Urbanization And Modernization Of Legal System

The Part I of this paper reviews the concept of modernization, urbanization and the modernization of legal system; also analyzes their mutual relationships. The author thinks that the essence of modernization is the transition of the way of human production and living from traditional society to modern society, and its core is the human's modernization. The prime impetus of urbanization origins from the agriculture development, roots from the industrialization and is accelerated by the tertiary industry. Urbanization is an insurmountable stage of the course of modernization; therefore, its fundamental feature is modernization. The modernization of legal system is a cosmopolitan revolution from traditional legal system to modern legal system, a progress of transition from rule of man to rule of law, and evolution of criterion system from rule of man to rule of law, which forms a very important portion of modernization and an incarnation of modernization.Part II starts from the review of the rise of western European cities and city laws in Middle Ages, then demonstrates how the Middle Ages' western European city laws initiated and impacted the western modern legal system. Based on that, theoretical analyses how the cities' rise-up and citizen society's form-up resulted the booming of citizen right claiming. The citizen society is the footstone of the modernization of legal system, which embodied the political and economical basis of the legal system, and fostered the spirit of modernization-the human centered modernization. Following analysis is focused on the impact on the modernization of legal system by the characteristics of urbanization, such as centrality, fluidity, specialty and heterogeneity. Part III elaborates the urbanization and modernization of legal system in China. History of China's urbanization and modernization of legal system is reviewed along pursuing the ultimate goal of social modernization. It is concluded that under the construction of China's modernization, the ultimate objective of modernization of the legal system is to build a human centered socialistic country that is ruled by law; the essential requirement and ultimate value orientation of a socialistic country that is ruled by law are to realize comprehensive and healthy development of the society and the comprehensive and unrestricted development of humans.