Local Legislation Competition:from Institutionalism Perspective

In modern country ruled by law,the allocation of legislative power is related to the distribution of state power and the expression of interests of different groups.The local legislative power is the important link and the direct result of the vertical legislative power allocation.Local legislation is related to the construction of socialist country rule by law and the development of local economy and society.Within the first decade after the founding of People's Republic of China,national construction goals have undergone three conversions,the local legislative power correspondently reflecting a logical process of "decentralization-centralization-indirect decentralization",therefore complexly institutional situation becoming the main institutional genes of current re-construction of local legislative power in China.After reform and opening,with the national construction target transformed again,local legislative power has been reconstructed in terms of the nature of power,the main body of legislation,legislative matters,showing the overall trend of gradual expansion.From the perspective of institutional competition,the structure and logic of the expansion of local legislative power can be clearly explained.Under the premise of ensuring effect of the legal hierarchy,the expansion of local legislation can effectively correct the overlapping of central legislation and local legislation,saving the legislative resources,promoting the legislative allocation forward to the "Pareto optimal",so that improving the quality of legislation.Meanwhile,the local authorities with legislative power can highlight the regional advantages through legislation,reducing the risk of reform while promoting "non-homogenization" horizontal competition between local governments.Of course,the current local legislative power structure is not enough to achieve the ideal state of local legislative competition,which requires the construction of competitive order,expansion of competitive space and clarity of competitive limit.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this paper is divided into five parts.The first part is about the origin and converted logic of the local legislative power.It mainly discusses the initial history and the developmental process of local legislative power in the period of ten years after the establishment of People's Republic of China.During this period,with the three displacements of national construction goals,local legislative power experienced a logical process of "decentralization-centralization-indirect decentralization",showing its three salient characteristics,including instrumentalism,political priority and non-institutional measures,which constitute the basic institutional gene of the current local legislative power in China.The second part is about the reform of local legislative power and the definition of relevant sub-concepts.After reform and opening,with the national construction target transformed again,local legislative power has been reconstructed in terms of the nature of power,the main body of legislation,legislative matters,showing the overall trend of gradual expansion.Under current administrative division system,numerous cities divided into districts also sharing the power of legislation,therefore the concept of local should put emphasis on the same level and different level of administrative division equally,and the scope of legislation should also include the local government regulations.The third part is about the process of the reduction and expansion of local legislative power from case study view.Taking the process of obtaining and expanding the local legislative power in Shenzhen as a typical case,revealing the internal driving force of the growth of local legislative power.In practice,the adjustment of local legislative power is rooted in the local development needs inspired by the reform,and each adjustment is basically synchronized with the country's reform strategy.At the same time,with the adjustment of local legislative power,the academic circles have also embarked on three stages of debate,deepening our thinking about the existence,role,problems and improvement of local legislation.The fourth part is about the logic of local legislative competition.It mainly discusses the structure and logic of the expansion of local legislative power from the perspective of institutional competition.Under the premise of ensuring effect of the legal hierarchy,the expansion of local legislation can effectively correct the overlapping of central legislation and local legislation,saving the legislative resources,promoting the legislative allocation forward to the "Pareto optimal",so that improving the quality of legislation.Meanwhile,the local authorities with legislative power can highlight the regional advantages through legislation,reducing the risk of reform while promoting "non-homogenization" horizontal competition between local governments.The fifth part is about the competition subject,space and limit after the expansion of local legislative power.A benign competition pattern first requires a role change of central government,so that providing a good market competition order.Second,we should rely on the discovery process of competition to broaden the effective range of local autonomous exploration,establishing the local exclusive legislative power,so as to set aside a sufficient competitive space.Finally,we must always adhere to the value of the local legislative expansion,which means the nature of empowerment is restricting power according to law,reducing risk of reform through rule of law.