By Sun Liping, professor of sociology at Tsinghua
University
Conventional wisdom maintains that the exercise of power should
be made transparent so that behind-the-scenes manipulation can be
avoided.
This is, however, easier said than done.
Take the recent social security fund scandal in Shanghai in
which billions of yuan of money essential to individuals' lives
were diverted to other investment purposes. Secret "black case"
work was a major component in the scandal.
While corrupt officials were stealing public money, the Shanghai
municipal government was trumpeting "bringing about a transparent
government".
This is the same city that was the first in China to create the
spokesman position to get information out to the public.
Some lessons from other parts of the country may help us learn
how to create real transparency.
In many cases, the measures introduced by local governments to
increase transparency are working fairly well. This includes
spokesmen and e-government systems and other measures designed to
make information accessible to ordinary people.
But this is far from enough, as demonstrated by the social
security fund scandal. More has to be done in enforcing measures to
make government work more transparent .
Recently, the city government of Handan in North China's Hebei
Province, launched a pilot project geared in that direction.
First, the project clearly defines government power in various
categories and at different levels.
A total of 266 items of power exercised by the city government
and the departments directly under its authority were scrapped.
Eventually, a total of 384 administrative licensing powers, 521
administrative punishment powers, 25 tax-levying powers and 184
fee-collecting powers were placed on the list of powers that can be
exercised by the city government.
Restrictions are thus set on power. Meanwhile the powers that
can be exercised are distinctly defined.
Operating under this "power streamlining", the Handan mayor can
now exercise power over 92 items, excluding those concerning State
secrets and security.
In this way, limited power helps lay down the foundation for
smaller government. Without these clear-cut limits, people can find
it hard to supervise the exercise of power because the power was
limitless and ambiguously defined.
Law is the paramount yardstick against which power and its
exercise are gauged.
First, in the course of sorting out the power items, Handan
officials consulted 4,000 sets of rules, regulations and laws. Of
the 266 items eliminated, some had no legal ground and others ran
counter to law.
Second, the Handan project opened up the process through which
power is exercised.
As a matter of fact, behind-the-scenes manipulation often
happens in the course of wielding power.
The Handan officials came up with a seemingly clumsy approach:
drawing the diagram of power.
Behind-the-scenes manipulation often occurs in the course of
exercising power, making it difficult for ordinary people to track
the wielding of power.
Therefore, strengthening the procedural links in this process is
called for.
The power diagram in Handan specifies the minute details in the
course of power use and offers answers to such questions as: Who is
charged with the responsibility to do this job? In what way is the
job fulfilled? When should it be done?
Third, the Handan project builds an Internet platform on which
the addresses of the government departments, their telephone
numbers, areas of responsibility and work procedures are
posted.
This Web platform, in addition to government spokesman's
briefings, press conferences and government bulletins, helps make
information on government work accessible to the public.
It is estimated that 2,000 pieces of information are made
available to Handan people each day. And the website is a two-way
clearing house. People's inquiries, appeals and suggestions keep
pouring in through this portal.
By all accounts, some substantial progress has been made in
making Hadan government work more transparent . But some concerns
still need discussion.
First, it is still easy for government officials to make public
what they want the citizens to hear and hold back what they don't
want the public to know.
In view of this, the Handan city government has formulated a
regulation that, with clearly defined articles, holds government
workers responsible for failing to inform the public of what they
deserve to know.
Second, the quality of the information made public should be
improved.
For example, data and figures which are simply dished out make
little sense to laypeople and, therefore, constitute invalid
information.
Third, different kinds of information should be targeted to
different groups of citizens, particularly information involving
expertise in specialized fields.
The author is professor of sociology at Tsinghua University
(China Daily February 7, 2007)