On The Prevention Mechanism Of Accountability System In China

In recent years, there has been an"accountability crisis"in China's political circles, triggered off by a series of incidents such as the tailing dam failure in Xiangfen, Shanxi, the Sanlu milk powder scandal in Hebei, the big fire in Longgang, Shenzhen, and the coal and gas accident in Dengfeng, Henan, to name only a few. These incidents have led to the fall of a large number of government leaders, who have to take the blame to resign or be accountable for failing to fulfill their duties. There can be no doubt that the administrative accountability system in China has seen some tangible results. However, in terms of policy construction and implementation, the current system still has a long way to go, which is not only inconsistent with the trend of political system reform, but also against the interest of the people and the state. In the past sessions of NPC &CPPCC, a large number of the conference members have submitted proposals on "establishing and improving the national accountability system, and strengthening the supervision over the exercise of power". Based on a theoretical research of the current administrative accountability system, this dissertation attempts to establish a new accountability system which emphasizes not only"after-the-event punishment"but also"beforehand prevention", to avoid the inefficient practice in the current accountability system that pays more attention to"punishment afterwards", so that a more effective use can be made of the system in building an efficient and well-functioning responsible government.This dissertation consists of four chapters. The first chapter is the introductory part, which introduces the source of the topic, the purpose and significance of the research, the related studies both at home and abroad, and the main research method and innovational points of the research.Chapter two provides an analysis of current situation to the accountability system in China. Following an overview of the main contents of the system and its course of development, the chapter analyzes the trends and characteristics of the system, as well as its problems and deficiencies. This section serves as a foundation for the research and establishment of an improved accountability system.Chapter three introduces and analyzes the administrative accountability systems in other countries. After a general introduction to the practice of accountability in other countries, the chapter provides a detailed analysis of its features, and based on this, it draws three conclusive points about the systems in other countries which would prove enlightening for the establishment of an improved accountability system in China.Chapter four is the central part of the dissertation where the originality of the argument mostly lies. In order to establish an improved administrative accountability system in China, it puts forward six specific suggestions, concerning the significance, the guiding ideology and basic principles of carrying out the accountability system. Then it sets out to establish an improved accountability system combining"beforehand prevention"with"after-the-event punishment", which concerns quite a few aspects such as promotion, training, supervision, evaluation, punishment, segregation of administrative duties, diversification of variant interpellation, media publicity, and so on. What's more, in view of the rapid development of the Internet, the dissertation creatively puts forward the idea of making full use of the Internet as a convenient and high-efficient platform for collecting public opinions in political affairs.