Introduction to Petition Studies

Author: China Association of Division of Public Administration
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-03-01
Features: activities have a long history. In different social systems, the content and methods of activities have evolved in connection with the needs of the ruling group and have been constrained by them, thereby influencing the development of society at the time. The establishment of the socialist system has given activities a new life. The Party and government have included the handling of public letters and visits as an important aspect of grassroots work, political work, and routine public affairs, serving as a bridge and link to listen to public opinion, understand public sentiments, alleviate public difficulties, and address urgent public needs. This has played a significant role in establishing democratic politics, safeguarding public interests, supervising administrative power, and maintaining normal economic order and social stability. This has become a common consensus. Over the past few decades, under the attention of leaders at all levels of the Party and government, work has made great progress in organizational development, institutional construction, operational mechanisms, and practical experience. In line with this, theoretical research and academic discussions on work have also yielded fruitful results. A large number of specialized books and academic papers on work have been published successively, and rich practical experience has been elevated to the theory of work in the new era, gradually forming a unique academic system. This system integrates the characteristics of multiple disciplines, such as sociology, political science, management, psychology, information science, and secretarial studies, and is known as "ology." The emergence of "ology" has played a phased historical role in advancing the continued development of work and improving the professional quality of cadres. Since its establishment, the China Association of Division of Public Administration (abbreviated as the China Society) has been committed to academic and service-oriented principles, with the main activities focusing on training cadres and conducting academic theoretical exchanges in work. Leveraging its intellectual resources and incorporating the achievements of past theoretical research on, the China Society has held more than 180 training sessions, training over 40,000 cadres. With the transition between new and old cadres and frequent job rotations, training will continue in the long run. Summarizing the training work over the years, we deeply feel that with the rapid development of the country's political and economic situation, the diversification of channels, the continuous innovation of work methods, and the deepening of awareness, some of the original training materials are no longer suitable for the changing circumstances and urgently need to be revised and rewritten. In April 2002, the China Society held a theoretical researcher liaison meeting in Nanjing, specifically to study and discuss the issue of compiling teaching materials for the new era's work. Principles, content, and chapter divisions for the materials were agreed upon, and specific writing assignments for each chapter were made. Over the following two and a half years, under the efforts of all editorial committee members, the drafting of the materials was completed and named "Introduction toology," serving as a reference tool and textbook for training. "Introduction toology" consists of 24 chapters. Its content fully incorporates the basic viewpoints and main work methods from various theoretical research achievements on over the years, while also conducting new explorations and summaries based on current realities. The content is extensive and closely aligned with practical work. The entire book covers the essential knowledge that workers need to understand and master, meeting the requirements of workers to learn the historical development of activities, enhance their theoretical knowledge of, acquire practical work skills in, and improve their professional quality. It is both theoretical and practical, offering valuable references for practice. During the writing process of this book, we received strong support from the leadership of the China Association of Public Administration, the Associations of Jiangsu, Fujian, and other provinces, as well as the care and assistance of many veteran workers. We extend our sincere gratitude for this support. After the completion of the initial draft, the editorial committee assigned Liang Chuan, Mao Shengmo, Yang Chunya, and Qu Shaorong to review and edit relevant chapters, making necessary deletions, adjustments, and revisions to some content and text. Finally, Liang Chuan compiled the manuscript. Due to the urgency of the timeline and the scattered nature of the authors, it was not possible to seek further opinions from the original authors during the final review. Additionally, given the limited expertise of the editorial committee, there may be numerous shortcomings. We sincerely hope that readers will point out any inaccuracies or omissions in the book. Furthermore, it should be noted that, strictly adhering to the requirements ofology, the content should be even broader, richer, and deeper. In this sense, this book is merely a concise edition. Moreover, the practical process of work has strong characteristics of the times, and the understanding of its theory and practice will inevitably continue to develop and update, requiring constant summarization and exploration. We are willing to use this book as a foundation and, through continuous expansion, supplementation, and revision in the future, strive to make its content increasingly perfect to meet the requirements of work in the new era.
Author
March 2005