Introduction

The bi-weekly consultation forum is the most important institutional innovation of the CPPCC's deliberative democracy in recent years. As an institutional innovation, the bi-weekly consultation forum has realized the transformation from party negotiation to CPPCC negotiation, from the united front platform to the platform for political participation and discussion, and from de-institutionalization to institutionalization. After more than two years of operation and summary, it has been formed. A set of more standardized practices. As a consultative consultation, the bi-weekly consultation forum has the characteristics of neutrality and authority. It can mobilize the power of political parties, the government, academia, and all walks of life, put forward constructive policy recommendations, and have a good impact on public policies. , Effectively realize the docking of negotiation and decision-making.

Summary

The bi-weekly consultation forum is the most important institutional innovation of the CPPCC's deliberative democracy in recent years. As an institutional innovation, the bi-weekly consultation forum has realized the transformation from party negotiation to CPPCC negotiation, from the united front platform to the platform for political participation and discussion, and from non-institutionalization to institutionalization. After more than two years of operation and summary, it has been formed. A set of more standardized practices. As a consultative consultation, the bi-weekly consultation forum has the characteristics of neutrality and authority. It can mobilize the power of political parties, the government, academia, and all walks of life, put forward constructive policy recommendations, and have a good impact on public policies. , Effectively realize the docking of negotiation and decision-making.

Problems and Purpose

The bi-weekly consultation forum is the most important system innovation for the 12th CPPCC National Committee to strengthen consultation and democracy. Since the first bi-weekly consultation meeting was held on October 22, 2013, to January 21, 2016, a total of 46 meetings have been held. The bi-weekly consultation forum is a system of regular consultation forums. It is based on the sector, the topic is the content, the counterpart is the link, and the forum is the main method. It integrates thematic consultation, counterpart consultation, sector consultation, and proposal handling consultation. Concentrating the four important consultation forms of the CPPCC on one platform is not only important for the CPPCC to play its role as a special consultation institution, but also for the construction of the socialist consultative democracy system.

History

"Biweekly consultation forum" evolved from "biweekly forum". To understand "biweekly consultation forum", we must start with "biweekly forum". The "Biweekly Symposium" is a current affairs and political forum between various parties. The main purpose is to communicate ideas and exchange views on current affairs and politics and united front work. From the beginning of the founding of New China to before the "Cultural Revolution", 114 "bi-weekly forums" were held. After the start of the "Cultural Revolution", the "double talks" ceased activities. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward: "Improve the socialist consultative democracy system. It is necessary to improve the consultative democracy system and working mechanism, and promote the extensive, multi-layered, and institutionalized development of consultative democracy." The political consultation system gives full play to the role of people's political collaboration as an important channel for consultation and democracy." The National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference established the “Biweekly Discussion Forum” system on the basis of inheriting the “Double Talk Forum”. After a lapse of 47 years, the “Biweekly Forum”, an important form that faded out of the political arena during the “Cultural Revolution”, has returned to life. To the Chinese political arena.

Different from the bi-weekly symposium, the operation of the bi-weekly consultation symposium is very standardized. Since its resumption in October 2013, 46 symposiums have been basically planned and held on schedule. Generally, they are held every two weeks and are arranged on Thursdays. In the afternoon, about 20 times a year. What's more valuable is that the bi-weekly consultation forums are constantly updated and constantly improved. The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference summarized each bi-weekly meeting, looking for new problems and shortcomings. From the beginning, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference has attached great importance to the construction of the biweekly consultation forum. The General Office of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference formed a research group to study carefully and drafted the "Working Methods of the Biweekly Consultation Forum (Trial)", September 2013, after the first Deliberated and approved at the six chairperson meetings. At the beginning of 2015, the "Regulations for the Organization and Service of Bi-weekly Negotiation Symposium (Trial)" was issued, which stipulated in detail 11 matters including plan formulation, personnel invitation, and speech materials. On this basis, in the second half of 2015, the experience of the previous meetings was summarized, and the "Recommendations on Further Improving the Bi-weekly Consultation Forum" were formed. From the topic setting of the meeting, personnel invitation, speech organization, results processing, publicity and reporting, etc. In this respect, the government solicited opinions extensively. Originating Entities and Funding

The bi-weekly consultation forum was planned by the General Office of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The process of determining the plan is as follows: Every year, the General Office of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will collect the topics of the bi-weekly consultation forum from the special committees, the central committees of the democratic parties, the Federation of Industry and Commerce, and some members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. After sorting it out, repeated consultations with relevant departments, and finally formed the annual consultation plan. After discussion at the office meeting of the chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, it was reported to the CPC Central Committee for formal approval.

Participant Selection

First, in the process of determining the participants in the consultation, attention should be paid to attracting representatives of all aspects related to the topic's interests in order to proceed from different perspectives to ensure that a more balanced judgment can be produced.

Second, invite members who have specialized research, deep understanding and strong interest in the topic, so as to conduct in-depth and substantive discussions on the topic, instead of talking about it in general. In order to ensure that the committee members are aware of and interested in the topic, starting from 2015, the committee adopts a "two-way choice" approach. At the beginning of the year, the CPPCC issued the "Regarding the CPPCC National Committee's 2015 Bi-weekly Consultation Forum to the committee members. "Letter", all committee members will voluntarily select the theme for in-depth research based on their work fields and expertise, submit speech materials, and then comprehensively select by the organizer. As a result, the fit between the committee members and the topic selection is further improved, and the quality of consultation is more effectively guaranteed. At the same time, in order to reflect the characteristics of the CPPCC, democratic parties and people without party affiliation should account for a certain proportion. In order to expand the participation of committee members, try not to invite committee members repeatedly.

Third, invite non-committee experts and scholars who have unique views on the topic. Of course, the bi-weekly consultation forum of the CPPCC will have its own characteristics and requirements. The main participants must be members of the CPPCC. Due to the limited scale of participation, generally within 20 people, the number of experts who are not members of the CPPCC is reserved. It is very limited. Generally, 2-3 people will be invited according to the topic.

Fourth, the leaders of relevant state departments are invited to come and have a dialogue with the committee members to directly listen to their opinions. Generally speaking, three or so deputy ministers and even ministers of relevant ministries and commissions participate in each consultation forum.

Deliberation, Decisions, and Public Interaction

1. Preliminary preparations . Since the annual negotiation plan of the bi-weekly consultation forum was determined in December of the previous year, the General Office of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will decompose the tasks listed in the annual consultation plan according to the nature of the issues. Special committees are responsible. Basically, each special committee has to undertake preliminary investigations and related preparations for two topics each year. Depending on the situation, the special committee may work with the democratic parties or the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce related to the issue. First, it will fully discuss the topics of the conference it undertakes; then, organize the relevant committee members to go to the grassroots and the masses with the problem. For investigation and research, the scope of investigation will generally involve 1-5 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions.

2. Conference organization . The meeting is divided into two stages: the first stage is to take turns to speak, to ensure that every participant has an equal opportunity to express. Different from the general negotiation practice, the rotating speech phase is divided into two units. The first unit consists of 5 reserved speakers, each for 8 minutes, and then a dozen free speakers, each for 5 minutes. The appointment of the spokesperson to speak is designed in advance and structured to ensure that the problem can be observed from different perspectives. This kind of structured scheduled speech also has the function of focusing, guiding participants to conduct in-depth discussions on the topic from a certain angle; free spokesperson speech is unstructured, hoping to introduce new social perspectives and stimulate new thinking , Effectively solve the misunderstanding and even misunderstanding caused by information asymmetry. The second stage is free discussion time, to ensure that there are conflicts between different views, and to increase consensus through rational discussion. In the free discussion stage, due to the participation of the heads of relevant departments, the bi-weekly consultation forum specifically reserved time for the heads of relevant departments, but it was stipulated that the response of the ministries and commissions could not exceed 5 minutes.

3. Summary report writing and results submission . Within 3 days after each meeting, the General Office of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference will work with the special committee to organize the opinions and suggestions in time and submit them to the relevant decision-making departments in the form of "Information Special Report". According to Gu Bin, director of the Information Bureau of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, at the beginning of the bi-weekly consultation forum, not all central leaders could see the results of the bi-weekly consultation. Initially, the results of the consultations sorted out after the end of the symposium were only reported to a few relevant central leaders in the form of a special report on the information of the CPPCC. Under normal circumstances, they are not reported to the national ministries. Later, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference decided to report the results of the consultations to the central leadership and relevant national ministries and commissions in the form of a general publication. Starting in March 2014, central leaders and relevant state ministries can see and understand the results of the bi-weekly consultation forum in time.

4. Publicity reports . Every two-week consultation forum, major domestic media, including the "People's Daily" and Xinhua News Agency, will report, and the "People's Political Consultative Conference" will also use two pages to extract the speeches of the participants. At the same time, the website of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference also opened a column for bi-weekly consultation forums. Related reports, summary of speeches, and even some videos will be presented in this column. The most important thing is that on the day of each symposium, the CCTV News Network will report on it. As we all know, the news broadcast is the most popular TV program in China, and its dissemination effect can be imagined.

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

As an important form of CPPCC negotiation, the biweekly consultation forum has the advantage that it can use the special status of the CPPCC in China's political system to effectively build a bridge between negotiation and decision-making. This bridge has two channels, one Channels connect political parties, and a channel connects the government. On the one hand, the results of the bi-weekly consultation forum will be directly reported to the members of the Politburo Standing Committee and the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee in the form of an ``Information Special Report'', and the Politburo and its Standing Committee are the core of China's decision-making; on the other hand, the double When the weekly consultation forum is held, the person in charge of the relevant department will be invited to participate. Although the bi-weekly consultation forum itself is not a decision-making consultation, this organizational form allows the negotiation results to reach the relevant decision-making department directly. Therefore, there are two ways for the bi-weekly consultation forum to influence decision-making: one is to promote the opinions and suggestions generated through consultation into the policy agenda through the instructions of the central leadership. In fact, the "Information Special Report" of the bi-weekly consultation forum has basically received instructions, and some special reports have even received more than 10 instructions; one is to directly promote policy formulation through the responsible person of the relevant department. The former is like the issue of construction industrialization, and the latter is like the issue of construction workers' work injury rights protection.

Notes

Author: Tanhuo Sheng, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University

Wu Zhihong, Editor, CPPCC Daily

Case Submitted by: Qin Xuan

This article is comprised of excerpts from Tan Huosheng and Wu Zhihong's article "Empirical Research on The CPPCC biweekly Consultation Forum in China".