and the control and distribution of social resources.With more money,power and resources,the dominant class is in an advantageous position in the process of interest game and is more likely to achieve its interest goal.According to the changes of rural social governance system,institutional changes are tendentious,which depends on the results of game and balance between different interests.Therefore,the process of institutional change can basically be regarded as the process of interest reproduction of the dominant class.(3)Regional culture is closely related to the social governance of rural areas.It has the function of mutual integration and promotion,and can directly affect the formation and development of the rural social governance system,and provide the legal basis and spiritual support for the rural social governance system.Moreover,regional culture has direct and indirect influence paths on the changes of rural social governance system.Specifically,one is the direct influence path of "regional culture--governance system",the other is the indirect influence path of "regional culture--participants--interaction under the influence of interests,concepts and cognition--governance system".Based on the above analysis,the key links and deep principles of institutional change can be established.On this basis,appropriate policy suggestions and reform measures are put forward to provide reference for the adjustment and optimization of social governance system in rural areas.