Farmers' Legal Consciousness And The Rural Rule-by-Law Course

As China is a huge developing agricultural country, the development of rural areas holds the balance of the whole country's modernization course. "Governing the country by law, and building a socialistic nomocracy country", which is the strategic aim of China's legal system construction, also depends on the continuous advancement of the rural rule-by-law course. Farmers' legal consciousness is the rooted spiritual factor and constitutes the fundamental part of the rural rule-by-law course, and even the whole country's nomocracy construction. Therefore, it is very significant to conduct researches on Chinese farmers' legal consciousness with the view of Sociology of Law.Following the current requirement of "building a socialistic nomocracy country" and using the basic principals about legal consciousness of the Marxist Law and modern Sociology of Law, this research completely and systematically collects main research fruits of legal consciousness theories and empirical survey reports on Chinese farmers' legal consciousness. With the reference of first-hand data and materials got in social survey, the author conducts deep and systematic empirical research and theoretical analysis. The article first roundly analyzes the social background of the transition of farmers' legal consciousness, and scientifically discusses the main elements of farmers' legal consciousness, including farmers' knowledge of law, evaluation on law, opinion of legal rights and obligations, attitude in self's legal behaviors, and legal demands. Although fanners' legal consciousness improves a lot after many years' law propaganda and education, there are still many unclear thoughts in it. Meanwhile, due to the differences in work, social contact and self-accomplishment, the legal consciousness of agricultural labor, farmer workers, farmers in business and rural cadres obviously differs with each other and reflects respective vocational features. Farmers' legal consciousness plays a key role in the rural rule-by-law course. It is closely related with other factors (the traditional law culture of China, villager autonomy system, law enforcement and judicial administration in rural areas) that also have effects on the rural rule-by-law course, and deeply affects rural legal operation in the fields of national especially agricultural legislation, farmer's voluntary abidance by the law, and the execution of law in rural areas.