The Current Local Government Legitimacy Foundation And Diversified Research In Our Country

Legitimacy is the eternal theme of political domination, any government would put the legitimacy verification in an important position. As the nearest window to the public, local government occupies a key position in the construction of legitimacy.On one hand, local government has a higher sensitivity to the need of community, it can fully understands the requirement for legitimacy of the public; On the other hand, it is directly reviewed and considered by the public, more complex factors involved in the process of building legitimacy foundation. Therefore, it is valuable for us to analyze the current situation and problems of local government legitimacy foundation, as well as gradually explore ways to consolidate multiple legitimacy bases.Under the guidance of legitimacy and legitimacy bases theory, this article analyzed the current situation and misconceptions of local government legitimacy foundation firstly, then discussed the reasons that local government seeks performance legitimacy, as well as the "performance trap" and other contradictions which the local government would suffer if it simply rely on performance foundation. Finally, the article proposed ways to shape the legitimacy foundation and acquire more durable recognition and support from three aspects:criterion of value, validity and system rules. This article is divided into three parts:Part I provided an overview of legitimacy and legitimacy bases theory. Author summarized three types of legitimacy called specifications legitimacy, empiricism legitimacy and new paradigm legitimacy. We also summarized criterion of value, validity, system rules, ideology and charismatic as the legitimacy bases. At last, we further cleared the object of this article on the basis of defining local government legitimacy foundation and it’s composition.Part II clarified the current status and problem of local government legitimacy foundation. This part first combed the change course of China’s local government legitimacy foundation, pointed out that performance is the main legitimacy bases in the period of social transformation, and then analyzed the causes that local government seeks performance legitimacy and the positive effects which performance legitimacy brought to. Finally, this part emphasized that it would lead to "performance trap" and a range of social issues if local government simply rely on performance foundation.For the current problems that local government faced, Part III proposed three ways to acquire the "specific support" and "dispersion support" from the public and provide continuous power for local government legitimacy. The three suggestions are reinventing the criterion of value and promoting the socialization of mainstream ideology, enhancing performance dimension and constructing effective government, building legal framework and shaping a government ruled by law.