Shallow Theory Of Petition System Design Flaws And Refactoring

The petition system is intended to provide not only a systematic channel for thepublic to express their concerns and ask for relief, but also a pathway to supervise theauthority. It has mainly two functions: one is political participation, i.e. the citizen putsforward criticism and advice on the government’s work through communication or visitto related departments, the so-called “Get feedback from the public”. The other is rightrelief, i.e. petition, as a supplemental procedure in the common judicial relief process,can resolve disputes and realize the citizen’s right relief through administrative practice.The citizen tends to take right relief as a more effective approach than otheradministrative remedies, even the national judicial relief. Most citizen hold confidencein petition and reckon it as the last resort. Since the public opinion “goes upward”instead of just being voiced out, petition is able to gather the imperative issues to the topleadership unavoidably.The current petition system, as an important element for the nation’s democraticpolitical system, has contributed a lot for the sound communication between the publicand government, the respect and guarantee of human rights, and the political and socialstability of the nation. However, with the sharp transformation of society, accumulationof various social conflicts and improvement of citizen’s consciousness of civil rights,petition system has now encountered unprecedented crisis, which is troubling thegovernments at various levels. In some areas, coping with petition even becomes thefirst priority of the local government over a certain period of time. A considerablenumber of people are flocking to Beijing, which clearly indicates the serious problem ofcurrent petition system. Recent years have witnessed heated discussions amongacademia and government as for the retention or abolishment of the nation’s petitionsystem. Attempts are underway to explore a effective pathway in line with nationalconditions for political communication and right relief.Furthermore, most of the current research on petition system are within the rangeof theoretical research of law. Many researchers set eyes on the protection of petitioners’legitimate rights, while the practice of the petition system, especially its systematicaldefects are rarely seen. This may not only lead to the lag and absence of the petitionsystem, but also give rise to the unstable factors in the practice.The dissertation summarized the operational status of the nation’s petition systemand analyzed the underlying causes for its problems. The systematical defects ofpetition system were highlighted in the research and a feasible new petition system wasput forward. The dissertation was devided into six chapters. The first chapter set forththe background and significance of the research, summarized the domestic andinternational progress in this field and determined the target, method and outlines. Thesecond chapter introduced the petition concept and fundamental state of China’s petitionsystem. The third chapter discussed the operation status of the nation’s petition systemand its problems. In the fourth chapter, a case study was applied to the design flaws of petition system. The fifth chapter presented a new petition system and some relevantsuggestions, followed by the conclusion part of chapter six,.