基层信访治理中的“法治”话语冲突--基于华北S县的实证观察

A Confrontation of “the Rule of Law” Discourse in Grassroots Petition Governance: an Empirical Observation of S County in Northeast China

观察我国基层信访可以发现,上访群众普遍善于调动国家政策、法律法规,乃至"中央精神"等话语维护权利和利益,而基层政府在这一过程中呈现出消极行政、被动维稳的形象。本文从基层信访工作切入,通过对基层政府和上访者话语和认知中的"法治"概念的分析,揭示出二者之间在立场与行动上对立的同时,也同样存在话语上的冲突,集中体现在他们对于"法治"概念的不同理解。在这两种貌似对立的"法治"话语背后,可以看到国家面向广大群众与科层体系所输出的"群众路线"与"制度理性"两种政策导向所导致的制度罅隙以及话语和实践的分离。

Empirical studies on China＇s grassroots petitioning system （xinfang） reveal that many petitioners consciously invoke laws, administrative regulations, state policies, even ＂the spirit of the CPC Central Committee＂ as the ＂expression tools＂ for upholding their rights and interests, while grassroots governments are usually believed to act in a rather passive way in administration and the maintenance of social stability. This paper takes grassroots xinfang work as the entry point and, through the analysis of the discourse interaction between grassroots gov- ernments and petitioners, reveals that both grassroots governments and petitioners frame their narrations on the basis of their own rhetoric of ＂rule of law＂. This discourse confrontation runs through their xinfang interaction and reflects an institutional gap and a separation of discourse from practice resulting from the two policy orientations of ＂the mass line＂ and ＂institutional ra- tionality＂.