A Study On Administrative Deliberative Democracy With Chinese Characteristics

As an important subsystem of socialist deliberative democracy, administrativedeliberative democracy with Chinese characteristics is a special field withoutsystematic research, but a practical field ready to be exploited and systematized.Research on the socialist deliberative democracy has important significance not only inenriching and perfecting the system of socialist deliberative democracy, but also inimplementing the demands of the Third and Fourth Plenary Session of18thCentralCommittee on administration consultation and other five categories of consultationdemocracy, and forming the system with reasonable program and integrated circles.At theoretical, methodological and practical levels, this dissertation is going toconduct a systematic research on administrative deliberative democracy of Chinesecharacteristics. First of all, at a theoretical level, by defining the term, this dissertationanswers the question what administrative deliberative democracy is; it explores andanalyses the theoretical features and practical features of Chinese administrativedeliberative democracy by comparing Chinese and western theories and practices onthis issue, thus answering the question how Chinese administrative deliberativedemocracy is unique. Secondly, at a methodological level, this dissertation elaboratesthe forms and approaches of initiating administrative deliberative democratic activitiesfrom a perspective of a theoretical feasibility; finally, at a practical level, it analyzesand summarizes the achievements and insufficiencies in the development of Chineseadministrative deliberative democracy, and, aiming at the causes of theseinsufficiencies, proposes solutions to the development of administrative deliberative democracy of Chinese characteristic.This dissertation is divided into seven chapters to discuss the issue ofadministrative deliberative democracy with Chinese characteristics thoroughly anddeeply. Below are brief summaries:The first chapter is introduction. After summarizing the research status ofdomestic and overseas scholars on administrative deliberative democracy, theintroduction puts forward the dissertation’s thesis in view of the scarcity of existingresearches in their lack of specialized and systematic fruition, forms the frameworkand deliberately expounds on the dissertation’s four theoretic innovations as well as itsinnovative thesis. The innovations are: first, it defines administrative deliberativedemocracy in an explorative way; second, it innovatively categorized administrativedeliberative democracy; third, it differentiates the employing and managing modes ofadministrative deliberative results; finally, it designs a systematic framework forChinese administrative deliberative democracy.The second chapter is about the types and features of administrative deliberativedemocracy. First of all, it defines and delimits administrative deliberative democracyas an administrative decision-making mechanism dominated by the administrativesubject who aims at protecting people’s democratic rights and performing managementfunctions, and who, by regulated procedures of communication and consultation, heedsthe advice from and obtains common understandings with citizens, companies andsocial organizations on administrative management affairs that they are commonlyconcerned about, by regulated procedures of communication and consultation. Then,according to the differences of functions, this chapter creatively divides administrativedeliberative democracy into five types: legislation, decision-making, enforcement,relief and mediation. Subsequently, by comparing administrative deliberativedemocracy with other types of deliberative democracy, the dissertation summarizes four features of the former: government-dominant in operation, clear in negotiationissue, extensive in content and strict in responsibility.The third chapter is about the theoretical uniqueness of Chinese administrativedeliberative democracy. It first explains that, grounded on Marxist theories, doctrinesand treatises on People’s democracy, the united front, mass line and deliberativedemocracy by great minds such as Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping,Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping are the foundations stones of the constructionof a system of administrative deliberative democracy theories of Chinesecharacteristics. Secondly, this chapter differentiates Chinese administrative democracytheories from western ones in at least four aspects: different theoretical sources,distinctive political foundations, unique cultural deposits and divergent value pursuits.The fourth chapter is about the practical uniqueness of Chinese administrativedeliberative democracy. First, from a diachronic perspective, this chapter takes theestablishment of the “three-thirds system” regime of the government of theshanxi-gansu-ningxia border during the period of Anti-Japanese War as the start ofadministrative deliberative practice, and divides the historical process into five stages:exploration before the founding of New China, development in the early period ofNew China, stagnation during the exploration of a path for Socialist construction,innovation and reconstruction in the reform and opening up era and comprehensivepromotion after the18thCPC National Congress. In addition, in synchroniccomparison with western administrative consultation Chinese administrativedeliberative democracy is discussed in this chapter to possess four practical features:orderly operation of the ruling party from top to bottom, government leading andmulti-subject participation, advisory participation as the main orientation, andnegotiation field in wide and multiple levels.The fifth chapter is about forms and methods of the realization of Chinese administrative deliberative democracy. Highly refining on domestic practice andreasonably drawing on western experience, this chapter expounds on seven majorforms of realization–namely, public comment, opinion polls, hearing, conference,consultative assembly, citizen jury, and direct negotiation–as well as four mainmethods, including information publication, on behalf of the selection, negotiation andresult processing.The sixth chapter, threaded by issue analyses, is about the development andscarcity of Chinese administrative deliberative democracy. To start with, this part ofthe dissertation summarizes the achievements made in promoting Chineseadministrative deliberative democracy: first, its development has been included in thebasic contents of China’s democratic political construction and made a policyannouncement and important decisions on the top of the central committee of thecommunist party of China; second, the system is gradually building, which is mainlyembodied in that legislature on administrative deliberative democracy and relatedactivities of formulating and promulgating normative documents are launched to allextents, in various administrative areas and at both national and local levels; third, thepractice explores in many areas, which is mainly expressed by the gradual shift. fromthe initial negotiations only in major issues involving economic and socialdevelopment to all-round ones in the administrative legislation, decision-making,enforcement, relief, mediation and other In the meantime, this chapter also examinesand sorts out the inadequacies of Chinese administrative deliberative democracy in itslack of universality, standardization and effectiveness, compared with the requirementsof the construction of socialist democratic politics and the development of socialistmarket economy, and compared with people’s demands of public participation. Finally,this chapter attributes the reasons for the above mentioned inadequacies to both theadministrative officers’ and the public’s insufficiencies of deliberative democratic consciousness and capability, to the deficiency of a legal system that securesadministrative deliberative democracy, and to the frailty of its supporting theories.The seventh chapter is about the solutions to promoting the development of theChinese administrative deliberative democracy. Facing the reasons for scarcities indevelopment, it proposes and elaborates at least five solutions including strengtheningthe ability of the administrative subject, structuralizing the system optimizing theenvironment, inventing original approaches, and deepening the theoretical research.