Information Technology,Political Participation,and the Evolution of Chinese Policymaking

Although information technology is playing a fundamental role in China's political development, relatively little is known about the contours of online participation in government policymaking. This article presents the results of a survey of individuals who, in 2008, used the Internet to submit comments on the central government's plan to reform the nation's health system. The responses demonstrate that participants were, in the aggregate, well-educated professionals who live in urban areas and were especially likely to work in the medical and health industry. Substantial numbers of participants commented as a means of expressing concerns about the overall direction of reform, as well as on specific elements of the proposal itself. Participants generally anticipated no more than a modest degree of government responsiveness, although high expectations were held for comments from government officials and individuals who worked in the medical and health industry. Overall, these attributes and attitudes are illustrative of the evolution, as opposed to transformation, of the political system that is occurring in online contexts where neither democratization nor the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party is of immediate salience to government officials and societal stakeholders.     

Political Earthquake and Aftershocks: The DPP after the 2000 presidential election

The 2000 presidential election marked a major turning point in Taiwan's political development. For the first time since 1949 the government of Taiwan came under the control of a political party other than the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, KMT). The seemingly peaceful transfer of power after the 18 March election leading up to the 20 May inauguration has been widely cited as evidence of Taiwan's democratic consolidation, even though the alternation of ruling power was undoubtedly a major political earthquake in Taiwan history. Since the major political earthquake took place in March 2000, numerous aftershocks have occurred. They include the opposition attempt to recall the newly elected president and vice president; the formation of a 'major opposition alliance'; a dramatic economic downturn; and the 2001 Legislative Yuan elections that resulted in another KMT defeat. Different political parties, especially the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have been trying to learn how to cope with the new political situation.     

中华人民共和国成立初期有关中药避孕的知识生成与话语建构

本文以20世纪50年代中期出现的中药避孕为研究对象,探讨知识生成与国家权力之间的复杂关系。中药避孕在此时的兴起,既是中华人民共和国成立初期政府推行节制生育观、改变家庭结构的具体实践,也与当时国家提升中医药至"祖国医学遗产"的地位有直接关系。中医药成为中国共产党作为执政党进行国家转型的政治标志之一。但是,这种由国家权力自上而下推行的中药避孕知识,在流传过程中遇到了自近代以来形成的以实验为核心的"科学"观挑战。据此,中国共产党依据马克思主义辩证唯物观对中医进行新的科学化阐释,并由此夯实了中医在中华人民共和国成立初期的政治地位。     

社会资本对农民工信任流入地政府的影响研究

农民工已然成为我国城市建设和经济发展的中坚力量,但由于户籍制度和城乡二元体制的影响,他们无法得到城市、农村两地政府的有效服务和管理,导致他们对政府的信任感偏低。本文利用西安交通大学人口与发展研究所2008年12月在陕西省X市LH区对农民工进行实地调查所获得的数据,以政府信任理论和社会资本理论作为理论基础,对西部农民工信任流入地政府现状及影响因素进行研究。研究结果发现,高素质、年轻一代的农民工对流入地政府的信任感低;社会资本越丰富的农民工越信任流入地政府;政治活动参与意愿越强、社会经济地位越高的农民工则越不信任流入地政府。     

Gated Communities and Migrant Enclaves: the conundrum for building ‘harmonious community/shequ’

This article looks at the Chinese state's community/shequ building effort to govern a more heterogeneous and mobile population in urban China so that a ‘harmonious society’ (hexie shehui) can be achieved. Shequ building initiatives move away from the governance model based on direct government and administrative control, and toward a new model of structured community self-governance. Within some communities, this new model has faced challenges that appear to arise from the new diversity of interests that characterize Chinese cities today. The article acknowledges that social complexity often begets organizational challenges for emerging shequ organizations; but it also suggests that the social simplification of individual shequ is a tendency that has wider negative social implications and needs itself to be resisted.     

南京市失地农民基本养老保险给付水平分析

随着城市化、工业化的速度加快,城市空间扩张造成大量的失地农民。为失地农民提供养老保障已成为移民安置方案之一。该文构建了失地农民基本养老保险测算模型,并根据南京市历年数据对被失地农民养老保险在个人账户下和统筹帐户结合下的给付水平进行了测算与合理性分析,提出现有的失地农民基本养老保险水平偏低,需要进行调整以维护失地农民的基本权益。     

The Changing Structure of Communist Party Membership in Urban China, 1988–2002

This paper examines changes in the membership structure of the Communist Party of China during the 1990s. It concentrates on urban China to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics of the region (city) and the age, educational, and occupational structures of the regional party. The major findings are as follows. First, the development of marketization has widened opportunities for the younger generation to achieve socioeconomic success outside party membership. Second, the younger generation's incentives for joining the party have consequently been increasingly important determinants of the party's membership structure. Third, the subsequent technocratic reorganization of the urban party seems to have progressed through the conventional bureaucratic-elite path in the government and publicly owned sectors rather than through the newly emerging qualified professional-elite path.     

‘I don't know’ in public opinion surveys in China: Individual and contextual causes of item non‐response

Why do some people say ‘I don't know’, ‘I have no opinion’, or simply refuse to say anything in a public opinion survey? The Western literature on public opinion research suggests two major types of causal factors for the non‐response: the respondent's individual characteristics (e.g. age, education, and occupation), and the survey's contextual characteristics (e.g. the length of the survey, the nature of the question, and the setting of the interview). The emphasis, however, has been on the individual factors. This study applies these theoretical predictions to a pool of 14 survey data collected in China during the 1980s. The results show that both the individual and contextual factors are equally important in determining the occurrence of non‐response. In particular, farmer respondents, questions involved a politically sensitive topic, and surveys sponsored by a government agency are more likely to cause ‘I don't know’ answers. Interaction analysis provides some preliminary evidence to suggest that lack of cognitive ability may be a primary source of non‐response on knowledge‐related questions while fear of political consequences may be responsible for non‐response on political sensitive questions. Based on the findings, we discuss the implications for analysis and interpretation of Chinese survey data.     

Review of Poverty Alleviation Work in Rural Areas in China and Its Future Prospects

Since the launched of reform and opening up,the Chinese government has made great efforts and provided a lot of funds to promote poverty alleviation and development in rural areas China has made great achievements in the cause of poverty alleviation and these have been recognized by the international community The infrastructure in poverty-stricken areas has also been continuously improved,and industrial activities have been encouraged in poverty-stricken areas to help promote self-reliance As a result of the government's actions the poor rural population has been greatly reduced,and rural people's living standards have been greatly improved Since the 18~(th) National Congress of the Communist Party of China,the central government has put forward a strategy of accurate poverty alleviation,implemented poverty alleviation projects in areas where poverty has stubbornly persisted and enhanced its efforts to finally eliminate poverty Under the vigorous leadership of the CPC,China is expected to achieve the goal of eliminating absolute poverty nationwide ahead of schedule     

中国党际政治协商的性质刍议

中国党际政治协商主要指中国共产党与各民主党派之间围绕国家重大方针政策和重要事务进行的政治协商，它的产生和发展有着自身依存的政治、经济、文化和社会条件。中国党际政治协商具有民主性、公共协商性及内生性的性质与特征，是中国特色社会主义协商民主的重要形式。     

传统社会末期江南地区的行业生活与互济行为--以苏州府为中心

在传统社会末期的江南地区,行业是一套重要的社会保障体系.它不仅有利于维护行业的正常发展,而且对地方社会稳定也起着重要作用.行业生活既需要政府的保护,又有着强烈的自身发展态势,具有显著的自保性与排他性特征.     

中国共产党执政生态系统的变革能力分析

回顾90年余的发展历史，中国共产党之所以能够由弱变强、由小到大．成为领导中国革命、建设和改革开放事业从胜利走向胜利的执政党，究其原因是其善于对自身的执政生态系统进行变革，在与其他党派的竞争中保持了系统性、整体性、严密性和先进性优势，使党的学习能力、创新能力、组织结构、体制机制与党在各个不同时期的目标任务和经济社会发展要求相适应。党执政生态系统的变革不仅有内因、外因的制约，而且政党政治发展的客观规律也是一个重要的因素。     

Promoting Critical Consciousness in Young,African-American Men

SUMMARY

In the U.S. as young African-American men in urban areas mature, they face oppressive social forces as well as the normative developmental challenges of adolescence. Nonetheless, much of psychology focuses on personal rather than sociopolitical development. As a basis for interventions aimed at sociopolitical awareness and action, this article presents a theory of oppression and sociopolitical development based on the work of Serrano Garcia, Freire and others. According to this theory, critical consciousness (i.e., critical awareness about one's political, social and cultural condition) is an essential skill for sociopolitical development. This article also describes the “Young Warriors” program for building critical consciousness in high school aged young men. The results of this action-research project suggest that critical consciousness can be enhanced through a brief, eight-session intervention with the aid of Rap video, film and other products of mass culture.     

China's Adaptation Challenges—a critical assessment of China's ability to facilitate a strategic shift towards a low-carbon economy by applying the structure–agency framework

China's reform/opening process has been exceptionally successful at generating lasting economic growth and in lifting millions of people out of absolute poverty. However, this success came at a significant price. Environmental degeneration represents one critical issue. Other serious topics include an increasing income and development gap between and within provinces, and between rural and urban areas. A proposed shift towards a low-carbon economy seems to provide an answer in addressing this complex environmental–development challenge. However, decisions on a future course of action are not made in a political, economic or social vacuum, instead decisions are made in the context of a particular structural environment, which restricts the options available for actors. Applying a structure–agency approach will help to identify and highlight the existing structural challenges inherent within China's development strategy.     

Ideological and political tendencies of factions in the red guard movement

This paper observes the most important ideological and political tendencies of the Red Guard Movement during the first three years of China's Cultural Revolution. This paper focuses on the differences between them—the Old Red Guards, conservative Red Guards, rebel Red Guards and ultraleft Red Guards. The Old Red Guards were the initiators of the Red Guard movement. They mainly attacked the intellectuals, overthrown ‘class enemies’ and some leaders in the educational and cultural fields. The core members of the Old Red Guards were children of leaders. They stressed their red family background and strove for political and social superiority and privilege. The conservative Red Guards followed the example of the Old Red Guards but depended on and defended the local Party's leadership. The rebel Red Guards mainly attacked the power holders and the organs of the Party and government. They came from the social groups that had been out of power. In politics, they relied on the support of Mao and the left wing of the Party. The ultraleft Red Guards negated and criticized the political leadership and the existing system as a whole. They were in small groups and suppressed by Mao and his headquarters but they left independent thinking on Chinese politics and society.     

Xiao‐kang: Deng Xiaoping's socio‐economic development target for China

Ever since xiao‐kang or XK, literally meaning a ‘relatively comfortable life’, was first slated by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 to be China's main development target, the concept has become a codeword for China's socio‐economic development. It was incorporated in several major Party documents and formally adopted as the key development target by three consecutive Five‐Year Plans. What is the real meaning of XK? This paper analyses China's first XK Index which was published in 1992, based on a cluster of economic and social indicators relating to income, food consumption, housing, and human resource development. It will be seen that XK is actually a normative concept, fuzzy and grossly imprecise, especially when applied to a transitional economy like China. What constitutes XK to Deng may well be perceived differently by the new generation of Chinese. Such is the continuing social challenge of China's economic development.     

Dissent and the emergence of civil society in post‐totalitarian China

There are several theories which argue that dissent is the precursor of civil society in totalitarian regimes. Several factors contribute to the emergence of dissent in these regimes, yet it remains to be proven in the case of China, whether this can be interpreted as the emergence of a civil society that feels it has the inalienable right to criticize the regime; to disagree with its policies; to remind authorities of their duties, obligations and laws; and to advocate alternative policies for the government to pursue. The response of the Chinese Communist Party to dissident challenges to its monopolistic moral authority provides some insight into the changing nature of the regime itself, particularly with the political and economic imperatives of modernization. Generally intellectuals and students, who have varying conceptions of the nature of the relationship between the government and its people, have been the voices of dissent. Despite these variations however, there has been consistency on the basic principles of respect for human rights and the rule of law. Formally organized programs of action, aside from the 1949 Revolution, have never really been developed which, along with a lack of organizational strength and with a vulnerability to repressive Party measures, is a primary weakness in the dissident movement. Whether dissidents enjoy the support of the Chinese people is debatable, because it is primarily though not exclusively, an urban based movement. Nevertheless, dissent in China is growing and being expressed by different sectors of the population which is an indication of the increasing consciousness of the Chinese people to their rights and responsibilities as citizens that go beyond the dictates of the Chinese Communist Party. In other words, dissent and the emergence of civil society in China are inextricably intertwined.     

Representation without Taxation: political changes in Chinese authoritarian regimes

The question of why some authoritarian regimes choose to incorporate institutions of democracy such as village elections into their governing systems remains largely unanswered. As a typical case of a resilient authoritarian state that implements democracy in its villages, China has provided an invaluable case for researchers to study. Current theories focus on the influence of political elites and rural forces separately. Insightful as they are, these theories are invalid as an explanation of the variation of local governance in China across time and thus are incomplete. It should be recognized that central fiscal strategies have great effects on local governance. Specifically, if the central government largely relies upon fiscal revenue from rural areas, it has to expand its bureaucracy to the countryside to extract revenue. In contrast, if it does not rely on the rural areas for revenue, the central government will establish local democracy in the countryside. This hypothesis is historically reflected in the authoritarian regimes led by the Nationalist Party (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China. As opposed to the familiar story about representation through taxation, the logic of representation without taxation seems to be the case in China.     

党内政治文化建设的体系架构与制度保障

党内政治文化是中国共产党在长期政党实践中根据不同时代的实践背景而建设的党内有机政治文化系统.中国共产党近百年的政治实践表明,党内政治文化建设既是党的建设的重组成部分,也是推进全面从严治党向纵深发展的治本之策.党内政治文化建设的价值诉求不同于一般的党的建设价值诉求,它对党的建设科学化、体系化、规范化和全面化提出了更高的求...     

地方政府机构改革探讨

目前地方政府党政两套班子。机构重复设置、多头管理的情况非常普遍。抓紧进行地方政府机构改革，加强基层政权建设非常必要。成都市、随州市率先实行大部门体制，取得了明显的成效，给机构改革提供了有益经验。