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BUILDING an open government is the demand of thetime. It puts power in the spotlight and exposes it toscrutiny and supervision," commented Zhang Qing-hong, magistrate of Changsha County. Wu Silong,Party secretary of Kaihui Township in that county, terms themove as an "inner-revolution of the government."
Electronic Town Hall Meetings
The public debut of the movement might be traced back toJuly 2009 when 12 observers, including experts, deputies to thecounty people's congress, members of the county committeeof the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, andrepresentatives of average citizens were invited to be presentat an executive meeting of the county government. The eventwas streamed live over the county's official website where visi-tors could post comments. Four hotlines were also set up in themeeting room to take calls from locals seeking to express theiropinions on the topics discussed.
More than 80 posts were made andover 100 people called in during thethree hours. The suggestions and com-plaints they raised went directly on tothe meeting agenda. Yang Yiwen, Partysecretary of the county, reiterated thatcitizen representatives at governmentmeetings are not only there to listenbut also to speak. A particular processis used to review their input; some sug-gestions will be adopted, others not. Ineither case, the government will issuea rationale, and regardless of outcome,local residents are welcome to overseeits policy-making process.
At this point all government informa-tion is open to public review in Chang-sha County, and this applies at the townand village levels as well. All residentsin the region have avenues to carry theirvoices and swing policy-making in thedirection of common interests.
Changsha County plans, in three tofive years, to practice and perfect a gov-ernance mechanism featuring "publicparticipation, expert evaluation, gov-ernment decision-making and politicalsupervision." The merit of making theexercise of power transparent, and ofactive and rational mass participation in public administration,is actually government empowerment; broader public supportand deference to collective wisdom is the point of healthy in-teraction between officials and citizens.
Open Book, Open Government
On May 1, 2008, The Regulations on the Disclosure of Gov-ernment Information of the People's Republic of China cameinto effect, requiring administrative organs to release all in-formation designated as available to all citizens under the law,The statute gave a boost to the process of government trans-parency at all levels. Changsha County has been advancing inthis direction step by step, and in a systematic way.
Feng Lixia, a professor with the Party School under theCPC Central Committee, sings the praises of government re-forms in Changsha County, declaring it a model, well mintedand organized, in the service of working out national practices and an inspiration even the central leg-islative committee can draw from.
Access to information is howeveronly one of the many elements of anopen government. According to XuYang, deputy director of the legal af-fairs office of the Changsha Countygovernment, the county is reachingfor the open government goal on threefronts. The county government bringscitizens into its executive meetings; es-tablishments directly under the countygovernment solicit public responses totheir administrative rulings by hold-ing hearings and mass discussions; and villages have set uppublic service platforms for their members to get acquaintedwith, and what's more, actively involved in, public affairs.
The Urban Management Bureau of Changsha County helda public hearing on licensing of natural gas pipe operations intowns and townships last summer. Bidding rules and contractconditions were drafted based on a consensus of the partici-pants. Deng Xiuju, a resident representative, confirmed thebureau's good intentions to heed the general public, but sug-gested that more citizens could attend such events that addressthe concerns of such a broad spectrum of the population. Start-ing in December 2OlO the county extended the experiment toits vast countryside, building conduits for its rural dwellers tohave a fair presence and due voice in the rule of their region.The online service platform is scheduled to reach all villages inthe county in five years. "The platform opens up governmentinformation efficiently and effectively," said Liu Suqi, a youngvillage cadre, "because villagers can use the Internet anytime tolook for government information they need, or send e-mails tothe magistrate or department chiefs when necessary. The plat-form is very comprehensive and workable."
Public Vetting of Government Spending
Changsha started in July 2009 to unveil its finances to thepublic, reporting the whole process of drafting and approvingthe annual budget, and follow-up assessments of expenditures."Every citizen can inquire into the financial status of the coun-ty, and every cent the government spends is subject to publicmonitoring," said Party Secretary Yang Yiwen. Wang Xixin, aprofessor at Peking University, said, "There are two facets ofdemocracy in focus here: the macro political framework andthe micro concrete system that allows the public to participatein the handling of public affairs." In other words, micro democ-racy is citizens acting on their rights as guaranteed by law."
Mingyue Village is among the first rural communities inChangsha County to place its financial dealings before thepublic. The change was hailed by both village cadres and itsresidents. "People are more inclined to extend their trust andsupport to us," said Yang Yiming, a village official. "We areseeing a strong desire to learn government policies concerningfarming and farmers, and an eagerness to express ideas." Long habituated to acting as passive onlookers, villagerswere uncomfortable initially in their new roles as collective de-cision makers. Cadres had to go fromdoor to door to publicize the transpar-ency campaign, and prompt them tocomment on village affairs. Eventuallythey were chasing after cadres to reg-ister their views on issues of concern.Public involvement took another jumpafter the government informationplatform went live on the Internet. InDecember 2010, 278 households inShuanghe Village voted on their relo-cation site under an urban expansionplan, and on the construction blueprintof their new neighborhood.
Whether it takes the form of suggestions to improve na-tional and local laws and regulations, recriminations for flawsin enforcement, or grumbling about public service or govern-ment workers, it is now routine in Changsha County for peopleto send advice or criticism to various government organs. Inresponse to the surge in public feedback, and to maintain thismomentum, the county drew up a decree on the collection andhandling of citizen input and inquiries, requiring relevant de-partments to respond within s stipulated time frame.
Electronic Town Hall Meetings
The public debut of the movement might be traced back toJuly 2009 when 12 observers, including experts, deputies to thecounty people's congress, members of the county committeeof the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, andrepresentatives of average citizens were invited to be presentat an executive meeting of the county government. The eventwas streamed live over the county's official website where visi-tors could post comments. Four hotlines were also set up in themeeting room to take calls from locals seeking to express theiropinions on the topics discussed.
More than 80 posts were made andover 100 people called in during thethree hours. The suggestions and com-plaints they raised went directly on tothe meeting agenda. Yang Yiwen, Partysecretary of the county, reiterated thatcitizen representatives at governmentmeetings are not only there to listenbut also to speak. A particular processis used to review their input; some sug-gestions will be adopted, others not. Ineither case, the government will issuea rationale, and regardless of outcome,local residents are welcome to overseeits policy-making process.
At this point all government informa-tion is open to public review in Chang-sha County, and this applies at the townand village levels as well. All residentsin the region have avenues to carry theirvoices and swing policy-making in thedirection of common interests.
Changsha County plans, in three tofive years, to practice and perfect a gov-ernance mechanism featuring "publicparticipation, expert evaluation, gov-ernment decision-making and politicalsupervision." The merit of making theexercise of power transparent, and ofactive and rational mass participation in public administration,is actually government empowerment; broader public supportand deference to collective wisdom is the point of healthy in-teraction between officials and citizens.
Open Book, Open Government
On May 1, 2008, The Regulations on the Disclosure of Gov-ernment Information of the People's Republic of China cameinto effect, requiring administrative organs to release all in-formation designated as available to all citizens under the law,The statute gave a boost to the process of government trans-parency at all levels. Changsha County has been advancing inthis direction step by step, and in a systematic way.
Feng Lixia, a professor with the Party School under theCPC Central Committee, sings the praises of government re-forms in Changsha County, declaring it a model, well mintedand organized, in the service of working out national practices and an inspiration even the central leg-islative committee can draw from.
Access to information is howeveronly one of the many elements of anopen government. According to XuYang, deputy director of the legal af-fairs office of the Changsha Countygovernment, the county is reachingfor the open government goal on threefronts. The county government bringscitizens into its executive meetings; es-tablishments directly under the countygovernment solicit public responses totheir administrative rulings by hold-ing hearings and mass discussions; and villages have set uppublic service platforms for their members to get acquaintedwith, and what's more, actively involved in, public affairs.
The Urban Management Bureau of Changsha County helda public hearing on licensing of natural gas pipe operations intowns and townships last summer. Bidding rules and contractconditions were drafted based on a consensus of the partici-pants. Deng Xiuju, a resident representative, confirmed thebureau's good intentions to heed the general public, but sug-gested that more citizens could attend such events that addressthe concerns of such a broad spectrum of the population. Start-ing in December 2OlO the county extended the experiment toits vast countryside, building conduits for its rural dwellers tohave a fair presence and due voice in the rule of their region.The online service platform is scheduled to reach all villages inthe county in five years. "The platform opens up governmentinformation efficiently and effectively," said Liu Suqi, a youngvillage cadre, "because villagers can use the Internet anytime tolook for government information they need, or send e-mails tothe magistrate or department chiefs when necessary. The plat-form is very comprehensive and workable."
Public Vetting of Government Spending
Changsha started in July 2009 to unveil its finances to thepublic, reporting the whole process of drafting and approvingthe annual budget, and follow-up assessments of expenditures."Every citizen can inquire into the financial status of the coun-ty, and every cent the government spends is subject to publicmonitoring," said Party Secretary Yang Yiwen. Wang Xixin, aprofessor at Peking University, said, "There are two facets ofdemocracy in focus here: the macro political framework andthe micro concrete system that allows the public to participatein the handling of public affairs." In other words, micro democ-racy is citizens acting on their rights as guaranteed by law."
Mingyue Village is among the first rural communities inChangsha County to place its financial dealings before thepublic. The change was hailed by both village cadres and itsresidents. "People are more inclined to extend their trust andsupport to us," said Yang Yiming, a village official. "We areseeing a strong desire to learn government policies concerningfarming and farmers, and an eagerness to express ideas." Long habituated to acting as passive onlookers, villagerswere uncomfortable initially in their new roles as collective de-cision makers. Cadres had to go fromdoor to door to publicize the transpar-ency campaign, and prompt them tocomment on village affairs. Eventuallythey were chasing after cadres to reg-ister their views on issues of concern.Public involvement took another jumpafter the government informationplatform went live on the Internet. InDecember 2010, 278 households inShuanghe Village voted on their relo-cation site under an urban expansionplan, and on the construction blueprintof their new neighborhood.
Whether it takes the form of suggestions to improve na-tional and local laws and regulations, recriminations for flawsin enforcement, or grumbling about public service or govern-ment workers, it is now routine in Changsha County for peopleto send advice or criticism to various government organs. Inresponse to the surge in public feedback, and to maintain thismomentum, the county drew up a decree on the collection andhandling of citizen input and inquiries, requiring relevant de-partments to respond within s stipulated time frame.