比较视野下公共服务的概念与理论简析

Analysis of the Concept and Theory of Public Service from a Comparative Perspective

"公共"一词为中国汉语的原生词汇,但其政治学上的含义则多来自于西方。近年来,随着中国政府由管理型向服务型转向,健全并完善公共服务体系成为国家重要战略目标,公共服务也成为社会和学界的热词。在公共服务思想的萌芽阶段,中国与西方都较早出现了相关思想的雏形,西方略早于中国。现代意义上的公共服务理念、理论并非源自中国,而是有着深刻的西方背景。西方的公共服务理论也并非完全等同于西方各国政府能够或已经从事的实践。在中西比较视野下对其概念与理论的简要梳理,有助于更好地理解其内涵与本质并做好相关实践。理解和把握公共服务,既要认真学习和吸收好西方的相关理论,又要考虑到中国特定语境。

The Chinese phrase ＂Gong Gong＂ （public） is locally derived in Chinese, yet its political science implications mainly comes from the West. In recent years, as the Chinese government shifts away from management-centered administration and turns service-oriented, it has become a national strategic goal to improve the public service system, and ＂public service＂ has been widely discussed in the society, especially among the academia. In the genesis stage of the concept of public service, relevant thoughts both appeared in China and the West at an early time, or precisely, the West was a little earlier than China. The modern public service concept and theory do not originate in China, bnt have a profound Western background. However, the Western public service theory is not entirely equivalent to all the practices the Western governments can do or have been engaged in. A brief review of the concept and theory of public service fi＇om the China-West comparative perspective will help people to better understand its connotation and essence and do a good job in related practices. To understand ＂public service＂, people should not only earnestly study and draw on the relevant theory of the Western countries, but also take into account the specific context of China.