Practice And Difficulties Of The Independent Examination Power

In the first half of 20th Century, a period of turbulence and upheaval, in order to deal with the impact and challenge inside and outside, consolidate the political rule, enlarge the legal political resources and increase the administrative efficiency, the National Government (Guo min zheng fu ) established the Five-yuan system (Wu yuan zhi du) based on the theory of Five-Power Constitution. Among these five Yuans, the Examination Yuan (Kao shi yuan) was used for carrying out the examination and administration of the civil servant, and exercising the independent examination power.From the view of examination power and the examination and administration of the civil servant, this paper studies the Examination Yuan of the National Government. Through investigating the theoretical base, the function of this organization, the composition of members, and the examination and administration, the thesis discusses the systematic changes and actual operation, the authority and position of the Examination Yuan under the five-yuan system, and the relationship between this Yuan and others. It also analyzes the systematical innovation of the Examinational Yuan, the inside conflicts between the system design and the actual operation, and the plight of the independent examination power. Meanwhile, it presents an objective evaluation about the performance of Examination Yuan.The thesis argues that the Examination Yuan, with its examination and selection system, was the political system emerging and developing in the transition from a traditional society to a modern one, which was strongly traditional as well as modern. During the period of National Government, the Examination Yuan achieved remarkable results. It not only established the system of examination for the Civil Servant in a modern sense, but also the administrational system of the Civil Servant with the characteristics of the western personal administration, and the personal administration won the preliminary unity. However, the establishment of system is not meaning the practice. Because of the interference of the party, the disadvantage of the Examination Yuan in five-yuan system, and the long-term domestic trouble and foreign invasion, the Examination Yuan had to face all kinds of difficulties when it exercised the independent examination power. The Examination power was not able to confront the other four powers on an equal basis, not to mention to be really independent; moreover the Examination Yuan was often in the embarrassment of taking the position without the power. Besides, the examination and administration of the civil servant couldn't go along the right track for the interference of the political parties and other organizations, the virtue of which was not fully developed. As it is, the establishment and practice of the Examination Yuan and its examination system is of historical significance during the modernization of China's personnel system. It was an important stage of the evolution of China's examination and administration system from a traditional sense to a modern one, and it not only played a positive role in the political rule of National Government, but also left rich experience for the evolution of China's examination and administration system and the establishment of the modern personnel system.