Multiple-agency: The Village Leaders In The Routine Duties

Great changes have taken place in China rural basic-level management system and administration method since the implementation of the agricultural reform of contracted responsibility system in 1980's. Village leaders, the main previous role as managers and assignors during the period of people' community. Much academic research has done with the role of village leaders in village administration.By taking a suburban village of Enshi in Hubei Province as a study-case, and regulating a village leader's 15-year's work note and meeting record, this assay tries to present rural basic-level political life and social situation, make a specific investigation on village leaders' routine duties to define their role and tries to reveal the factors that influence their behaviour since the government's division from society and the resuming of town government in 1983.Village leaders' routine duties involve great details in village life; particularly focus on the agricultural-production, and the take-over of traction, the management of land, the development of village enterprise. The content of routine duties and the approach by which they are done are related to the current pressurized system and the village leaders' authority generated in routine duties. Traditional peasants' respect and trust for the village leaders skilled hi agriculture knowledge constitute an important source of the leaders' authority. However, with the development of the local economy, the increase of the immigrant population and the adjustment of the industry structure, the diversity of the village economy, the increasing separation of the villagers' interest and the propagation of the modern information appears, the authority from agriculture knowledge no longer serves as an important source of the village leaders' authority.By the analysis and investigation of the village leader's routine duties and the source of their authority, this paper probes into the village leader's role. The paper reveals that the village leaders not only act as agency and master, but also as multiple-agency.