New Opinion Poll to Be Used in China
Opinion Polls Contribute to the Depth of the Opening of ‘the Selection of Officials’
民调有助于“官员选拔”的深度开放
No Author’s Name Provided
Original Publication:
The Beijing News
新京报
Link to Original Article
Translated by Anton Lee Wishik II for Mei-Zhong Guanxi
After being ratified by the Central Committee, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee (the Organization Department) has entrusted the National Bureau of Statistics with carrying out a public opinion survey on the level of satisfaction with organizational work. The opinion poll will start from this year and will be carried out annually in the future. Within the party organs, a sample will be taken from 80,000 people at the provincial, city, county, district, and village levels. The main content of the survey will be: the masses level of satisfaction regarding organizational work, the image of the cadres, the selection and appointment of the cadres, and the prevention and correction of unhealthy tendencies among personnel. The masses recommendations and views on organizational work will also be included.
As soon as the plans for the opinion poll were announced by the Central Committee, it immediately triggered heated discussion on all sides. Everyone knows that in China, the Organization Department has an extremely important position in political activities and the power structure. It manages the selection and appointment of cadres and other related missions. In addition, the organizational department has always kept a low profile in doing its work. By using polling to consult public opinion, they are assuming a lot of authority in questioning and calculating the people’s responses. This is truly a rare occurrence. As for the goals of the Organization Department’s polling, they can be summarized as: extending organizational work to the point where the masses can directly comment on it and improving the level of openness in the processes involved in appointing cadres and the punishment of corruption among personnel.
The aim of the opinion poll demonstrates that the Organization Department is appealing for answers to questions such as, what is the social assessment of the organizational officials who handle conferring authority? How much awareness and approval is there for the Organization Department in society? Most importantly, after those in the Organization Department authorize something, what kind of attitude do the masses harbor towards them? In brief, the Organization Department hopes to design a signal system and add another side which can monitor the overall achievements of organizational work. With this foundation, they can directly collect real public opinion data from all levels of society on the selection of officials for promotion.
It should be said that as for the process of wielding power, the masses who bear its effect have too many experiences that need to be conveyed. Within them, there is no lack of challenges, concerns, hopes, and other complicated feelings. The popular will of the people needs to be expressed to the authorities, and thus the distance and estrangement between the two sides needs to be destroyed. This public opinion poll has created an opportunity and has provided a platform for those both within and without the party to voice all kinds of opinions. Therefore, it would be nice to see the data from the poll provide proof to substantiate the conditions for the choice and appointment of officials, assist the organizational department in differentiating between good and evil, and keep a close watch on official matters.
Nowadays, before cadres are assigned, there is a public announcement in order to get the public’s response and follow established practice. However, the signals that are released by the organizational department’s survey will not stop there. They also hope to make several parts of organizational work (selection, appointment, supervision, etc.) open to the masses, and then place their organizational work on a more extensive and more fixed base of popular will. Organizational work like this would signify that the conferral of authority takes into greater account the approval of the masses, and it would be hoped that from the eve of their first day in power, officials could win the support of public opinion. Perhaps, these aspects are where all the value can be found in the direction these public opinion polls are leading us to.
A large scale public opinion poll is done for intra-party democracy and for the purpose of making party affairs public. It is done to increase public opinion reference points when selecting cadres. Once these reference points gradually become clear and strong, it will certainly contribute to the depth of the methods used in opening up. The Organization Department wins the support of the wise on behalf of the nation. The authorities should understand where reverence lies. The masses are the source of authority, and the Organization Department’s opinion poll emphasizes this constitutional knowledge. The significance lies in boosting the ability of officials to sincerely understand the connotations of this.
Because the opinion poll is full of significance and has been met with high hopes, the Organization Department has paid a tremendous amount of attention to its authoritativeness and reliability. As for the details, there are some regulations which stipulate that the program for conducting the polls must strive to ensure the extensiveness of the poll’s scope, the representativeness of those taking the poll, the completeness of the poll’s content, and the standards involved throughout the poll’s process. The Organization Department has repeatedly emphasized that if the poll is to be a true expression of public sentiment on social situations, they must meddle in any way in the normal operation of the polls. As for the techniques to be used, they will try to ensure the fairness and neutrality of the polls. The public nature and transparency of the polls will also be in accordance with these demands.
This is a process involving mutual contact, understanding, and approval. On the outside, the opinion polls can be seen as an exchange between the Organization Department and the masses. In essence, it is a meeting of authority and the popular will. This will reaffirm the source of authority and its sanctity, and it will concentrate on stressing again and again the rites of granting authority and the culture of authority. Clearly, it is not possible to succeed in this with just one try. A picture of the polls has already been painted, and now the masses are calmly awaiting its display.
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