信访机制的异化与基层治理的转型——从武汉山乡个案展开.PDFVIP

Rural China: An International Journal of History and Social Science 13 (2016) 1-38 /rchs The Alienation of the Letter-and-Visit System and the Transformation of Grassroots Governance: The Case of Shanxiang of Wuhan Municipality Baifeng Chen 信访机制的异化与基层治理的转型 ——从武汉山乡个案展开 陈柏峰 Abstract The so-called alienation of the time-honored “letters and visits” (xinfang ) system is best seen in the case of land requisition and resident relocation in Shanxiang of Wuhan municipality, in which the appeal process of letter-writing and government office visit itself underwent a transition from consultation through rights defense to finally profiteering. Behind this alienation is the introduction of a new model of governance that centered on the utilization of local resources and its substitution for the traditional model that relied primarily on persuasion, education, and mediation and also turned to compulsion and punishment as supplementary measures; the latter, however, has lost its ground under the condi- tion of a market economy and the self-interested orientation of local governments. As a result, local authorities opted for either the direct management of letters and visits by taking advantage of the greatly increased resources at their disposal or the indirect management by reallocating the resources and thereby mobilizing relevant social segments for that end. This article questions the legitimacy of the resource-intensive approa