For the current leadership, a populist approach means more than a "people-first" attitude, or service-oriented governance. The high approval ratings they have won have much to do with responsiveness to public concerns, one of the foremost of which is corruption.
That the high-profile starting moves inaugurating their second term in office focused primarily on the transformation of public offices give us reason to aspire more down the road of political reform.
Tuesday's State Council meeting on clean government, a teleconference featuring central and local administrators, was a nice tune-setter for a new session of government. To which we wish there would be consistent follow-ups in the five years to come.
Premier Wen Jiabao gave a list of five main tasks for 2008, including defining decision-making accountability, disciplining government intervention, regulating law-enforcement, increasing transparency, and enhancing liability inquiry mechanisms. All of which are important.
But we cannot afford anticipating too much on all five fronts at once, especially when we talk about a single specific year. Of the five aspects Premier Wen mentioned, transparency may be a key to substantial breakthroughs in all the rest.
Wen offered an impressive diagnosis of corruption on Tuesday, saying over-centralization of powers and the absence of effective oversight are an important cause of the spread of corruption. So was his prescription - building systems to place powers under check. He promised to improve supervisory mechanisms to facilitate public scrutiny of government operation.
This is exactly where transparency comes in. If people have no idea what is happening inside the government compounds, what are they supposed to supervise?
An essential precondition to meaningful civic participation in State affairs is the satisfaction of citizens' right to know. The scope of which remains murky in our society. Well-defined boundaries of such a central civic right, however, will determine whether or not the public can exert their supervisory role.
The State Council set an admirable example in self-discipline by publishing its own code of conduct on Tuesday. The document places special emphasis on public announcements and hearings when major decisions are made. It will be even better if criteria are available showing when a public hearing can be anticipated.
(China Daily, March 28, 2008)