Study On Promoting Citizen Participation In Chinese Government Information Disclosure

1. Purpose of the Study and Importance of the ResearchStudy on Government Information Disclosure in China started late, until after 2000, the relevant research literature began to be filed. The initial study focused on translation of foreign literatures, learning the western, countries'experiences and building the relevant legal system, few literatures took the behavior of citizens' participation into the study of government information disclosure. From the "Guangzhou Municipality Government Information Disclosure Statement" which was promulgated on January 1,2003 to "the Government Information Disclosure Regulations of The People's Republic of China" which was enacted on May 1, 2008(shortly named "Regulations" hereinafter), the promulgation and implementation of these laws stated that government of all levels are groping the way of opening government information. The enaction of "Regulations", in a sense, declared that the secret tradition which began from Zhou Dynasty ends. The reason why people are concerned about "Regulations" and give them high expectations, mainly because they embody the idea of "letting the legal sun illuminate the administrative process", and adapts the requirement to build a service-oriented and transparent government, in line with the public governance requirements of more transparent government, more open administrative process and more widespread scope for citizen participation.Opening government information can play a normative role to counterbalance the executive power and prevent the abuse of power, and respect the citizens'right to know government information and the right to participate political affairs. Though there are terms in Regulations that encourage citizens to take the initiative to apply information disclosure in practice, the citizens may be encountered by irrelevant answers, delaying and postponing information duty and other problems in reality. Based on the assessment of the government information disclosure practices, if we want to further deepen the government information disclosure, we need to promote citizen participation actively, and give full play to the role of supervision and participation in order to reconstruct the trust relationship between government and citizens.2. Major Contents and Statement of the ProblemThe whole research consists of three main parts:Part One:The definition of Government Information Disclosure and Citizen Participation TheoriesThis chapter will define the government information, government information disclosure, government affairs disclosure, citizen participation and citizen participation in government information disclosure, furthermore; the definition of e-government and government web sites will be stated in this chapter in order to lay the foundation for the writing and reduce the communication barrier, and form the basis of consensus.In this article, we use the definition as that "Government Information is the information that one government produces, collects, arranges, transmits, releases, uses, storages and clears during the process of the exercise of administrative functions, including all the information which produced in the decision making course, such as administrative laws, administrative regulations, normative documents, functions of government agencies, staffing, procedures and other information. The government information disclosure means to open the information which lists in the above.The citizen discussed in this paper has the political and legal meaning. The citizen participation refers to express wills, make decisions and manage the public affairs in certain ways and patterns legitimately in order to effect and supervise the activities and processes of the country's political decisions and behaviors. Government information disclosure has a close relationship with citizen participation. On one hand, citizen participation in government information disclosure can further the development of the government information disclosure; on the other hand, government information disclosure can ensure the reality of the citizens'right to know and the right to participate.Part Two:The challenges of Chinese Citizen Participation in Government Information DisclosureIn western countries, encouraging and valuing the citizen participation is no longer a tendency. In fact, they have made it into practice and got better effect. In China, some governments have enacted regulations on government information disclosure before the central government, and they welcome citizens to participate the information disclosure that they have known the importance of participation. But most governments persist in the old and obsolete management methods that keep the information to protect their so-called "authority". This is not wise.There is currently a serious lack of modern service ideal and perfect system of government information disclosure, and also there are some systematic barriers. The reasons, the vital significance and the advantages to promote citizens to participate in government information disclosure will be discussed in this paper.The other objective of part two is to look at the barriers over citizen participation in government information disclosure, that is, what kind of factors hinder the promotion.Part Three:How to promote Chinese Citizen Participation in Government Information DisclosureRecognizing the insurmountable challenges of promoting citizens to participate in government information disclosure, we can adopt measures according to the reality. To encourage citizens to participate in government information disclosure is so complex that needs every parties'effort. Not only need the service ideal, the sites, the systems, the investment in education, the information relief system, but also the two-way harmonized system between government and citizens. All the details will be stated in the following.