乡村社会资本的政治效应——基于中国20个乡镇的比较研究

Social Capital,Civil Society,and Rural Politics:a Comparative Analysis of 20 Townships in China

文章把社会资本和承载它的社会实体(诸如关系网络、社团)区别开来,将其定义为一种深藏于人类意识之中的观念性资源,由信任、合作、互惠、利他和宽容等观念要素构成,对拥有它的个体、群体乃至国家具有积极价值。在此基础上,文章探讨了社会资本影响政治生活的作用机制,并以中国10省市的20个乡镇的调查数据为依据,分析了中国乡村社会条件下社会资本对政治领域的影响。分析结果显示,乡村社会资本对民众政治参与意识、政府治理水平、政治信任、现代民主价值观、官民关系等具有积极的影响,但是对公民社会、政治参与行为的影响并不显著。根据实证分析结果,作者主张,社会资本有利于乡村治理与和谐社会建设,"公推直选"等民主试验如果在社会资本丰富的地方率先实行,将会在两者之间形成良性互动的关系。

In this paper, the author defines social capital as a set of value resources embedded deeply in human being＇s consciousness. Social capital is composed of trust, cooperation, reciprocity, altruism, tolerance, and the like. Social entities such as social networks, associations, societies or nations that have some kind of social capital will benefit from it. The author also theoretically analyzes the interaction between social capital and poli- tics, and puts forth a few hypotheses. Using the data collected from 20 towns in 10 provinces, this paper empir- ically analyzes the political consequences of social capital. The results indicate that social capital has a positive influence on governance level, government trust, democratic values, citizen- government relations, and citizens＇ willingness to participate in politics, but has no significant influence on civil society and citizens＇ be- havior when participating in politics. Based on the empirical analysis, the author argues that if the existing di- rect electoral experiments are extended throughout areas with a high - level social capital in rural China, a virtu- ous cycle will be created between them.