Social Assistance Legal System

Being "the vibration damper of a growing economy" as well as "the last safety net to protect the poor", social assistance serves an important role as the bottom line in a social security institution as a whole. The current social assistance system of the People's Republic of China stems from traditional social relief practices, and has developed and reformed in response to changed social and economical situations since the mid-1990s. Its contribution to the relief of the poor, the promotion of general welfare and the safeguard of social justice is important, but its many defections are also incontrovertible. Chinese top legislators have brought a draft of Social Assistance Law onto their agenda, and the text has been released for public comments. A study into the social assistance system may help perfect the legislative process, accelerate the rule of law, and lay the legal foundation for a harmonious society in China.This paper begins by attempting to clarify the notion of social assistance. It employs a comparative and positive methodology to inquire into the legal systems of social assistance systems at home and abroad. Successful experience from developed countries and Chinese practice in this area are analyzed to address pressing problems for streamlining it. Several suggestions concerning the perfection of Chinese social assistance system, as well as a commentary on the aforesaid draft of Social Assistance Law, are appended to the paper.The paper is divided into four chapters. Chapter I is a brief introduction to the essential problems of social assistance. A comparison of Chinese and foreign schools and similar concepts, it determines the exact meaning of social assistance. Its theoretical foundation is also analyzed from jurisprudence, constitutional and administrative law perspectives respectively. Chapter II is a comparative study of social assistance between developed nations and China in the hope that the Chinese system may obtain some beneficial experience from its foreign counterpart. In Chapter III, a legislative roadmap of current social assistance institution is drawn, its problems summarized. The proposed Social Assistance Law addresses those issues, the effectiveness of which will also be revealed. Chapter IV contains proposals on how to improve the social assistance legislation and relevant social institutions.