Categoría Aprendizaje Significativo

The third element of the Guangdong model is its unbalanced social system. The three factors in the social system – that is, social order, social security, and civil society – remain in different phases of development.

In terms of social order, Guangdong is still exploring how to make a transition from a traditional, simple-and-rigid system of social control to a system directed by law and social management innovation to achieve the goal of a stable society. However, since 2009, Guangdong has established centres of comprehensive 35

management, petitions, and stability maintenance (or preservation) in more than 1,600 towns and streets as a way to respond to social tensions. These management centres combine both traditional, rigid means of social control and innovative, new methods of social management through enhanced community management, convenient services, and justice-based, persuasion-oriented conflict resolution mechanisms.

Social insurance and social security (including endowment insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance, and maternity insurance) have also been developing rapidly. Guangdong ranks first across the country in measures of private social insurance, such as the numbers of persons insured by pension insurance, basic medical insurance for urban residents, unemployment insurance, and work-related injury insurance. On the other hand, government-funded social security (including social relief, social welfare, special care and placement systems, etc.) is quite weak.

The advantage of this relative emphasis on privately funded social insurance relieves the fiscal burden on government. For example, the “Zhanjiang Medicare Reform” increased the efficiency of the provision of Medicare by providing a maximum level of medical security coverage with a minimum input from the government and individuals. The disadvantage, however, is that it has led to an underdeveloped social security system in Guangdong.

According to the August 2011 national statistics on the guarantee of minimum standard of living for urban residents, Guangdong’s per capita contributions to social security was merely 181 yuan for the month of August – below the national average of 206 yuan and above only six other provinces (Fujian, Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Ningxia). In terms of cumulative total expenditures for the first eight months, Guangdong’s expenditure exceeded that of only eight provinces and was lower even than the municipalities of Shanghai and Chongqing. Thus Guangdong still lags behind the national level in terms of government-funded social security. It not only bears little relation to Guangdong’s position as a provincial economic power but also contrasts sharply with Guangdong’s leading role in the development of social insurance.

Civil society, on the other hand, is well-developed in Guangdong. There is a strong awareness of civil rights (particular the right to know the truth, to participate in politics, to express personal opinions, to supervise government activities, etc.); there are an increasing number of social organisations; and there is comparative freedom of expression and media. In short, citizens in

Guangdong have a clearer awareness of their rights in comparison with their counterparts in other regions of the country.

The strength of civil society in Guangdong has made the government more attentive to the public’s views and concerns; on the other hand, citizens have also learned to cultivate civil awareness and enhance citizen engagement and empowerment. They have employed a dual strategy combining lawful and rational protests and positive and constructive participation.

The protests against the construction of a waste incinerator in Guangzhou’s Panyu district, which began in 2009 and are still ongoing, are a typical example of action by Guangdong citizens. On the one hand, local residents organised marches and collected signatures to protest against the government’s proposal and eventually stopped the plan from being implemented. On the other hand, they established online forums, collected extensive information and expert views, launched policy debates on the subject of waste processing, and proposed waste classification as an alternative solution to the waste incineration plan. The constructive mode of action and tactics deployed by Panyu residents led them to be seen as “fellows on the other side of the debate” – that is, an indispensable force that cannot be underestimated by government.

In conclusion, the Guangdong model is undergoing a transition from a rigid system in which the government controlled both the market and society to a three-dimensional system in which the market and civil society interact with each other. On the surface, the challenge is to make a transition from an externally oriented economy to a domestically oriented one while maintaining a balance between “making the cake bigger” (i.e. efficiency) and “sharing the cake better” (i.e. fairness); to make a shift from a rigid and extensive system of social control to service-oriented social management with effective control of corruption. At a deeper level, there are fundamental structural challenges arising from the inherent problems of the system – the tension between the monopoly logic of an integrated system and the competition logic of a market economy system. The future of the Guangdong model depends on further reform and opening up.