A Study On The Rural Old-Age Security System In China From The Perspective Of Political Culture

The rural old-age security is a major social issue concerning the well-being of hundreds of millions of rural elderly and the harmonious development of rural society,as well as a political issue concerning the Communist Party of China ruling foundation.Under the background of non-agriculturization and rapid aging,the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government make efforts to provide for the elderly security,and have built the world’s largest social security system and made outstanding achievements in the construction of the old-age security system.However,from the current situation of pension security,the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development is still prominent.No matter the traditional family security,land security,social pension,or government-provided pension security can not independently solve the rural old-age security.Moreover,the old-age security has not been a simple economic support problem since ancient times,so it is biased to analyze the old-age security system only from the economic perspective.The development of the old-age security system needs to consider the conditions of different times and characteristics of the needs of the elderly,and it is necessary to study the law of the occurrence,development and evolution of the old-age security system.Based on the political culture perspective,this paper reviews of the rural old-age security system by using the historical institutionalism analysis method.In different times,the requirements and objectives of the the old-age security system are different.In order to achieve social approval broadly and carry out smoothly,the rulers would design the framework of the old-age security system based on the national conditions,and exert important influence on the old-age security system through the infiltration and radiation of political culture.In fact,the government’s political culture is the ideological source and design basis of the old-age security system.The old-age security system in a certain period must reflect the political culture at that time.Therefore,in view of the current practical problem and theoretical confusion in the field of rural old-age security,this paper systematically studys the content and the evolution of rural old-age security system from the perspective of political culture.The rural old-age security system in our country has experienced four important modes,such as the traditional family endowment security system,the rural collective endowment security system,the old rural pension insurance,the new rural pension insurance.The traditional family endowment security system occurred in the traditional agricultural society characterized by small-scale peasant economy and patriarchal system.In order to maintain the stability of the regime,the ruling class developed a political culture of " unity of loyalty and filial piety",which emphasized the supremacy of the royal power,respected the family system and embodied the ethic standard.Under the shape of the political culture,the characteristics of the family endowment security system are emotional and family ethics.The traditional family endowment security system has lasted for thousands of years,which not only shows the rationality of the traditional family pension in this historical period,but also proves that the political culture of " unity of loyalty and filial piety" is extremely stable.In the 30 years from 1949 to the reform and opening up,in order to establish a socialist state system and realize the communist political ideal,the new regime established a collective economy with a high degree of public ownership in rural society.And relying on the collective team to establish the rural five guarantees system.At this time,the design of the rural old-age security system reflected the characteristics of the "nationalism" political culture,and it showed the superiority of the socialist system.Although the country was weak at that time,the five guarantees system maintained a low level of security,but it institutionalized the traditional rural relief,solved the basic living problems of the rural special elderly groups,and played an important role in the construction of the atmosphere of the whole society for the aged.In the 20 years from 1978 to 2002,we entered the primary stage of non-agriculture process in our country.As the focus of national work shifted to economic construction,China ushered in a period of rapid economic development.With the implementation of the household contract responsibility system in rural areas,the collective team has gradually withdrawn the supply of old-age security because of the lack of economic sources.In addition,after the loosening of the household registration system,the population flow is increased,and the rural family pension function is weakened.Since 1986,the government had explored a county-level rural old-age security system,also known as the old rural pension insurance.Under the political cultural of "efficiency first",the old-age security system presents the system design of the difference between urban and rural areas.On the whole,the old rural pension insurance mainly relied on farmers to help themselves,which failed to reflect the support of the state finance.The old rural pension insurance was stopped in 1999 because it was not attractive.For more than 10 years from 2003 to 2016,China entered the intermediate stage of non-agricultural process.During this period,the national overall strategy of building a well-off society in an all-round way gradually took shape,and the new household registration system moved toward urban-rural integration.Since 2009,the new rural pension insurance has been officially promoted at the national level.It not only achieved full coverage in 2012,but also integrated the urban and rural endowment insurance system in2014.It is under the value guidance of the political culture of "focus on fairness",that the government timely summarizes and learns from the experience of the old rural pension insurance,clarifying the government’s financial responsibility in the new rural pension insurance,achieves broader social equity and guarantees the continuous development of the system.In 2017,China entered the advanced stage of non-agricultural process.Based on the analysis of the theory of institutional change,it is concluded that the political culture in different historical periods exerts an important influence on the content and form of the rural old-age security system.The political culture forms the internal power of the rural old-age security system change.Then,in the new stage,based on the political culture requirements of "people first",the rural old-age security system will present the following characteristics:The government’s financial responsibility should be continuously enhanced,the rural old-age security system will strengthen support for family endowment security,the level of security is gradually moving to a higher level,the mode of security will change from unitary welfare to multiple welfare,the old-age security legalization will be further improved,and will gradually improve the high-quality old-age security system for both urban and rural residents.