中國大陸農村改革過程鄉村幹部的角色及職能研究

The Role and Functions of Village Cadres during the Process of Reform in Rural Communities in China

鄭慧娟(Hui-Chuan Cheng)

《通識研究集刊》 5期 (2004/06) Pp. 157-173

https://doi.org/10.6488/JCGE.200406.0157

摘要

作為一個農業大國，中國農村基層的組織結構和治理模式問題，始終是攸關國家政權稳定和社会发展的重要课题，从古代君王到当代国家领导人，从政权治理到社会自治，在中国历史发展的不同时期有著不同的实践。在大陆农村改革过程，村民自治作为中国基层民主的重要形式和乡村治理的新型模式，从某种意义上是中国从乡村社会走向工业社会的现代化过程中的一次重要组织重构，在中国农村发展史乃至当代中国发展经验上均具有重要意义。在陆农村村民自治的形成背景，主要是中国中央政府为因应八0年代在农村经济改革后所产生的一边串政治、社会变化所采取的一种回应措施，另外也是为解决其在农村统治上所面对正当性危机时，所不得不然的必要政策。因此，村民自治在某种意义上，它是中国在应付基层政治组织衰败、国家代理人权力失控、干群关系紧张以及由此而引发国家在农村地区统治能力与合法性双重危机时，可供选择的政治机制。中国共产党在第十一屇三中全会以后，中国的改革由农村率先启动，首先在经济上实行了以家庭联产承包责任制为主要内容的改革，继而在政治上扩大农村基层直接民主，实行了以农民自我管理为主要内容的基层群从自治。村民自治从最早的一、二个村荘自发选举村干部直至今日为中国乡村开拓乡村民主之路。
中国农村自1978年进行经济改革，随后在1987年的《中华人民共和国村民委员会组织法(试行)》，正式将农村定义为自治体，实施农村自治选举，由经济改革迈向政治改革。此一过程相较于其他的社会主义国家的改革经验，最大的特色不仅在经济高度成长，而且也维持政权相对稳定的物质，中国农村在改革开放后，地方政府对农村仍有很大的控制权；因此地方政府或干部的角色已成为诸多学者研究此一议题的重要面向。本文即以中国农村改革过程村民自治的出现、地方干部的权力權力基礎探討鄉村幹部角色職能;而在中國農村改革過程村幹部職能產生的變化,嘗試以尋租逐利的觀點來解釋幹部的角色轉變和新的幹群關系。

關鍵字

村民自治 ； 國家代理人 ； 幹群關系 ； 家庭聯產承包責任制 ； 尋租

並列摘要

Given the importance of the agricultural sector in China, the structure and governance of China’s rural communities has always been a major factor affecting both the country’s political stability and its social development. From the emperors of ancient China through to today’s leaders, from the authoritarian rule of the past to today’s experiments with local autonomy, various different strategies have been implemented to bring about change in rural society. In recent years, as the government has sought to carry out reform in rural communities, the granting of self-government at the village level has become an important element in the development of grass-roots democracy and a new model for village governance. It constitutes a major exercise in restructuring within the overall process of modernization as China is transformed from a rural society into an industrial one; as such, it has great significance not only in the history of rural development in China but also in the economic development of modem China as a whole. The development of local autonomy in China’s rural communities has its origins in a series of measures adopted by the Chinese central government in response to the political and social changes resulting from the economic reforms that took place in rural areas in the 1980s. These measures were also an unavoidable response to threats to the legitimacy of Communist Party rule. The granting of local autonomy at the village level was thus a response to the weakening of grassroots political organization, loss of control over the power exercised by state agents, strained relations between cadres, and the danger that these developments posed to the power and legitimacy of the government in rural areas. Following the decision reached at the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee that the process of reform in China would be led by the agricultural sector, the introduction of the contracted production system on the economic side was followed by an expansion of grassroots democracy in China’s villages, allowing rural inhabitants to administer their own affairs. As villages began to elect their own cadres, the way was opened for the further development of grassroots democracy in the rural communities of China.
If one compares the process of reform in China with that in other socialist countries, China stands out not only for the high rates of economic growth that it has achieved, but also for its maintenance of political stability. After the reforms began, local government authorities continued to exercise a high level of control over China’s villages, and as a result a considerable amount of research has been done on the role played by local government and by party cadres. This paper examines the role and functions of village cadres in light of the emergence of village self-government and the changes in village cadres’ power base. The rent-seeking concept is used to explain the transformation in the role of village cadres and the new structure of relationships that has developed between cadres.

並列關鍵字

Village self-government ； state agents ； inter-cadre relationships ； household responsibility system ； rent-seeking