免翻牆直連本站: 作者： 裴敏欣 來源： 財經網
在經歷了十年的口號統治之後，中國民眾想要一些實質性的進展。這給習主席提出了真正的挑戰。
幾乎所有的國家，不管是民主還是專制政體的統治精英都認為漂亮的口號能鼓舞民眾並使其權力合法化。當然，這其中有著關鍵性的差別。在實行民主制的國家，政府領導人要為其承諾負責：媒體可以仔細考究其政策，在野黨會主動揭發執政黨的謊言和騙局。因此，在位者常常會被迫兌現至少一部分承諾。
相比之下，威權統治者就無需面對這樣的壓力。這就會導致政府由喊口號者組成，被喊口號者把持，並只為那些喊口號者服務。
中國政府為了回應公眾對社會正義日益增長的需求，已經設計了眾多口號，比如「執政為民」、「構建和諧社會」、「平衡發展」及「科學發展」等等。
不管北京的最高層領導何時提出這樣的口號，它們都會成為官僚機構的戰鬥口號。
在過去的十年，中國GDP實現了高速增長，但社會正義、治理績效和公共福利的大部分指標反而都惡化了。隨著經濟增長變得過度依賴投資和出口，宏觀經濟失衡狀況不斷惡化。社會不平等狀況也在加劇。官員腐敗升級。社會流動性下降。環境惡化則到達了一個危機爆發點。
如今，避免接下來的十年繼續錯失時機的責任落在了以習近平主席為首的新一代領導層肩上。緊隨其前任的步調，新主席很快推出了一個新口號來激發公眾對其領導能力的信心。作為行政目標的宣傳語，「中華民族的偉大復興」有點長了，但它最近被改成了較為簡單的「中國夢」。
但中國夢的實質內容仍然難以確定。在習近平被選為新任中共總書記后首次公布其口號時，他用簡單，容易理解，但依然籠統的術語來定義中國夢：即「中國人民過上和世界其他國家人民一樣美好生活的夢想。」
自那以後習近平很少談及中國夢——不過，中國夢已經取代了官方政治宣傳中的「中國模式」標牌。不管新政府幹了些什麼，都會被看為是立志為讓「中國夢」成真而努力。
在經歷了十年的口號統治之後，中國民眾想要一些實質性的進展。這給習主席提出了真正的挑戰。他通過在共產黨內部贏得朋友和盟友攀上了權力頂峰。如今他領導著一個動態、多元且要求越來越高的社會，他必須獲得公眾的支持和信心以維持其信譽並成為一個拿得出政績的政治家。
習近平應該做的第一件事情是要明確給出一個更清晰、更具體且鼓舞人心的中國夢版本，並阻止宣傳官員代他去下定義。中國夢可以包含所有普通中國人想要的經濟利益和物質需求，但如果缺乏文明社會公民視為理所當然的人權和尊嚴，中國夢就會是一個不完整的理念。
習近平及其同僚應該做的第二件事則是跟進實施可以支撐其宣傳目標可信度的具體政策和行動。政治口號——無論多麼高調，當許諾者不能兌現其承諾時都會變味。
習可能還正與中國的民眾享受著他們之間的美好「蜜月」，但這個「蜜月」期會很短。他的前任有十年的時間來實施真正的改革但只實現了很小一部分，這使得中國人失去了再次忍受十年空喊口號的信心。
原英文版：China's Dream World
After a decade of government by slogan, the Chinese public wants substance. This presents Xi with a real challenge.
By Minxin Pei
CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA – Ruling elites almost everywhere – whether in democracies or in authoritarian regimes – believe that clever sloganeering can inspire their people and legitimize their power. There are, of course, crucial differences. In functioning democracies, government leaders can be held accountable for their promises: the press can scrutinize their policies, opposition parties are motivated to show that the party in power lies and cheats. As a result, incumbents are frequently forced to carry out at least some of their promises.
Autocratic rulers, by contrast, face no such pressures. The result is government of the sloganeers, by the sloganeers, and for the sloganeers.
In China, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in response to rising public demand for social justice, has devised numerous slogans, such as "governing for the people," "building a harmonious society," "balanced development," "scientific development," and so on.
Whenever the top leadership in Beijing uttered such slogans, they became the rallying cry of the bureaucracy.
In the last decade, GDP growth soared, but most indices of social justice, governance performance, and public welfare deteriorated. Macroeconomic imbalances worsened as economic growth became excessively dependent on investment and exports. Inequality worsened. Official corruption escalated. Social mobility declined. Environmental degradation reached a crisis point.
Today, it is the responsibility of China's new leadership, headed by President Xi Jinping, to avert another decade of missed opportunities. Without missing a beat, Xi, like his predecessors, rolled out a new slogan to inspire popular confidence in his leadership. As a catchphrase for his administration's objective, "the great renaissance of the Chinese nation" is bit long, but it has lately morphed into the simpler "China Dream."
The substance of the China Dream remains difficult to determine. When Xi first unveiled his slogan after being selected as the CCP's new general secretary, he defined it in simple, accessible, but nonetheless generic terms: The "Chinese people dream of living the same good life as all other people in the world."
Xi has said little about the China Dream since – but the China Dream has replaced the "China Model" in official political branding. Whatever the new administration does is touted as part of its ambitious effort to make the "China Dream" come true.
After a decade of government by slogan, the Chinese public wants substance. This presents Xi with a real challenge. He has risen to the top by winning friends and allies inside the CCP. Now that he is the leader of a dynamic, diverse, and increasingly demanding society, he must gain popular support and confidence to maintain his credibility and become an effective politician.
The first thing that Xi should do is to articulate a clearer, more specific, and inspiring version of the China Dream, and stop letting the CCP's propaganda officials define it for him. The China Dream may include all of the economic benefits and material comfort that ordinary Chinese desire, but it will not be complete without the human rights and dignity that citizens in civilized societies take for granted.
The second thing that Xi and his colleagues need to do is to follow up with specific policies and actions that can bolster the credibility of their declared goals. Political slogans, however high-sounding, become stale when their purveyors fail to make good on their promises.
Xi may still be enjoying a honeymoon with the Chinese public, but it is likely to be a short one. His predecessors had ten years to carry out real reforms and accomplished little, leaving the Chinese in no mood to endure another decade of government by shibboleth.