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我国中央与地方关系的探讨兼论未来中央与地方关系走向

中央与地方的关系从本质上来说是以集权或分权为中心的物质利益基础上的组织内部中心与外围,整体与部分之间的结构关系。一般来说,中央政权是国家利益的代表,地方政权是地方利益的代表,地方利益与中央地方利益的协调与博弈,构成了中央与地方多种矛盾关系。中央与地方关系的协调融洽极大的影响到国家的政治稳定,社会经济的发展,在国际社会中的地位。本文将从中国古代传统意义上的中央与地方关系模式,建国后中央与地方关系模式分析探讨处理中央与地方关系的规律,结合现阶段我国中央与地方关系存在的问题,预测未来我国中央与地方关系的新形势。

古代中央与地方模式基本关系探析

权力分配是中央与地方关系的核心内容,以此为依据,人们将中央与地方的关系划分为中央集权型与地方分权型。恩格斯说,集权是国家的本质,国家的生命基础。古代中国作为传统的农业文明国家,以小农经济为政权经济基础的客观现实使得历代统治者均将加强中央集权,强化对地方政治经济的控制作为王朝的头等大事;小农经济的生产模式,传统的治水文化与儒家的大一统思想也使得底层人民对中央集权有一种天生的推崇感。历史上中央与地方的关系稳定与否往往决定了王朝的兴衰:秦时强中央而弱地方,致使地方无权也无力即使应对蜂拥而起的农民起义;汉初施行郡国并存制,致使王国实力做大,七国之乱险些推翻正统;汉末各地刺史州牧集军政大权于一手,割据一方,使得汉天子的中央权威名存实亡,进而进入了长达五百年混乱的魏晋南北朝时代;唐末各地藩镇割据,尾大不掉,致使唐昭宗被朱温所挟持,最终王朝灭亡;两宋时期吸取唐朝灭亡教训,着眼于收权,立足于集权,造成内重外轻的局面,地方割据不复存在的同时也使王朝积贫积弱;元明清时期继续加强集权,且运用行省,三司,督抚制度,使集权达到顶峰。从历史的演进来看,郡县制取代封国制,而为便于加强对郡县的控制,更高级的部州方镇高层督政区得以出现,由于藩镇割据问题,又进一步演化为行省督抚分寄式中央集权。这种分寄式中央集权,即在传统的郡县制上,另加行省督抚之类的固定高层督政区于州路之上,发挥替中央控制地方,为中央集权服务。总而言之,自君主专制形成之后,统治者均以强化中央弱化地方为目标处理中央与地方关系,但由于经济文化,地理环境政治方面的因素,中央集权与往往与地方割据主次兴替,相间而存。

所谓中央集权,其核心内容为地方各级官员无独立性,统一服从于中央政府,受中央政府的领导与监督,执行中央政府的决策与法令。王朝在加强中央集权过程中主要通过以下手段:第一全面推行职业官僚任职的郡县制,任命忠于王朝食国家俸禄的官吏执掌地方,且重要事务必须上报地方,地方无权处置,多数情况下施行军民分治,地方长官不能统一掌管军事与民政;第二,加强对地方监察,将地方官员置于垂直监察系统之下;第三,各级官员任免升迁均有中央抉择,防止地方势力做大;第四,通过税收财政收入的集中,防止地方实力增强;第五,大力宣传儒家思想,增强中央集权在意识形态领域的合法性与认可度。

我国疆域幅员辽阔,民族众多,地主租佃制早熟等原因,自秦朝就采取中央集权制度,大一统中央集权制度,有利于维护国家统一与社会稳定,有利于各地经济交流与抵御外来势力入侵。但是我国古代中央集权制度目的是为君主专制服务的,所以具有野蛮型与滞后性的特点,为了加强君主的统治一味加强中央集权,造成地方应有的最基本的独立自主权被剥夺,严重影响到地方经济社会发展,带来了消极的后果:首先,中央集权过多严重影响了地方的行政效率,按照现代行政学原理,有计划,有目标的将权力划分给下级部门,有利于发挥下级的专长与能力提高行政效率,对此,顾炎武“郡县之失,其专在上”,王夫之的“上统之则乱,分统之则治”均大加批判该种集权;其次,中央过度集权造成地方积贫积弱,严重影响地方经济发展;第三,由于中央为保持对地方的有力控制与监察,设置多层官员,为防止地方专权,在地方又设置多种官职分管不同事权,这样就造成了官员冗杂,上下级统属关系不明,权限不清的问题;最后,极大对皇帝专制独裁推波助澜。

一味集权与一味分权均不利于国家长远发展,在保持中央权威性的同时尽可能提高地方积极性,探讨如何解决中央与地方财权,军权,人事权力的矛盾始终贯穿古代中央与地方关系,对今天中国划分中央与地方权力有极大借鉴作用。

建国后中央与地方关系

建国之后我国央地关系主要分为传统计划经济时期与改革开放后时期,期间为适应经济社会发展需要,集权与分权多次循环,在一定时期内形成了“一统就死,一死就放,一放就乱,一乱就统”的怪圈,如何走出这一怪圈是我们当前亟待解决的问题。

1949年,根据《共同纲领》:中央各部和其他国家机关相继成立,同时也相应地组建了地方各级人民政府,中央高度集权的单一政治体制应运而生。1950年3月,政务院颁布了《关于统一国家财政经济工作的决定》,第一次对中央与地方经济管理权限进行了划分,全国的财政、经济、金融、行政管理权全部集中到中央政府手里,而地方政府则设立了与中央经济部门相对应的经济管理机构,“条条”管理体制初告形成。与此同时,全国被划分为东北、华北、华东、西南、中南、西北六大行政区,中央对省级地方政府的领导要经过大一级。不过,为了减少组织层次,增加工作效率,1954年6月中央撤消了大行政区。五六年社会主义基本制度的确立与一五计划的开展使得计划经济成为经济发展的主导模式,市场调节被排除在外,中央对经济计划的制定与指导使得地方独立性有所丧失,但我国并未走上苏联式的高度集权模式:毛泽东在《论十大关系》中提出,要发挥两个积极性,扩大地方权力;批评了“条条专政”的现象,倡导中央部门在制定计划与实施过程中要尊重地方政府的意见;划分两类中央部门:规划部门与落实部门。这些都是探索突破高度中央集权模式,建立适合我国国情的中央与地方关系模式的开始。

1958年,伴随着“大跃进”运动,中央开始对高度集中的计划经济管理体制进行改革,包括减少计划分配物资、下放基建审批权、下放招工权,使地方政府获得了较大的自主权和独立利益。这些权力下放行动虽然调动了地方的积极性,促进了地方工业的发展,但下放得过多过急,否定了综合平衡,造成了比例失调、经济混乱。随后中央开展了集权行动,收回了地方人权,财权,商权与公权,但不久开始的文革又提出下放管理权力给地方,事实证明这次权力下放造成了地方经济的混乱,国民经济比例的失调。1975年,邓小平复出后,大力整顿经济,整顿的核心就是集中权力,将铁路邮政民航的重要部门统一领导,收回了部分税收财政与物资管理权。

改革开放以来,随着经济体制的改变,我国关于权力划分不再是简单的集权与分权而是采取多元化措施,在划分权力过程中主要牵扯财税改革与政府体制改革两方面即传统的财权与事权。

就财权方面,进行了重塑中央与地方财税划分体制改革:1980年2月推行的“划分收支、分级包干”财政管理体制将收支进行分类分成,其中收人分为固定收人、固定比例分成收人和调剂收人,支出按企业和事业单位的隶属关系进行划分,地方财政自求平衡;经过两步利改税后,1985年调整为“划分税种、核定收支、分级包干”的财政体制,将过去的划分收人改为划分税种,形成中央税、地方税和共享税三类,支出方面则按隶属关系,划分中央和地方两级财政支出的范围,这有利于进一步明确各级财政的权利和责任,特别是使地方具有了自主行使财权的权限[’];1988年7月28日,国务院发布了《关于地方实行财政包干办法的决定》,推行了财政大包干制度,包括“收人递增包干”、“上解额递增包干”、“定额上解”、“定额补助”等四种包干办法,按照一定的比例确保中央财政收入,增量部分留给地方政府。这些措施极大调动起了地方的积极性,适应了改革开放,以经济建设为中心的需求;其次,权力的下移减少了中央集中决策的内容与数量,弱化了自下而上的的控制,使决策程序简化,提高决策效率,减少了中央决策失误而带来的地方损失;最后增强了地方政府大胆创新,推行试点试验区的信心,增强了改革的活力。但是这不可避免的带来了以下问题,且这些问题仍然亟待现在解决是破解中央与地方关系困境的瓶颈

第一,政府财政分散,中央政府的财力急剧下降,宏观调控能力削弱。地方政府由于获得了很大的财权,为了地方利益将收入想方设法流在地方,使得国家财政收入占GDP比重下降,中央财政收入占全国财政收入的比重下降,不利于中央政府把握调控宏观经济的主动权,不利于提高应对复杂环境的应变能力,不利于调节社会分配不公与地方发展差距,影响社会稳定。

第二,造成重复建设,产业结构趋同,导致通货膨胀。在地方财权扩大,财力扩大,国家宏观调控能力下降情况下,地方为其经济利益大力兴建项目,特别是税高利大的项目,造成重复性建设资源大量浪费引发通货膨胀;且使产业结构单一不合理,各地产业趋同化。现今地方政府的土地财政很大一部分仍是这一原因引发的。

第三,造成地方保护主义,割裂了统一的市场。各地政府在法律法规上偏袒地方企业,为外来企业设置进入门槛;保护落后企业,对资不抵债的企业实施财政输血而不进行破产,极大造成了财政的浪费

第四,由于各地地理性差异导致的政策性差异使的各地发展水平不一,且地区性差异性越来愈大。针对这一情况,国家于1994年开展分税制改革,以加强中央对地方的财政控制力:一是中央与地方的事权和支出划分。二是中央与地方的收入划分。根据事权与财权结合的原则,按税种划分中央与地方收入,三是政府间财政转移与支付制度,四是分设中央与地方两套税务机构,建立健全分级预算制度,硬化各级预算约束。分税制重新增强了中央政府在财政上的优势主导地位,同时也使地方获利。但依然存在问题,该部分将在目前央地现状讨论。

目前中央与地方关系的困境与现状

我国中央集权的政治现状与市场经济需要分权的矛盾,中央利益与地方利益矛盾,地区间经济发展水平的差异,关于中央与地方关系制度法律规范的滞后都是目前困境所造成的原因。为什么中央对地方的控制力会下降,是本部分主要探讨的问题。

不可否认,我国中央政府的权威在进一步弱化,“政令不出中南海”的现实越来越严重,中央的政策在地方落实中往往被搁置或异化,近年来关于房价的宏观调控就因为牵扯到地方政府的利益而一直难以奏效。在毛邓政治强人时代,中央对地方的控制主要在于政治强人自身的革命权威与政治威望,这种个人权威最终未能转化为制度权威致使政治强人时代落幕后,地方对中央的认同感与敬畏感下降,地方的离心趋向增强。

除此之外,由于我国政府体制中“条块管理”的特征,中央对地方的控制力在看似加强的同时不可避免的造成了管理权限归属不清,底层部门受多个部门管辖重复管理现象,极大造成了行政资源的浪费,同时使下级对上级产生抵触心理,进而影响上级决策在地方施行的坚决性与完整性。

市场经济的开放性极大密切了地方政府各自间的联系,在涉及其共同利益受到威胁时,各地方政府极易形成团聚效应,进而对抗中央。就宏观调控失效问题上:中央利益如果与地方利益相违背,地方如果事先相互取得信息沟通,就形成了一个对抗群体,除非中央有很强的执行信心,否则调控必将失效。原因在于,地方利益集团实力过大,无法找出一个突出的处罚典型,杀一儆百的惩罚措施因为处罚成本过大而变成了法不责众,进一步损害了中央的权威。

此外,分税制带来的弊端日益显现,从其措施来看:分税制削弱了地方税收的管理权限,影响了地方政府的收入造成了中央强地方弱的现状;中央收回财权却未能处理好事权,造成地方政府仍要承担很多中央政府的基础建设责任;,鉴于我国目前的税制体系中流转税居于主导地位,中央政府就把分税的重点放在了流转税上,而所得税大部分划给了地方。这样做的直接的后果就是东部地区地方政府的财政自给能力与中西部地区政府的财政自给能力差距越来越大。因为从我国的现状来看,东部地区工商业发达,人均收入很高,因此所得税比重很大,甚至居于主导地位,流转税的比重相对较少,比如北京、上海、广州等等;而中西部地区正好相反,由于工商业不发达,而且人均收入水平地下,所以流转税居于主导地位,所得税比重很小。这样以来,中央推行的分税制改革反而起到了“劫贫济富”的后果;地方为了扩大财源,推行土地财政,导致房价急速上升;买税创收,使得官商勾结现象愈演愈烈;盲目引进投资项目,对高污染高耗能产业倚重恶化当地生态环境。

中央对地方控制力下降还体现在人事方面,尽管中央通过党委掌握着各省省委的任免调动权力,但由于地方利益集团越来也大,中央在人事任免方面不得不考虑地方因素,增强了地方人事任免的话语权。

除了中央对地方控制力下降这一现状外,目前我国中央与地方关系还存在以下不足:

第一,中央与地方政府的事权划分尚未明晰规范。有的事权界定不规范,界限不明确,权限变化的随意性与盲目性有很大。

第二,政府职能还未彻底转化。当前在政府职能中,一些该分的权还未能分下去,政企不分现象依然大量存在。

第三,中央与地方关系发展收到政治体制改革滞后性的制约,难以进一步向前优化。

第四,我国地方政府层级过多,影响行政效率,政策执行力在多层级中逐层减小。

未来优化央地关系的措施与前景

在中央集权与地方分权的矛盾中,我们先要考虑一个问题:进行中央与地方间关系的改革,会否增加社会的不稳定性以致使国家走向分裂。

笔者认为答案是否定的:首先,中央权威在民众中的影响力与认同感仍然很强,而民众对于地方政府的政治信任度远不及中央政府,所以地方权力的扩大不会导致地方民众对中央认同感下降,民意不支持也不会允许地方走向独立;第二中央对国家经济依然保持重大影响力,包括安排国家经济重点项目,确定管制环境,在高技术领域的专业控制力都使得地方政府为发展地方必须服从中央;第三,中国历史的影响也极大地增强了中央在体制中的作用,中国文化一直在灌输服从的习惯以及人们对于一个强大而公正的国家的期望,都使得地方主义不得人心。

未来我们在中央与地方关系的改革上,应落实以下方面:

第一,进行区域行政划分调整,即省制改革。传统的省制存在以下弊端:省级区域过大,使得层级幅度不合理,一方面不利于中央与地方沟通,甚至导致政策变型。另一方面,容易造成行政机构增加,人浮于事,降低行政效率;省区之间面积与人口相差悬殊,造成中央管理难度增加;由于历史原因,我国存在省界划分不合理现象,突出表现为省界与自然地理区域划分单元不一致,影响经济协调发展。

针对省制改革问题主要存在兴省论,缩省论,虚省论三种观点,笔者比较认同缩省论,首先省制在我国施行历史悠久,在经济发展中起到的作用也十分巨大,省制背后的利益集体势力较大,盲目虚省废省必然导致社会不稳定加剧违背改革初衷。针对缩省,应采取划小省区,撤销地级行政区,合并一些县级地区,减小层级划分,提高行政效率,增强中央对地方的控制力与指导力。

第二,加大制度化与法制化对中央与地方关系的规范作用。现行宪法和地方组织法虽然都有关于中央与地方关系方面的内容,但过于笼统,缺乏操作性,没有配套规定。现行宪法只规定了中央与地方政府的组织形式和中央与地方国家机构职权划分的总原则,没有明确划分中央与地方的权力。所以必须尽快完善地方组织法,明确中央与地方的组织权限,利益权限,职能权限,将中央与地方的关系纳入法制化进程中。

第三,明确中央与地方的事权划分,针对事权的划分,前财政部部长谢旭人提出了划分权限的具体原则。市场原则,界定政府职能,改变政府包揽过多的弊端;范围原则;效率原则,地方效率高则由地方办,中央效率高由中央处理;分级管理原则,中央与地方处理不同事务;法律规范原则,事权的划分与调整都应经过法律程序,确保稳定性

第四,加快市场化进程,尽快推动政企分离。由于地方政府与地方企业界限划分不明显,致使地方政府不单单是社会公共服务的提供者与管理者还是参与利益获得者,这样在中央政策损害地方利益之时,地方为维护其利益间接对抗中央,损害中央政府的权威

中央与地方关系的改善涉及面较广,影响因素多样,我国的政治体制改革推进程度很大一方面影响着央地关系改善的进程。逐步完善,多方权衡是改革能顺利推进所必需的。

参考书目

1《中国五千年中央与地方关系史》 李治安主编 人民出版社出版

2《未竟的改革》 郑永年著

3《当代中国政治制度导论》 杨光斌著

4《治理中国,从改革到革命》 李侃如著

5《中央与地方权力的再思考——从国家看我国国家结构形式》 艾晓金 《浙江社会科学》2001.1

6宋梓铭·《中央政府和地方政府财权与事权的划分》[J]·《行政法学研究》,1994,(2)

7《处理中央与地方关系的关键:财权与事权的合理划分》魏星河,刘堂山 江西行政学院学报 2004.2

8《央强地弱,政治信任结构的解析》叶敏 彭燕 甘肃行政学院学报 2010.3

9《试论分税制下中央与地方间的变相博弈》洪江 中央财经大学学报 2000.5

10《理解当代中国的中央与地方关系》刘承礼 当代经济科学2008.9

11《新中国经济史》 苏星 中央党校出版社 2007

12《.新中国经济建设简史》 刘日新.北京:中央文献出版社 2006

13《转型时期中央与地方关系论纲》王玉明 南京社会科学 1999.7

14《中国经济专题》 林毅夫 中信出版社 2008

15《分权的底线》王绍光 战略管理 1995.3.

16《中国历代政治得失》 钱穆 社科文献出版社 2001

17辛向阳:《大国诸侯:中国中央与地方关系之结》,中国社会科学出版社1996年版

18《为什么宏观调控会成为空调》 陈建 河北经贸大学学报 2012.5

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