Rural governance is an important part and basic guarantee of national governance. The level of rural governance directly affects the realization of national governance modernization, and also affects the consolidation of the Party’s ruling foundation and the maintenance of the interests of the farmers. Since the founding of the Communist Party of China, what explorations and practices have our party carried out and what important experiences has it accumulated around rural governance? Professor Li Nan from the School of Marxism, Wuhan University, wrote an article in the weekly magazine "National Governance" and conducted an in-depth analysis of this.
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The regime goes to the countryside: The Party’s governance and practice of rural revolutionary bases during the democratic revolution (1921-1949)
The establishment and development of rural revolutionary bases can be regarded as special rural governance. It provides a strategic support for accumulating revolutionary forces, realizing rural surrounds cities and armed seizing power, and is also the starting point for the Communist Party of China to lead rural governance.
During the Agrarian Revolutionary War, Comrade Mao Zedong took the lead in opening up the Jinggangshan Revolutionary Base, carried out in-depth practices of agrarian revolution, government construction, party building and armed struggle in the base areas, and began useful exploration of rural governance. First, strengthen the construction of grassroots party organizations and strengthen the party’s core leadership position. Based on the Sanwan adaptation and Gutian Conference, Comrade Mao Zedong drew party members and cadres from the army to help local party organizations develop and ensure the leadership of the party organizations over the base areas. Second, we have continuously promoted the practice of grassroots government construction. The Workers and Peasants Red Army organized and mobilized the masses to overthrow local tyrants and evil gentry, and established a democratic regime for workers and peasants at all levels. Third, actively carries out armed struggles to provide strong guarantees for the establishment and development of revolutionary bases. Fourth, carried out the land revolution in depth, and successively promulgated the Jinggangshan Land Law and the Xingguo Land Law. carried out the land division campaign in various border counties to meet the land demands of farmers. These measures greatly mobilized the revolutionary enthusiasm of farmers and laid a solid foundation for the development and growth of revolutionary base areas.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, with the changes in the international and domestic situation, on the premise of ensuring victory, our party’s policy of leading rural governance also made certain adjustments. First, actively promote the construction of grassroots rural governments . Through the "three-three system", all classes in society are absorbed to participate in government organizations to meet the needs of the War of Resistance Against Japan, consolidates and enhances grassroots regimes through extensive democratic elections, and eliminates reactionary hostile forces from government organizations. The second is to establish various mass organizations. Encourage and guide social organizations such as the Agricultural Anti-Japanese Association, the Women's Anti-Japanese Association, and the Youth Rescue Association to mobilize the masses to engage in anti-Japanese and national salvation activities, social production and other activities, so that they can win the trust of the people and become an important leadership authority in rural society. During this period, mass organizations played an important role in dismantling the feudal baojia system and broadening the party’s social foundation in rural areas.
During the War of Liberation, all liberated areas attached great importance to agricultural production and quickly resumed agricultural production through the construction of water conservancy, issuance of loans, and organize mutual assistance. At the same time, all liberated areas focus on strengthening the construction of grassroots regimes and mass organizations, and through adjusting cadre equipment and improving leadership mechanisms, the People's Liberation Army has a stable rear. In addition, the land reform movement during this period also greatly improved the political awareness of the peasants, providing a steady stream of manpower and material support and strong material guarantees for the War of Liberation.
Integration of political and social society: Exploration and Practice of the Party’s Rural Governance before the founding of New China to the reform and opening up (1949-1978)
After the founding of New China, on the one hand, the Party abolished the feudal exploitation of landlord class through land reform and allocated land to farmers. improved the economic and social status of farmers, and also enhanced the farmers’ sense of democracy and political participation, laying the economic foundation for farmers to integrate into the new people’s regime. On the other hand, by reshaping the grassroots regime, the construction of grassroots organizations in rural areas has been standardized.In 1950, the State Council promulgated the "General Rules for the Organization of Township (Administrative Village) People's Government" and the "General Rules for the Organization of Township (Administrative Village) People's Government", and began to establish a system of district and township (Village) people's congresses at the grassroots level in urban and rural areas, and held people's congresses regularly. It also stipulated that townships and administrative villages coexist; the "Constitution of the People's Republic of China" in 1954 and the "Organization Law of Local People's Congresses and Local People's Committees at All Levels of the People's Republic of China" legally clarified the legal status of township regimes in rural areas, laying the institutional foundation for the grassroots regimes in rural areas in my country. Along with the transformation of socialism, the township and township systems were gradually replaced by primary and senior communities, forming a village-community system with the typical characteristics of "one village and one community". farmers were not only included in the national economic system, but also into the national political system. During this period, based on the construction of the regime and the transformation of agricultural socialist society, our party further developed party branches, the Communist Youth League, the Women's Association, the Farmers' Association and other organizations, laying the organizational foundation for breaking the clanship rights of rural governance and rebuilding the order of rural governance.
The people's commune movement started in 1958 has promoted the formation of a typical governance model of "one big and two public, and government and society in one" in rural areas in my country. The characteristics of this governance model of are the integration of the party and government, the integration of government and enterprises, and the integration of government and affairs, and implement a highly centralized management system for farmers' production and operation, political activities, family life, etc. Under this governance model, the establishment of rural towns is equivalent to that of people's communes, and the commune presidents are elected by the members' meeting. This governance model allows farmers to participate highly in national political affairs, ensures the stability of the state's regime, and accumulates a large amount of raw materials and funds required for industrialization within a certain period of time. But at the same time, it also hindered the development of rural democratic politics, caused an imbalance between industry and agriculture, urban and rural development, and formed a dual structural system of urban-rural division and governance, which brought hidden dangers to later rural development and rural governance modernization.
Township political and village governance: The Party’s rural governance practice and development after reform and opening up (1978-2012)
Since the reform and opening up, China has undergone earth-shaking changes. With the deepening of rural reform, the rural governance model has also achieved transformation and development. In terms of the economic system, the household contract responsibility system broke the past practice of "one big, two public and three pure" in the people's communes, promoted the formation of a two-tier management system that combines unified and divided into a unified and divided manner, mobilized the production enthusiasm of farmers, and made rural agricultural production full of vitality. At the same time, the rural governance model has also begun to seek breakthroughs. In 1980, Hezhai Village, Guangxi took the lead in establishing a village committee to implement democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision. After two years of summary and improvement, this measure was written into the Constitution at the Fifth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress in 1982, and the Village Committee became a grassroots mass autonomous organization in my country. Since then, the grassroots governments in my country have gradually restored the township (town) system, and rural governance has begun to transform from government-society integration to villagers' autonomy.
At the 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress in 1987, the "Organization Law of the Villagers' Committees of the People's Republic of China (Trial)" was adopted, which clearly stipulated the nature and status of villagers' autonomy, and proposed that township governments and village committees are the relationship between guidance and assistance. The law was officially passed in 1998, and villagers' autonomy not only had a practical foundation but also a legal basis, marking the further standardization of our party's leadership over rural governance. However, in reality, township governments have intervened excessively in villagers' autonomy to various ways to varying degrees. has been . "France Government" intervened in "village governance" affecting farmers' enthusiasm and initiative to participate in rural governance, and villagers' autonomy has not achieved its due effect.
Entering the 21st century, as China joins the WTO, the competitive pressure faced by agriculture, rural areas and farmers is increasing, and China's rural governance has entered the stage of tax and fee reform and new rural construction. In order to solve the "three rural issues" and reduce the burden on farmers, my country abolished agricultural tax and subsidized agricultural production.The measure greatly reduced the cost of agricultural production, ensured farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain, eased the contradiction between cadres and the masses, and stabilized the social environment in the countryside. However, the problem of excessive gap between rural and urban development has not been solved. In 2005, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China passed the "Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Eleventh Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development", proposing to build a new socialist countryside in accordance with the requirements of "production development, abundant life, civilized rural customs, clean village appearance, and democratic management". It also proposed to promote rural development by actively promoting coordinated urban and rural development, promoting modern agricultural construction, vigorously developing rural public utilities, and doing everything possible to increase farmers' income. The Central Document No. 1 in 2006 emphasized the need to improve the rural governance mechanism for building a new socialist countryside. The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2007 further proposed that it is necessary to "achieve effective connection and benign interaction between government administrative management and grassroots mass autonomy"; "expand the scope of grassroots mass autonomy, improve democratic management systems, and build urban and rural communities into social life communities with orderly management, perfect services, and civilized and peaceful conditions." This provides important guidance for realizing the modernization of rural governance.
Multi-dimensional co-governance: The Party’s innovation and improvement of rural governance since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (2012 to present)
Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and many new situations and new problems have emerged in China’s rural development, and many new requirements have been put forward for rural governance. Faced with the problems of urban-rural dualization, the heavy task of rural poverty alleviation, the "hollowing" and "aging" of rural areas, the deterioration of ecological environment, and the inadequate and unbalanced supply of basic public services, our party has carried out many reforms and innovations in the rural governance model from the theoretical and practical aspects. In general, it is mainly reflected in three aspects:
First, it emphasizes the leading role of party building in rural governance. General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed that "rural work is in all aspects, and it is the key to do a good job in rural grassroots organizations." We must "attention to the construction of rural grassroots party organizations and accelerate the improvement of rural governance mechanisms." In 2014, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Grassroots Service-oriented Party Organizations", proposing that "rural party organizations should provide good services around promoting scientific development, leading farmers to become rich, maintaining close ties with the masses, and maintaining rural stability, guide farmers to carry out cooperative operations and joint household operations, carry out household-by-household visits and household-based assistance, promptly handle and feedback on the demands of the masses, and help the masses and needy party members solve practical problems in production, life, increase income and become rich." Our Party has successively carried out the Party’s mass line education and practice activities and the special education of “Three Stricts and Three Realities”. While deepening the anti-corruption and promoting integrity, it has strengthened the construction of the rural grassroots party member and cadre team, injected fresh vitality into rural grassroots party organizations, and laid a human resources foundation for improving the level of rural governance.
The second is to transform from single governance to multi-collaborative governance. The past rural governance was mainly driven by the top-down government. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, with the introduction of the "five-in-one" overall layout, the "four-in-one" strategic layout and the new development concept, the Party's governance concept and governance methods have also begun to transform towards diversity, dynamic and diversification. First, governance boundaries have become more open and smooth. In the past, when the village committee and party branch jointly undertake the main tasks of rural governance, the village committee emphasized villagers' autonomy, the party branch adhered to the leadership of the party committee, and the relationship between the village committees was not coordinated enough. After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the boundaries between the two became more open, communication was smoother, relationships were more coordinated, and linkage was stronger. Secondly, the governance subjects are more diversified, from relying solely on the government in the past to coordinated governance of the government, grassroots party organizations, farmers, other social organizations and social service institutions. Third, governance methods are more diverse. Transform from a single executive order and a campaign-style promotion to a diversified platform interaction and extensive consultative democracy.
Third, rural governance strives to be pragmatic, concretized and refined. Our Party has always emphasized that all work must be down-to-earth and strive for practical results. During the 2014 Two Sessions, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed when participating in the deliberation of the Anhui delegation: "Leading cadres at all levels must establish and carry forward a good style, and not only strictly cultivate themselves, use their power, and discipline themselves, but also be realistic in planning things, entrepreneurship, and be practical in life."This requirement is put into rural governance, which means that the focus of governance is to shift the focus of governance from focusing on "big things" to focusing on "small things" and "common things" around the people. In the past, rural governance attached more importance to major events such as poverty alleviation and prosperity, village affairs disclosure, and village committee elections. Now, rural governance is paying attention to "small things" around the people while paying attention to the "small things" around the people, taking the people's satisfaction as the starting point and end point, and effectively solve the people through downward movement of governance units, grid-based refined and intelligent governance, etc. Issues of concern.
Basic experience of the Communist Party of China’s 100 years of rural governance
Review the ups and downs of the Communist Party of China’s 100 years of rural governance. In different historical periods, our party has successfully resolved various rural governance problems and achieved a series of major achievements in rural governance. In summary, the party’s basic experience of rural governance mainly includes the following points.
01 In order to achieve stable development as the overall goal of rural governance, in the Democratic Revolution, in order to mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers for revolution and strengthen the strength of the revolutionary base areas, the Communist Party of China reshapes the rural order through measures such as arable revolution, government construction and promoting agricultural production, and accumulated strength and forged a strategic position for the victory of the new democratic revolution. After the founding of New China, through land reform and agricultural socialist transformation, our party put agriculture and rural areas into the track of the national planned economy, agricultural production recovered rapidly, and rural labor productivity was also improved. Although the people's commune movement carried out later had many disadvantages, it cannot be denied that its historic contribution to rural development and the national economy in a specific historical period. After the reform and opening up, in the face of the problems of backward rural productivity and low enthusiasm for farmers to produce, the family joint-stock contract responsibility system was implemented, which greatly improved the agriculture industry. Industrial productivity has increased farmers' income, and at the same time, farmers' enthusiasm for participating in rural governance through village autonomy and other channels has been increased, forming a new rural governance order, and achieving stable development of rural areas. Against the background of the unbalanced phenomenon of urban and rural development and the increasingly prominent "three rural issues", the Party has proposed to implement the rural revitalization strategy, promote urban-rural integration development, continuously optimize the rural governance system, improve the level of rural governance, and strive to achieve good governance in rural areas. History shows that the "three rural issues" are key issues in China's revolution, construction and reform. Only by solving the "three rural issues" can other problems be solved easily. In different historical periods, our Party has always focused on the prominent problems in rural governance, committed to achieving stable development of rural areas, and laid a solid foundation for a series of achievements in revolution, construction and reform.
02 The basic concept of rural governance with safeguarding the fundamental interests of farmers
In December 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the Central Rural Work Conference: "After the founding of our Party, we fully realized that the basic problem of the Chinese revolution is the problem of farmers, and regards the pursuit of happiness for the vast number of farmers as an important mission. "Recalling the 100-year history of rural governance in our party, whether in the revolution, construction or reform period, our party has always attached importance to safeguarding the fundamental interests of farmers, and focused on giving full play to the main role of farmers in rural governance, and taking safeguarding the fundamental interests of farmers as the basic concept of rural governance. In terms of economy, since the democratic revolution period, our party has been committed to satisfying the land demands of farmers. In different historical periods, through different land policies, the land, the most fundamental interest demands of farmers, is the most fundamental interest demand for farmers. Politically, through government construction and democracy Elections, villagers' autonomy and other methods to achieve the transformation of rural governance organization and order, and ensure the right of farmers to be masters of their own country. In order to enable farmers to share the achievements of socialist modernization and realize their yearning for a better life, our party has carried out poverty alleviation, built beautiful villages, and implemented the rural revitalization strategy, which has greatly improved the rural appearance and improved the living standards and quality of farmers. It is precisely to always adhere to the people-centered development concept and adhere to the orientation of safeguarding the fundamental interests of farmers that our country's rural governance can continue to achieve new achievements.
03 The key to achieving good rural governance is to uphold the Party’s leadership as the key core of rural governance
The key to implementing good governance in rural areas lies in upholding the Party’s leadership. The Communist Party of China can not only provide directional guidance for rural governance, but also provide institutional design and policy guarantees for rural governance. During the New Democratic Revolution, in order to promote the construction of base areas, our party had drawn party members and cadres from the army to help participate in the construction of base areas, playing an important role in absorbing more farmers to participate in the revolution and ensuring the red nature of base areas. After the founding of New China, after socialist transformation and the people's commune movement, our country established a "government and social harmony" rural governance system. The Party's leadership went deep into people's communes at all levels to ensure the socialist nature of rural production and operation. After the reform and opening up, government and society were separated, but the relationship between them was more coordinated and more coordinated. Overall, the party organization still played a leading role in rural grassroots organizations. In addition, a series of policies implemented by the Party Central Committee to solve the "three rural issues" have ensured the smooth progress of rural economic system reform and revitalized the vitality and vitality of rural areas. Entering a new era, in order to further improve the level of rural governance and promote urban-rural integrated development, the Party Central Committee has led the formulation of a series of policies and measures to promote rural construction and development, such as beautiful rural construction, targeted poverty alleviation, rural revitalization, etc., and the rural production and ecological landscape have been greatly improved.
04 Reform and innovation are the fundamental driving force for rural governance
The 100-year rural governance practice of the Communist Party of China has roughly gone through four stages of development: "government to the countryside", "government and social integration", "country and political governance" and "multi-dimensional co-governance". The evolution and replacement of each stage of is the result of continuous adjustment and improvement according to the changes of the times and the development of social and economic contradictions. During the New Democratic Revolution, the rural economy declined and traditional rural governance declined. In order to reconstruct the rural governance order, the Communist Party of China has strengthened its leadership over the revolutionary base areas through government construction and party organization construction. After the founding of New China, in order to consolidate the new people's regime, quickly restore the national economy, and carry out large-scale industrialization construction, our party established a rural governance model of "integration of government and society", put agriculture on the track of the national planned economy in a short period of time, and organized and led farmers to devote themselves to socialist construction. After the reform and opening up, in order to release the vitality of rural economics and mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers for production, our party has formed a governance pattern of "country politics and village governance" and greatly promoted the process of grassroots democratic autonomy. Faced with the new era and new tasks, with the goal of achieving "effective governance", our party has issued a number of central documents No. 1 and formulated a series of policies and regulations to promote the transformation of rural governance to modernization. It can be seen that every change in rural governance model is the result of continuous reform and innovation in the face of the new era. Reform and innovation are the fundamental driving force for the modernization of rural governance in China.
Source | "National Governance" Weekly, April 2021,
Original title | The Century-year journey and basic experience of the Communist Party of China to promote the modernization of rural governance (WeChat has been deleted)
Author | Professor of the School of Marxism of Wuhan University Li Nan
New Media Editor | Luo Ting
Original Editor | Luo Ting
Original Editor | Luo Ting
Picture | Wang Jiaqi
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