Chinese Administrative Reform: Government Accountability, Responsiveness, and Efficiency: Government Accountability, Responsiveness, and Efficiency

Author: China National School of Administration
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: The articles collected in this volume come from the 2002 Annual Meeting of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration held in Beijing. Through this window, readers can gain insights into the debates and discussions among Chinese scholars and government officials on hot and challenging issues concerning central and local governments. All the papers in this collection are authored by Chinese scholars and practitioners, reflecting the internal competition and challenges within Chinese society, often referred to as "unexpected openness." They also highlight the problems encountered by governments at various levels during their recent transition from a "planned economy" to a "socialist market economy," as they opened up to the public and the world. The 21 papers included in this volume were submitted to the Beijing meeting, and the preface was written by Tang Tiehan, Vice President of the China National School of Administration, which hosted the conference. All the papers were carefully selected by the chairs of the six working groups of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration, with each group submitting 1 to 7 papers. Chen Weilan, Vice President of the China National School of Administration, was responsible for the overall content review of the volume. The papers in this book cover a wide range of topics, from the design of civil servant training programs to various reform efforts: market and mixed economies, government responsiveness to the public, how to implement "democratic reforms" in practice in China, openness and transparency in government work, the rule of law, local government autonomy, and leadership elections. While these papers do not encompass all the reforms being implemented by China's central and local governments, the issues discussed reveal the depth and breadth of China's reforms in recent years.