The imbalance of power and responsibility is not significant in grass-roots governance. It is a state of governance determined by the characteristics of the system. Given that premise, the valuable discussion is about how to achieve the unity of governance methods and governance goals based on this state. This paper intends to take a civil dispute as the case to reveal how the grass-roots government transforms“institutional potential energy”into“governance practical ability”to achieve the balance of power and responsibility in governance activities. The core of this transformation mechanism is to make the grass-roots government, village cadres and villagers paralleled in the same action chain through the way of
“administrative Absorption”and“interest absorption”, which,in essence,is the reconnection between the state and the local society. There are two aspects this reconnection must emphasize: one is the connection between the grass-roots government and the village cadres, and the other is the unity between the village cadres and the villagers. The former points to how publicity is connected to sociality, and the latter means how rural society could realize the transformation from sociality to more orderly and powerful publicity.
PAN Tong.
Balance of Power and Responsibility:From Institutional Potential Energy to Governance Capability#br#[J]. Sociological Review of China, 2024, 12(2): 240-256