Practical Official Business Application Writing

Author: Zhang Yuanzhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-05-01
Features:
(IV) On the Submission System and Formalities of Request Documents 1. Generally, do not make requests to higher levels without going through intermediate levels. As previously mentioned, all levels of government should submit documents according to their hierarchical relationships and authority. Based on this principle, each level of government should have a fixed scope of receiving requests. Under normal circumstances, the municipal government only accepts requests from its departments and district governments. Outside this scope, requests from township-level governments and secondary units of municipal government departments are generally not accepted; if submitted, they should also be returned according to regulations. Why are requests not allowed to bypass intermediate levels? The reason is clear: bypassing intermediate levels goes against the principle of one level managing one level and one level being responsible for one level. Some do so out of dissatisfaction with direct subordinates and seek to bypass them, which is absolutely not allowed. Others do so to resolve issues more quickly. However, they may not realize that when higher-level authorities receive requests that bypass intermediate levels, they often lack the opinions of the directly bypassed authorities, making it difficult to process them. If they insist on handling them, they often have to go back and seek the opinions of the directly bypassed authorities, resulting in "reversed flow" of documents, increasing processing time and difficulty, and ultimately achieving the opposite of their intention of speeding things up. Under what special circumstances can requests be made to bypass intermediate levels? They can be summarized as follows: First, sudden severe natural disasters or social emergencies that are extremely urgent, where submitting requests through intermediate levels would delay the opportunity and cause losses. Second, according to relevant business management systems, requests can be made to bypass intermediate levels. Third, routine official matters that do not require the involvement of direct superiors, as these matters do not fall under the authority of direct superiors, and the relevant situations are relatively clear, with clear principles for handling them. Fourth, issues that have been long shelved by higher authorities but are urgently needed to be addressed, or issues involving disagreements with the decisions of direct superiors that are difficult to implement immediately but urgently require attention, and so on. Regardless of which special circumstance applies, when making requests to bypass intermediate levels, the request should be copied to the bypassed higher authorities. This allows the bypassed higher authorities to the situation of lower levels, be well-informed, and better assist in handling issues. Additionally, when submitting requests to higher authorities, do not seek simplicity and convenience. Seeking simplicity and convenience refers to a situation where a township requests a resolution that, according to approval authority regulations, should be submitted to the municipal government. It is correct for the township to first submit the request to the relevant district according to the hierarchical submission process. However, if the district simply writes "agreed" on the township's document and stamps it before directly submitting it to the municipal government, this is overly simplistic and does not reflect the responsible spirit of a government level. 2. For request documents regarding major matters that must be approved, if they involve the authority scope of other agencies, the leading agency should consult with the relevant agencies to reach a consensus. If a request submitted by an agency involves the authority scope of other agencies without any consultation or solicitation of opinions, it is essentially passing the conflict upward and also creating difficulties for higher authorities in handling the request. When higher authorities process such requests, they either need to invest significant effort and time to solicit opinions from relevant agencies one by one, or they may leave the situation unresolved due to unclear information. For such request documents that do not comply with formal writing rules, higher authorities can return the original submission form.