(9)1 Lecture 3 Values of Chinese Public Administration

(9)2 Values are important for public administration They tell us desired goals and appropriate ways to achieve them The tradition of governance in China Pre-1978 period had a focus on political values like class struggle, ideological purification, and hierarchical control. Since 1978, the governing practice of CCP served the demands of a developmental state The party underwent a process of depoliticization, or repoliticization. Development became the biggest politics Since the early 1990s, strategic values of CCP were crystallized as reform, development, and stability. They were extended directly to PA.

(9)3 1. Basic PA Values in China Reform Development Stability

(9)4 Reform Reform has been deeply incorporated into the political culture with strong symbolic consequences. Since 1978, major administrative reforms were launched in 1982, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003 and Reorganization, downsizing, and market-facilitation were major tasks of these reforms. Announcing a major reform symbolizes legitimacy and effective leadership. Reforms in PA are incremental Trial-and-error initiatives and policies, before being formally adopted and fully applied, are first tried in selected local jurisdictions or issue areas. The general path of reform is to start with tentative policies and end up with formal institutions. It is generally believed that a strong party is not just the cause of incremental reform, but also a fundamental premise of its success. It is slow and its effectiveness depends on incessant changes in the long run.

(9)5 Development Development became a fundamental justification of political legitimacy. Deng Xiaoping asserted that “development is the real trump card”, “it does not matter whether a cat is white or black if it catches mice”. Development was at the beginning narrowly focused on economic growth. There was a fever in local governments for a high growth rate of GDP, which became an important, sometimes the primary, criterion for cadre evaluation and promotion. PA has a focus to provide a better environment for economic growth. Introducing a balanced view Increasing conflicts between economic and other goals Since Hu Jingtao became CCP’s General Secretary in 2003, the “Efficiency First, Justice Considered” principle has been gradually substituted by a new blueprint of a “Harmonious Society” that assigns more weight to social justice and comprehensive and sustainable development.

(9)6 Stability Social stability is deemed as a necessary condition of reform and development. It was announced that “stability dominates all other concerns”. Stability refers to at least two things 1. Maintaining party leadership and its unchallenged authority; 2. Avoiding and resolving social conflicts and movements. Corruption, polarization, and pollution have risen as major problems impacting social stability Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International Italy, with a score of 5.2, ranked 41 China, with a score of 3.5, ranked 72 (equal to that of Brazil, India, and Mexico) Russia, with a score of 2.3, ranked 143 Economic polarization deeps. The GINI coefficient of China is close to 0.5, according to difference sources. Almost no developed countries have a figure above 0.4.

(9)7 2. Inputs of Modern PA Values Democratic Values Democratization of China’s PA system. 1) People’s Congress has strengthened its legislative and supervisory functions and imposed on governments increasing burden of legal and managerial accountability. The most important thing is budgeting approval power. 2) PA system was made more transparent, accessible, and humane to the society. Information disclosure, rights protection, nonintrusion rules, etc. 3) Citizen participation in policy making and evaluation has increased. Public hearings, participatory budgeting, democratic discussions, etc.

(9)8 Managerial Values Managerial values highlight efficiency, economy and effectiveness, and necessitate the building of a professionally and instrumentally rational civil service. 1) Introducing modern civil service 2) Widespread use of performance measurement like the Objective Responsibility system 3) Active promotion of public management innovations E-government; One-stop shop; Competitive procurement; etc.

(9)9 Legal Values Traditional Chinese public administration was not a system of rule of law, but of man, and in the ideal case, of moral man. The post-1978 period highlighted a gradual internalization of modern legal standards. 1) Protection of individual rights was improved. The 24th Constitutional Amendment passed in 2004 added to the 33rd Article that “the state respects and protects human rights”. On March 16th in 2007, Property Rights Law was enacted 2) Administrative laws prospered and the legislative focus went beyond administrative empowerment and paid more attention to equal rights protection. 3) Procedural due process in public administration was strengthened. Competition between values: efficiency and right protection, flexibility and accountability, popular opinion and justice…