A Study On The Influence Of Microblogging On Public Policy Making

By the end of June2012, the number of microblog users has reached27billion in mainland China. That it is to say, one in every five people is microblog user in China if counted Chinese population as140billion. Microblog has achieved such a high popularity and started a "microblog revolution" by its unique advantages and influence in our country. Political life is prompted rapidly into the micro era by the microblog and social democratic construction has entered into a new stage.The rise and the development of the microblog have important effects on the public policy formulation in government gradually. People began to form a habit of looking the government operation and participate in the public policy formulation through microblog. The author writes the thesis with the question that:what is the function of microblog in politic (policy) sphere? What influence microblog has on the public policy formulation? How to make microblog effect a good help on the public policy formulation?The thesis first analyzes the available literature and builds up a conceptual framework of analyzing the function of microblog on politic (policy) which includes: media communication function, public opinion expression function, and the authority function of the microblog. The three functions dominant and run through the analyze process of the microblog’s influences on the public policy formulation.The author carries on the analysis of microblog influence on public policy formulation in two aspects:1. the normative analysis of the microblog influence on policy formulation. There are three sections in the process of policy formulation including policy agenda setting, policy planning and policy legalization. By analyzing different literature, author found microblog have distinct influence on the all the three sections;2.the positive analysis of the microblog influence on policy formulation. By using the "cracking down on the abduction of women and children" and "national’s NPC and CPPCC microblog" as analytical materials and analyze the two cases. Through the two cases into the process of policy formulation, the specific empirical analysis get a conclusion that the microblog did have positive effects to stimulate the policy making.For the freedom, openness and interaction of the microblog, more and more people take microblog as a way of expressing public opinion and political participation. It is not difficult to identify the influence of microblog on policy formulating. However the positive effects of microblog are confirmed, the author also discusses the limitation of the microblog’s influence on the policy making at the last chapter.How to make the new tool of microblog to be a help to a more scientific and reasonable public policy? The author offers some strategies about microblog participation perfection on policy formulation sphere.The innovation of the paper lies in:1. the combination of the fresh communication tools of microblog and the political problem in reality as a new research perspective which has real research value;2. by reading the available relative literature, builds a conceptual framework of analyzing the function of microblog on politic (policy) which includes:media communication function, public opinion expression function and the authority function of the microblog and this conceptual framework has good value of theoretical analysis;3. the strategies offered by the paper about microblog participation perfection are practical and can be applied to reality.The microblog as a new media only advent for very short time, thus the academic discussions about microblog effect are still at the primary stage. The viewpoints of the paper are shallow and waiting for more case materials and deeper discussion.