Residents of Dejia Community in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, participate in a public activity held by the community. Dejia Community has established a community website and a WeChat public account to allow its residents to share information, express opinions and talk with each other. If well guided and regulated, online platforms can create an effective approach to consultation.

---

 

As a significant part and an effective form of China’s socialist consultative democracy, consultation at the grassroots level includes that which occurs in towns, subdistricts, administrative villages and communities as well as in enterprises and public institutions. Through consultation, various voices can be heard and consensus reached on decisions and work concerning the vital interests of people, promoting the harmony and stability of grassroots society.

At present, the development of a new type of urbanization and expanded access to mobile Internet have brought about opportunities and challenges for grassroots consultation. It is imperative to innovate in consultative democracy to keep abreast with the trends.

 
New urbanization
A result of historical progress and social development, urbanization is a process characterized by concentration of non-agricultural industries and shift of population from rural to urban areas. The key to the success of China’s modernization drive is a new type of urbanization that emphasizes coordination of rural and urban development, balance between economic growth and social progress, as well as harmony between man and nature.

More than 56 percent of China’s population live in cities, according to the latest available statistics from the 2015 Report on China’s New-type Urbanization compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission. However, registered urban citizens, or those who hold a “hukou” under China’s household registration system, account for less than 40 percent of the total population. About 294 million people live in cities but are not registered, most of whom are migrant workers. This indicates there is still huge room for further urbanization.

Based on the National New-type Urbanization Plan (2014-2020), by 2020, China’s ratio of permanent urban residents should reach about 60 percent, while residents with an urban hukou should account for about 45 percent of the total population. The country will help about 100 million rural migrant workers and other permanent urban residents to become registered in cities. No doubt, this will have a deep impact on grassroots consultation.

The exodus of young adults and the elite group from rural to urban areas has increased the cost and difficulty of rural consultation. Hundreds of millions of people migrating to cities has greatly accelerated the process of urbanization while leaving behind old and weak people, women and children. As a consequence, effective consultation cannot be guaranteed.

Due to the lack of time and transportation costs, migrant workers seldom return home to participate in public affairs, while they trust those from their families who stay at home to act as proxies. The problem of consultation is exacerbated by the absence of excellent workers and highly educated people as well as other elites who have moved to cities to live with their children, such as veteran cadres, teachers and Party members.

Moreover, with the outflow of population, the original social structure and governance pattern of villages is disintegrating. Previously, people were closely related to each other in a rural community, but now people have little contact with each other. This has led to a weak sense of identity and belonging, shaking the root of public reason based on which consultation takes place.

Social governance faces challenges in the rural-urban fringe zones, urban villages and peripheries of industrial parks, where land requisition, house demolition and construction of public facilities often take place. Serious crimes and mass incidents tend to occur in these areas, intensifying the conflicts between local residents and governments. In these areas, local residents do not have the right to participate in public affairs and express opinions. Local governments do not conduct social stability risk assessment before carrying out major projects, thus failing to respond to the demands of stakeholders.

Extensive consultation before the decision-making and implementation of the decision will better serve the work of solving difficulties and problems of people. Democratic policy-making can help resolve contradictions between people and governments without delay. In practice, it is important to ensure the effectiveness of consultation in tackling difficult problems brought by urbanization, such as land requisition, house demolition and the building of public facilities.

The rapid development of urbanization is also accompanied by the nationwide dissemination of modern urban civilization, such as the spread of the ideas of inclusiveness, equality and reason as well as lifestyles that stress safeguarding public interests, abiding by laws, respecting the voices of others and discussing public topics. Such ideas and lifestyles are consonant with the concept of consultative democracy.

For instance, in Songjian village, Zhejiang Province, 26 village representatives and CPC members attended a meeting about land requisition and relocation for a key provincial expressway in 2006. This successful practice, usually called “democratic consultation,” has also been actively promoted in other villages to enhance villagers’ participation in the decision-making process and involvement in public affairs management.

Another successful practice is the public advisory committee in Shunde, Guangdong Province. Generally speaking, in rural and urban areas, people are increasingly aware of participating in social governance to protect their own rights and interests.

 
Mobile Internet
Starting from 2007, China and the world have entered a new era of mobile Internet. According to the 37th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China published by the China Internet Network Information Center at the beginning of 2016, China had 688 million Internet users by the end of 2015, accounting for more than half of the total population. The proportions of those using mobile phones and tablet computers as means to access the Internet were 90.1 percent and 31.5 percent, respectively. The popularity of mobile Internet has also exerted great influence on grassroots consultation.

Mobile Internet makes it easier for netizens to release and get information, which helps reduce the cost for consultation. Mobile communication devices give the low-income group, including rural migrant workers and young students, easier access to the Internet. More importantly, it is not limited by time or space, enabling netizens to receive information and give feedback immediately.
Online applications, such as microblogs, WeChat and QQ, provide a platform for netizens to express their opinions. In this sense, every netizen can be a disseminator of information. Policymakers can take advantage of mobile Internet by releasing notices and sharing information online to ask for advice, which will reduce the time and cost for consultation.

Mobile Internet has brought about tremendous changes to society, making it possible for the innovation of consultation. Throughout the country, new approaches to consultation have been carried out, such as the council attended by senior Party members, veterans, model workers, and retired teachers and officials.

Dejia Community in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, has attempted to promote autonomy through a community website and a WeChat public account. It has become a common practice that people in urban communities, newly established ones in particular, tend to join group chat through WeChat or QQ to share information, express opinions and talk with each other. If well guided and regulated, these platforms can create an effective approach to consultation.

It should be noted that we should be vigilant against online rumors and public opinion crises while cultivating a reasonable network environment. Mainstream media, represented by news agencies, television stations and government websites, and folk platforms, represented by WeChat, microblog and BBS, produce different voices and are mostly talking to themselves. In this context, there have appeared irrational statements blaming all social problems on national systems, and that official media and Wemedia are antagonistic to each other. They have had adverse impact on individual judgment and the entire environment for public opinion, weakening the public reason needed for consultation.

We should, on one hand, take advantage of the changes brought about by new urbanization and mobile Internet to reduce the cost of consultation and promote the innovation of consultative approaches. On the other hand, we should cope with disadvantages, and regulate consultative rules and procedures to guide people to participate in public affairs management. In turn, grassroots consultation that continues to adapt to new requirements can better serve the goal of the construction of an urbanized and information-based society.

 
Guo Peng is from the Institute of Public Opinion and Sentiment at the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences.