Research On The Participation Of Rural Elite In Township Governance

Effective governance is the basis for the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy.As the most basic government in China,the township government is at the "contact" position of central leadership and local governance,and is the foundation of the national governance system.At the same time,as a bridge and link between the state and the society,the effectiveness of township governance has an important impact on the modernization of the national governance system and the effectiveness of the rural strategy.However,operating within "pressure-mobilized" political system,the local government suffers numerous pressure due to the problem of t " thousand lines above,one needle below".Specifically,as the implementor of the national policy,the township government is often assigned with heavy tasks and responsibilities that beyond their capacities with very limited resources.as a result,the township governments often face difficulties such as inconsistent powers and responsibilities,insufficient funds,difficult financial operations,limited personnel,and insufficient cadre capacity.Due to the lack of resources and the lack of human resources,the township government often uses strategic,non-rule-based,and informal governance methods to achieve governance goals in the governance process.Among which include the inducement of the rural elite into the political system to achieve policy goals.The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed:"We will shift the focus of social governance to the community level,leverage the role of social organizations,and see that government's governance efforts on the one hand and society's self-regulation and residents' self-governance on the other reinforce each other".It is against this backdrop that this paper takes the rural revitalization strategy and the rural elite as the research topic and tries to document the elite's participation in rural governance.Drawing on the data collected in various locations,this paper attempts to analyze the internal logic,effects and promotion path of rural elites participating in township governance,with the methodology of literature reviewand case study,this paper enriches the discussion of the state-society interaction in contemporary China.This study finds that in the process of township governance,township governments rely on the rural acquaintance society,such as prestigious,virtuous and talented rural elites to get more governance resource,save administrative costs,maintain social stability,and develop rural economies.However,while this kind of informal governance is of great importance to rural revitalization,it can negatively affect the local government for a various reason,including the opportunism of the rural elites,the potential conflict between the elites and the government,and the inconstant stands of the elites.This paper concludes that the participation of elites is necessary for good governance in rural society.Given the problems in elites' participation,this paper proposes three policy measures to achieve proposes three paths for a sound state-society interaction,i.e.,improve the rules and regulations system,standard he participation of rural elites in governance;strengthen grassroots democracy,encourage multiple subjects to participate in township governance.By establishing and improving the modern rural social governance system of party committee leadership,government responsibility,social coordination,public participation,and rule of law,it is expected to build a rural governance system that combines self-government and rule of law,which will in turn promote the effective implementation of the rural revitalization strategy.