Promoting The Modern Transformation Of The Traditional Petition System Function: A Possibility

Complaint-letters-and-visits settlement is a system with typical Chinese characteristics.It not only serves a role in forging closer relationship between the party,the government and general public,but also provides a channel for people to participate in political life and voice their own interests.As a vital means for the general public to guarantee and realize their economic interests and democratic rights, complaint-letters-and-visits system plays an important role in building a well-off and harmonious society.However,with the deepening of reform,social transformation and adjustment of interest structure,a great many social problems come up.With task of social transformation and social stability,complaint-letters-and-visits system faces unprecedented challenges.It become a great concern of all levels of social classes and is an issue for heated debate.As a grass-root level official working on complaint letters and visits settlement,I'd like to express my own views and opinions on its reform.The paper first illustrates functional positioning of traditional complaint-letters-and-visits system,and various challenges it now faces in social transformation.Then,it shows urgency and necessity for traditional complaint-letters-and-visits system to modernize its functions.By taking mayor's hot line in Changnan County of Zhejiang Province as an example,the essay seeks the possibility for traditional system to realize functional changes.Considering mayor's hot line as an innovative move inside the government body,the paper shows how mayor's hot line plays an administrative role in allowing general public to participate in public affairs.Thus it turns out to be an effective approach to system's functional changes in social transformation.Besides,the author also points out limits and inhibiting factors in system's modernization of its functions.By combining with complaint-letters-and-visits settlement work in the nation,the author gives a vision for system reform as well as functional changes.From aspects of mechanism,institution and legislation,the author put forward policy suggestion including establishing supervisor mechanism,enhancing institutional function,establishing judicial prestige, providing channel for general public to express their interests,highlighting "good governance",building quality work force,cultivating modern civilian and driving forward legislation process for complaint-letters-and-visits settlement work.