Institutional Obstacles And Optimization Paths For The Equalization Of Basic Public Services In Urban And Rural Areas

Over nearly 40 years of reform and opening up,China has made remarkable achievements in economic development,significantly outpacing its social development.In the field of fundamental public services,the long history of isolated urban-rural binary development system in China has caused a severe gap of basic public services between urban and rural areas.Such inequality of basic public services in urban and rural areas not only intensifies social contradictions,but also seriously affects the progress of building a well-off society in an all-round way.With acceleration of the process of democratization,the awareness of rights amongst the general public is constantly improving,along with the demand and expectation for basic public services and a better life.The insufficient supply of basic public goods,the unbalanced availability of basic public services,especially the huge gap between urban and rural areas in the supply level of basic public services,have become a prominent concern of our time.To address these social contradictions,especially those between urban and rural areas,we have to strive for gradual equalization of basic public services between different areas.This is a historic choice for China to realize the strategy of Rural Revitalization and the unification of urban and rural development.Equalization of basic public services in China is facing a deep-seated institutional dilemma.It is of great theoretical and practical significance to analyze and clarify the institutional obstacles and their causes in the process of promoting the equalization of basic public services in China,so as to correctly choose the path to achieve and resolve the institutional dilemma.This paper starts with the analysis of the connotation of the equalization of basic public services and basic public services.It organizes the history of changes of China's basic public service system since the founding of the People's Republic of China,and analyses the characteristics of China's basic public service system in different historical periods,and elaborates the objective foundations for achieving equalization of basic public services in China at this stage through the angle of economic development,policy base and public awareness.This paper analyses the causes of the inequality of basic public services in China from an institutional perspective,which are mainly caused by the deviation of the institutional concept,the defects in the institutional system and the "path dependence" of institutional changes.To address these root causes,we call for the shifting of approaches to the basic public service system,the continuous improvement of basic public service system,the elimination of urban-rural binary isolation and "path dependence" factors,and consequently exploring innovative ways to achieve the equalization of urban and rural basic public service system.