Governance not management

Top down approach should give way to partnership of cooperation between government, civil society and citizens

Social governance is a process whereby participants such as government, social organizations, enterprises, institutes, communities and individuals regulate and manage social affairs, social organizations and social life as equal cooperative partners according to the law, in order to maximize public interests eventually. Compared with social management, social governance has several advantages.

First, although social management includes both government-centered management behavior and civil society organization-centered management behavior, it mainly focuses on government-centered social management, which means the major source of legal authority for social management is the government. Social governance, on the other hand, emphasizes more variety in legal authority: Social organizations, enterprises, institutions and social communities can be sources of legal authority. Social governance is diversified, which means any single subject can't monopolize the practical process of regulation and management.

Second, social management tends to make the government superior to the rest of society, and it controls all social affairs. But social governance is more about equal and close connections among multiple behavioral subjects, because it regards effective management as a cooperative process among different bodies. The responsibilities that were mainly shouldered by the government are transferred to various social organizations, the private sector and civil voluntary groups.

Third, social management is a subjective and top-down control method in which the leaders decide social affairs for the public. Social governance is a new form of contemporary democracy, which encourages social participants to reach consensus through self-expression, negotiation and dialogue, in order to make public policies meet the interests of the whole of society.

Fourth, the practice of social management is mainly based on the government's power to dictate to the public, while social governance has many other cultural, legal, marketable, conventional and new management methods and techniques beside command based on power. Social governance means the government guides more and controls less, while civil organizations and civil society take on more responsibilities. Market forces play an increasingly important role in social governance innovation, and social innovation and social enterprises become a significant factor in improving social governance.

China is at a crucial stage of reform and development, and unprecedented social reform has brought huge vigor as well as various contradictions and challenges to China's development and progress. China has to solve many social problems, such as unbalanced social and economic development between urban and rural areas; huge population pressure on resources and the environment; the lack of a comprehensive social security system; unfair income distribution; and the high cost of housing. Some officials haven't adapted to new situations and new tasks, and corruption in some fields is a serious problem that needs solving. To deal with these challenges, China has to promote social governance reform in depth.

To achieve that goal, we must further emancipate our minds. We should get rid of rigid and doctrinal thoughts, adjusting policy based on actual needs rather than ideological beliefs. The governing party needs to realize that social governance should be by multiple social participants acting together, and it should be society-oriented in thought and deed. The idea of government control and command should give way to cooperation between government and society, and the government should emphasize coordination, guidance, service and the integration of society.

The government, society, the market and citizens should form a new partnership of cooperation and positive interaction. The government should respect its cooperative partners and those it governs, and it should treat them equally and enhance its self-confidence so that it trusts and understands society. The government should create a positive environment for social organizations to encourage their development.

Social governance reform requires extensive, active and voluntary citizen participation. The public should widely participate in political, cultural and social construction. Orderly and effective citizen participation needs relevant systematic guarantees. The government should establish and improve the framework for public participation, creating more participation channels that allow a greater number of citizens to participate in the management of public life in a legal, orderly and systematic way.

To implement social governance reform, we must insist on the principle of democracy and rule of law, which form the basic channel of public governance and systematic guarantee of social governance reform. Without democracy, rule of law may head for autocracy; without rule of law, democracy may head for disorder and chaos. We have to learn from the experience of other countries while taking account of China's national conditions.

Social governance reform still has a long way to go and it faces various difficulties and challenges. First, social governance should not be distorted so it becomes "governing society": society should not be the subject of control. Second, the aim of social governance should not be just maintaining stability; social stability can only be achieved through negotiation, dialogue and cooperation, rather than control and suppression; the aim of social governance reform should be to maximize public interests. Third, social governance reform aims at promoting not only people's livelihoods, but also democracy. Only in a democratic way can we solve problems that have provoked wide public concern; and only by improving people's livelihoods can we promote the stable and orderly development of democracy.

The article was first published in Beijing-based Study Times.

(China Daily 11/20/2012 page8)