财政视角下的基层政府与农村社会关系变迁(1949-2019)

Changes in the Relationship between Grassroots Governments and Rural Society from the Perspective of Finance(1949-2019 )

中华人民共和国初期在统收统支财政体制下,人民公社体制通过以集体为单位征收税费而绕开分散农户,增加国家资源汲取能力; 1980至分税制改革,国家实行财政分权——财政包干,围绕着向单个农户征收税费,乡镇政府将村级组织准行政化,同时与这个时期开始实施村民自治,基层政府与农村社会开始分化; 1994年至新世纪之交,分税制改革带来中央财政集权,导致财权上收、事权下沉,财政压力层层向下传递,作为最末端的基层政府,财政压力只能通过向农民增加收费和集资进行转嫁; 2000年至2006年税费改革,乡镇政府的财政收入不再依靠向农民征收税费,而更多依靠上级政府的转移支付或专项补助,这在减轻农民负担的同时,也导致基层政府与农村社会关系趋向松散化;在后税费时代,国家财政越来越多通过财政专项补助的方式输入到县级政府及其职能部门,在很大程度上绕开了乡镇政府,乡镇在很大程度上被虚置和架空,政社关系进一步松散化。未来乡镇财政的建设,应该增加上级政府(特别是县级政府)及其部门对乡镇财政的专项补助,让乡镇政府拥有根据农村社会需要设立项目、审批项目的权力,进而从财政关系上增进乡镇政府与农村社会的利益关联。而未来乡镇政府建构应当是以农民需求为导向的服务型政府,基层政府在国家资源输入农村社会中需要发挥重要的甄别与验收等作用,这也是未来政社关系发展的方向。

In the early days of the founding of the People′s Republic of China,under the fiscal system of state monopoly control over revenue and expenditure,the people′s commune system bypassed scattered farmers by means of collecting taxes and fees on a collective basis in order to increase the state′s capacity to draw on resources.During the period from 1980 to the reform of tax sharing system,the state implemented fiscal decentralization--fiscal responsibility system.Around the taxation of individual peasant households,the township government regarded the village organization as its subordinate.At the same time,villager autonomy began to be implemented,and grassroots governments and rural society began to separate.From 1994 to the turn of the new century,the reform of tax sharing system brought about the centralization of fiscal powers of the central government and the decentralization of expenditure responsibilities of local governments,as a result,the financial pressure was passed down.Being the lowest level of grassroots governments,the fiscal pressure of township governments could only be passed on farmers by increasing fees and raising funds from farmers.During the tax reform period from 2000 to 2006,the fiscal revenue of township governments no longer depended on the taxation of farmers,but depended more on transfer payments or special subsidies from governments of higher levels.The tax reform reduced the burden on farmers but the relationship between grassroots governments and rural society tended to be loose.In the post-tax era,more and more national finance are input to county-level governments and their functional departments through special financial subsidies,which makes township governments nominal to a large extent.The relationship between grassroots governments and rural society becomes looser.As for the construction of future grassroots fiscal system,special subsidies for township finances should be increased by higher-level governments(especially county-level governments)and their departments.Township governments should have the power to set up projects and approve projects according to the needs of rural society,which can enhance the interests connection between township governments and rural society from the perspective of fiscal relations.The future township government should be a service-oriented government responding to the needs of farmers,and grassroots governments need to play important roles in the screening and acceptance of national resources input to rural society,which is also the developmental direction of the future relationship between grassroots governments and rural society.