New Village Sages' Participation in the "Three-rule Integration" System based on the "Power-System" Model

Abstract

Establishment and improvement of the rural governance system characterized by"three-rule integration"ofself-rule, rule of virtue, and rule of law concerns the ultimate effect of the rural revitalization strategy, which is also a specific requirement for achieving "good rural governance" and modern governance. With the advancement of urban and rural modernization, a group of "new village sages"have emerged, who are familiar with traditional culture and local rural conditions, also have new knowledge, new vision, and master modern values, knowledge and skills, thus becoming backbone force in local rural governance. This project carried out a follow-up empirical study on Linggen Village, Linhai City, Zhejiang Province. With new village sages as the analysis objects, 461 pieces of research data were extracted by means of focus interviews, field observations and questionnaire surveys. At the same time, it examines the practical way for new village sages to participate in the "three-rule integration" in the current process of rural governance innovation. The study found that by constructing a "power-system" research model to sort out the internal logic between new village sages and "three-rule integration", the multiple governance bodies composed of villagers, new village sages, and village committees combined with rigid-soft boundaries in the governance concept of "three-rule integration" have formed governance structures via power and systems. The three rules are not a result of simple superimposition, but pay attention to "fusion" and "integration". This project hopes to improve the working mechanism via multiple measures with the help of "new village sages", give full play to their role, and finally demonstrate superiority of the governance system characterized by"three-rule integration".