The Elite Governance In Villagers' Self-governance In Current China

In order to accelerate the development of the countryside and improve the working and living conditions of farmers, in 2006, the central government of China further listed the policy of"building a new socialist countryside"as one of the major tasks in the eleventh five-year-plan, following the explicit proposal of the three issues concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers in 2005. In addition to strengthening the economic construction in the countryside, the policy of"building a new socialist countryside"also involves the promotion of the countryside management reform and institutional innovation. In fact, rural governance is a significant issue concerning the farmers'fate and China's social development. The selection and operation of the"rural governance mode"have gradually become the key elements deciding the growth of rural public field and the satisfaction of farmers'common desire. Meanwhile, they have profound impact on the courses of democracy and rule of law in the grass root society and the realization of"good governance"in the rural society.Nowadays, the legal mode of rural governance in China is the"villagers'self-governance". However, in practice what really exists in abundance is the elite governance in essence with the form of villagers'self-governance. The current Chinese rural areas are in a period of mode transference of economic society, therefore the elite governance is instrumental in the maintenance of the social order, the distribution of resources and the management of public affairs. It also benefits the penetration of the concepts of democracy, rule of law and modern governance into the rural societies and the realization of legal villagers'self-governance to the maximum. However, elite governance also has limitations which cannot be overcome by itself. Its features like concentration of power, weak restriction and the rule of men in essence also go against the spirit of democracy and rule of law. This paper...