By Zhou Lingling & Liu Lihui, Research Team on “The Innovative Development of Social Governance in China”, Institute of Public Administration and Human Resources, DRC

Research report, Special Issue No.2, 2018 (Total 1569) 2018-1-18

Abstract: Community-based consultation is a vivid practice of grassroots self-governance, and also an important part and effective form to realize socialist consultative and democratic construction. As socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, there are more favorable factors for the promotion of community-based consultations in urban and rural areas. Some areas have made fruitful explorations based on local conditions. For instance, Qidong county in Nantong city of Jiangsu province and Weihai city in Shandong province have successfully conducted community-based consultations to resolve relevant issues and contradictions through targeted measures at various levels and in a multi-pronged management mode. But it should be noted that there are still some key challenges in community-based consultations. For example, village merger has made it more difficult for the governance and management of rural communities. This paper puts forward the following policy options for addressing relevant issues. The government needs to pay attention to the regional heterogeneity of social governance, enhance the consultation ability in later-developing areas and narrow regional disparities in social construction; attach importance to historical and cultural factors and make the best use of the situation to reach consensus through consultations as far as possible; support social organizations to participate in community construction in light of the actual facts, cultivate community leaders and build “smart communities” based on local conditions.

Key words: community consultations, theoretical review, pilot practice, new era