Research on the Construction Mechanism of Community Participation Subject from the Perspective of Institutional Analysis〔* 〕

Wei Zhihui，Dang rui

(1．School of Law and Politics Tianjin University of Technology，Tianjin 300384;2．School of Architecture Tianjin University，Tianjin 300072)

Ⅰ．The exploration of system analysis and new institutionalism thoughts

The development of modern human civilization is under the three major driving forces— human development，the construction of system，and the progress of science．The key to work for the three ones is the institution innovation．The reason is that institutional change is the substitution process of starting institution by the goal institution in the process of man’s existence and development，which is based on the consciousness of subjectivity．〔1〕

An important view of sociological institutionalism is“we can explain the institutional phenomenon according to the suitable logic of the actions of the people related to the system．”It assumes that the people related to the system are driven by interests，more importantly，they are also driven by value．Although it emphasizes the influence of value or institutional forms，the social system authors doesn’t ignore the effects of people．They regard“relevant people as actors with background– restrictive rationality，and the systems，which are perceived and accepted by the numerous related people，are effective．Second，the system effectiveness shows a dynamic change as the recognitions of the related people changed．”〔2〕It tends to define systems in a broader sense，and thinks that system includes not only the formal rules，procedures and practices，but also“framework”system like cognitive mode and moral module．

Ⅱ．Eligible discussion on the community participation mechanism and the system analysis

The process of the orientation and the goal-adjustment of the community in China emphasize more on the people-oriented features，and also pay more attention to the exploration of the internal resources of the community as well as the shaping of the concept of community participation．Society construction and community construction are to construct harmonious interpersonal relationship and mutual cooperation of a new social community in a stranger world of market economy．〔3〕But no matter in the political，economical construction or in aspects such as culture and population cultivation，the goals and nature of community development are attached to the fusion and the interaction of the community residents．Lack of the participation，the national policy will not be able to be implemented smoothly，management will also be impossible，community residents will be more“desertification”，and its own interests will not be guaranteed．Therefore，residents’participation which are persistent，orderly，comprehensive and balanced，would be significant on the level of both individual and society，and become a steady stream of the driving force of the whole social development．The essence of multiple participation is to give actors the right by institutional arrangement，which will make them meet certain demands，and achieve decisions and management relating to their benefits．Especially it will protect the interests of the underprivileged and arouse the enthusiasm of community members．The introduction of community participation provides a good platform to communication，coordination and cooperation for the government and stakeholders．When Wang Bo made a research on the path of southern Jiangsu model，he pointed out that“the route choice of system is an outcome of the combination of multiple interest subjects．National government，local government，community，collective enterprises and community members will interact with each other around the power．They may consult，negotiate and interact and then make an agree on the objective function of institutional change．”〔4〕Thus，community participation has become the final combination of community institutional change．Modern community construction stresses this kind of joint management on the community affairs by resident individuals and social organizations．Through their coordination and cooperation，the community residents can share of the social development achievements．

Now that community participation has become a key to community’s institution change，how should we parse the focuses of the value and the practice about community involvement?Social managers and social researchers can take more concentrate on the aspects of meaning，types，problems and countermeasures in community participation．When we see the institution change may“enter or sign out as an individual’s identity to a cognitive framework increases or decreases”〔5〕in the perspective of neo-institutionalism，the focus on community participation subjects will be think about seriously．

Ⅲ．The core of community participation shape

Community construction needs not an individual with specialization，but a group actively participated in the construction process．Such participation is on the premise of social institution and social background and the motivation of the individuals attract the attention．Thus the institution may form the development and consistency．Institution exerts influence on individual behaviors．At the same time，the social individuals don’t accept this kind of constraint．They always display their value orientation，approval to the policy and the attention to social problems and so on．When community has gradually become the main place where individuals integrated into the social life，the policies，norms and organizational structure formed in community construction will influences the individual behaviors by meaning interpretation，behavior evaluation and moral appeal and then form the identification of the organization or specification through habituation，objectification and precipitation．

Pluralism of public power subject drives the community construction in deep．The subject of community participation is not limited to the government and resident，but also includes the party(street party and resident committee)，social organizations and community units，etc．Among them，as natural person，community residents are the basic power of community construction．Various organizations respectively take on the role of the leader，mediation，supporters．They keep their own independence，and also have all binds of relationship at work．But because of the transformation of grassroots social management mode to the community system made by the country，state power has shifted in the city life．The article will not pay attention to the participation and the leadership in the direct way by government，but focuses on the meaning of the participation of community residents and community organizations to the community development．Community individuals，in particular，have gone through the development of individuation-characterization-personalization，and have become the“separate and unique action unit，independent and active actors and the direct responsible persons”in contemporary society，then“link and move to the transformation process through the subjective consciousness of inner activities and external objective practice，and make for the default meaning”．〔6〕

In practice，community subject is given to an active modality．Community main body is the body of the action and significance．They decided people’s subjectivity and initiative，and present a dynamic and complete“specific affinity”action through a series of preset explanation．〔7〕Through the correlation of each other’s action，various participation main body form the value and significance of social practice by the function of relationship between action types．While the meaning of subject action is reduced in postmodernists’discourse and fragmentate social community，the consciousness of new concept about social construction provides the reference，in which they are concerned about the personal and social rift，the loss of freedom caused in the process of modern artificialization and the phenomenon such as alienation of human nature．

Ⅳ．Construction and cultivation of multiple participants

1．Expand the scope of subject

Community participation subjects are the goals-undertaker in communitybuilding，but also the practitioner in this career．It is a meaningful thinking for the whole public service system in community and each community management group if we can develop the range of subjects in the a wider and more comprehensive area，as well as maximize the mobilization of available resources for community development，making it effective in coordination with community-building process．Currently，China have defined community subject as governments，units，community organizations，individuals and so on．But these factors like the community civil organizations，social volunteers，community units，etc should expand their participation in community affairs，especially the property management company and intermediary organization which we can seen in the interests of the game frequently．They occupied lots of social resources and have an important effect on the community management．Many community groups who were ignored of must be given the subject role and status in community construction．By expanding diversification access we can improve their competency and awareness of community governance and implement the community’s core values．

2．Integrity of participants and modeling of awareness

Interpretation of community meaning generally includes population，geography，communication，social interaction and so on．Among them，the community sense of belonging and interactive contact can be seen as the essential elements of community．Community subject can have communication and action on their issues，which means their attitude，views and values have fusion and collision，then form a“public consciousness”，that is“on understanding about community concept，on identity with community development and their life relationship，on understanding and awareness of the content of community development，technology of community run，and the target of community development，on understanding of community participation and share”．〔8〕There reflects the function of participation consciousness behind the community actions．If we want to arouse the enthusiasm of participation in the community’s affairs and achieve the goal of action，we must cultivate their community sense of belonging and the willingness of community interaction firstly．But the digestion of community meaning because of modernism has become the resistance of the community construction．These values，such as individualism，consumerism and materialism，make community residents far away from the community organizations．So we should upgrade community subjects’autonomy consciousness and home consciousness，create a good atmosphere about community autonomy，and build public awareness．All of them may lay the foundation for the promotion of community-building initiatives．

3．Expansion of subject’s energy

The constitution of community subject is diversified．But it is different for the groups to release the energy in community involvements．Individual qualities，organizational collaboration，the government’s ability to mobilize have the direct impact on the quality and effectiveness of community participation．At present，China is in a period of frequent social contradictions and significant social stratification．Community governance is filled with the feedback of diverse interests of the subjects．So the scattered attention and the weak autonomous power always make the target of community polymerization falling apart．Generally community workers are lack of basic management knowledge and pioneering capacity，and community participants are also lack of channel and capacity to express themselves．Even though their concerns on social affairs have been enhanced，and the community belonging sense has been formed，many problems may still be hanged or intensified due to the insufficient cooperation level and the defects of their capacities．Knowledge accumulated，communication expression，interpersonal interaction and shared resources often limit the subject’s interaction．So community workers should adjust measures to local conditions and vary from person to person based on subject’s structural characteristics，then gather mass effect，and strengthen guidance work and training work in the daily practice，as well as enhancing the ability of individuals and organizations to participate in the community affairs from multi-angle and．multiple perspectives．

4．Return of the absence

The practice field of the community has formed a more mature organizational philosophy，but a growing number of grass-roots investigations lead us to pay attention to such a phenomenon:community is the place of daily behaviors for the social members，but most of the groups involved in community management and community activities are the elderly and teenagers．They closely rely on the com munity because they have more time and less interpersonal range．While the main fields of activity for the professional groups，as subjects with social vitality in the city，don’t only rely on a community．Facing the absence of occupational groups and their marginalization in the urban construction，community managers need to strengthen the pertinence，broaden the work way of thinking，then integrate these occupational groups into the communities，and expand effective community participation within the feasible scope．Working hours of the occupational group cannot be separated，but the community workers can encourage them to join the community construction in their work place，and achieve the original intention of community participation In the most extensive range by coordinating the relationship between community organizations and corporations．In the communities where the members live now，workers can also make them know about the community status and participation ways timely and enhance the possibility of community participation through the establishment of information flow．Regardless of the measures taken，it is the ultimate goal for the community managers and community subject to pursues by working and pulling together a shared commitment to community development．

We have to admit，on the path of institutional change，there have always been a diverse group of interests，while the foundation that the society is based on community makes them more profoundly know the change value of interaction among the subjects，and the key to community development is to reshape the ability to communicate．

〔1〕Wang Haichuan，System Arrangement of Human Development，Wuhan:Central China Normal University Press，2007，pp．75-76．

〔2〕Huo Chunlong，Study on Institution Effectiveness in Perspective of New Institutionalism Politics， Jilin University Doctoral Dissertation，2008，pp．95-110．

〔3〕Zheng Hangsheng，Theory and Practice of Harmonious Community Construction， Party Building Books Publicing House，2008，p．6．

〔4〕Wang Bo， Benefits and Vessel，A Comparative Institutional Advantage and Institutional Change-in Perspective of the Local Government Functions in Rise and Fall of the Area，Heilongjiang:Heilongjiang Publishing Group，2008，pp．65-67．

〔5〕Zhu Lingjun，New Institutionalism in Political Science:Backgrounds，Viewpoints and Comments， Zhejiang Academic Journal，2003(4)．

〔6〕Zheng Hangsheng，Yang Min，The Contemporary Appearance of the Individual:the Century Challenge of Socialization Theory—New Development of the Subjectivity of Human being and the Human-oriented Sources of the Era， Hebei Academic Journal，2006(3)．

〔7〕Yang Min，Meaning Efects of Social Actions —Study on the Modern Characteristics in the Accelerating Period of Social Transformation，China Renmin University Press，2005，p．189．

〔8〕Liu Houjin，The Cultivation of Public Awareness of the Community and the Path Selection — A Case Study on A Certain Community of Shanghai，Theoretical Exploration，2007(1)．