The Concept of Regional Rule of Law Is Better:A Rejoinder to Zhang Biao and Zhou Yezhong(PDF)
《南京师大学报》（社会科学版）[ISSN:1006-6977/CN:61-1281/TN]
- Issue:
- 2016年01期
- Page:
- 5-
- Research Field:
- 本刊特稿：区域法治发展研究
- Publishing date:
Info
- Title:
- The Concept of Regional Rule of Law Is Better:A Rejoinder to Zhang Biao and Zhou Yezhong
- Author(s):
- GONG Pi-xiang
- Keywords:
- region; regional rule of law; logical force
- PACS:
- -
- DOI:
- -
- Abstract:
- As an established notion, the concept of region involves various disciplines and is complicated both intensionally and extensionally. From the perspective of legal studies, the notion of region, when limited to refer to the regions within a sovereign state, has two aspects: the one refers to the specific regional space unit within a certain administrative division and the other to the organic grouping of space units across different administrative divisions. Therefore, the notion of regional rule of law refers not only to the regional governance in accordance with the law based on the administrative divisions but also to the coordinated governance between different administrative divisions within the sovereign state, thus incorporating the elements of the concept of regional legal system. In contemporary China, as an indispensable part of the national rule of law, the regional rule of law actually embodies the core essence of the unity of state sovereignty, and it constitutes the practical means for the implementation of regional social governance power or regional administrative power under the condition of a unitary system of state structure. There is no such thing as the regional rule of law based on “the dualism of state sovereignty”. Therefore, the two notions of “region” and “rule of law” are both selfconsistent in logic, history and current significance. In addition, those two concepts of “regional rule of law” and “local rule of law” are commensurate with each other to a large extent. The term “regional rule of law”, however, introduces the variable of space and shows the rich and various spatial structures in the development of regional rule of law in order to reveal the inner logic and mechanism of regional rule of law. Therefore, we have enough reason to develop the concept of “regional rule of law” and enrich the discourse system of Chinese rule of law. All this is expected to respond to the call for theoretical innovations in the process of China’s rule of law in this era of transformation.
Last Update: 2016-02-02