State Building and the Installation and Change of the Xinfang System in China Since 1949

本文旨在从国家政权建设的角度讨论新中国信访制度形成及演变的历史过程和规律。研究发现,信访制度是中国共产党根据群众路线而创立的。根据群众路线,信访工作有社会动员和冲突化解两个基本内容,并应做到二者的有机统一。但在信访实践中,国家在不同历史时期总是偏重其中一个方面,并相应形成社会动员和冲突化解这样两种信访工作取向。1978年以前,在社会动员取向主导下,信访制度建设趋于革命化,结果造成国家社会动员与民众利益诉求之间的严重对立。1978年以后,国家信访工作的主导观念向冲突化解取向调整,从而极大地促进了信访制度的科层化。随着社会形势的变化,冲突化解取向也逐渐暴露出它的局限,即不能有效地回应民众的政治参与需求,却又在客观上有利于民众的政治动员。国家怎样回应这一矛盾,将在很大程度上决定今后信访制度的演变。

Looking from the angle of state building，this paper aims to explain the installation and evolution，as well as the logic of institutional change of China’s xinfang system since 1949 as an outcome of the state-building process． It argues that born from the state’s political ideology of“mass line”，the xinfang system was conceived to be able to achieve two fundamental purposes，that is，to mobilize the society for political ends，and to resolve societal grievances． Though xinfang work is required to integrate and balance the two goals，in practice，from 1949 to 1978，the xinfang system was manipulated to primarily serve political goals and the complaints of the petitioners were often bent to meet the state’s political needs． This particular orientation of xinfang work led to the revolutionization of the xinfang system itself and the aggravation of societal grievances as well． Therefore，since 1978，the state has tried to turn the xinfang system into an apparatus to appease societal grievances． As a result，the xinfang system has undergone massive bureaucratization． In recent years， the state's headache is to cope with the contentious actions taking advantages of the political opportunities unintendedly created by the xinfang system．

冯仕政

 国家社科基金课题“社会冲突治理与新中国信访制度的演进研究”(11ASH004);教育部“新世纪优秀人才支持计划”(NCET-11-0493)的阶段性成果

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