Government power should walk hand in hand with its responsibilities, says an article in China Youth Daily. An excerpt follows:

Not long ago, Handan, a city in North China's Hebei Province, released a power list detailing 93 items of authority under the mayor's jurisdiction.

Following in Handan's footsteps, Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan Province, released a similar list for its municipal government a few days ago, setting out 4,122 items of administrative power the city government is entitled to wield.

Making public the details of administrative power, a move that effectively puts the government under public scrutiny, is a giant stride forward.

It will enhance the public's right to know and increase governance transparency, which is conducive to supervising government bodies' power.

But one cannot help asking: As the government enjoys such sweeping administrative power, what are its corresponding responsibilities?

How about publishing a detailed account of these duties?

Government power, according to public administration theory, is granted by the public.

Such a power transfer is necessary so the government can more efficiently provide the public with social services. Or in other words, the legitimacy of government power lies in its function of providing services to the public.

As such, it is logical to demand that a government's obligations and responsibilities come along with its power.

Detailing the government's obligations and responsibilities could make public supervision of power more effective.

More importantly this will reveal whether the government's administrative power is legitimate or not, which is of great significance at present when a rule-of-law government is yet to be established.

Currently some administrative organs only set out their power but shy away from their corresponding duties and responsibilities. In this sense, although making power lists public is a significant move, releasing a similar note of responsibilities could do the public an even greater service.

(China Daily September 21, 2005)