A Study on Government's Response to Network Public Opinion Based on the Dimension of Governance

摘要

The rise and in-depth development of the network public opinion impose a higher requirement on our government's administrative capacity-building. Whether government correctly responds to network public opinion in time has become a significant and realistic topic which is related to social stability and national security. In China's current context, in the face of burgeoning network public opinion, ideas are divided on how government should respond to network public opinion, there are two distinct value dimensions: to exert rigid control characterized by blockade and cut-off or to launch flexible governance characterized by holding equal dialogue and giving judicious guidance according to the circumstance. The situation in recent years shows that government's rigid control on network public opinion fall into the plight which is difficult to alleviate. On the basis of studying the status quo and the current problems of government's response to network public opinion, this paper argues that government's response to network public opinion should change from imposing rigid control to launch flexible governance by means of enhancing the information literacy training for government officials, building scientifically network public opinion response mechanism and strengthening the management system of network public opinion and institutional building.