历史视野中的当代村规民约与农村社区治理

On the Contemporary Village Regulations and the Rural Community Governance from the Historical Perspective

村规民约肇始于传统社会乡民的一种自然传统,后经由开明士绅倡导,成为基层社会的自治制度,而在另一些时期内,则被皇权所吸纳、改造、强化推行,成为帝国治理乡村的重要手段之一。20世纪80年代之后,村规民约的缓慢复兴过程正好伴随着国家权力从乡村撤出而又重新介入农村建设和治理的过程。作为一种农村治理工具的当代村规民约表现出来的程式化和民主化的趋势实际上反映出当代农村社区的社会和文化转型。当代村规民约的有效性取决于村庄在多大程度上实现民主协商治理,而非过分强调借助于物质上的村民福利作为激励。

The village regulations started with a natural tradition of the villagers in the agricultural society, which were advocated by the enlightened gentries, and became the self-government system of the local societies. In other periods, it was absorbed, reformed and strengthened by the imperial power, and became one of the important means of the imperial governance of the countryside. From the 1980s to the present, the slow revival process of village regulations coincided with the process of state power withdrawing from villages and re-intervening in countryside construction and governance. As a tool of rural community governance, the trend of institutionalization and democratization of contemporary village regulations reflects the social and cultural transformation of contemporary rural communities. The effectiveness of the contemporary village regulations depends on the extent to which the village achieves democratic governance rather than on the excessive emphasis on the material welfare of villagers.