Chapter 33 Chapter Thirty-One Official Publishing Fever: Utilitarianism or Passion

The country should establish a normal publishing channel for scientific officials, strengthen supervision, and leave valuable ideological wealth to the society. In recent years, among party and government officials at all levels, there has been an intensified "book publishing craze". Article 35 of my country's Constitution clearly stipulates: "Citizens have the freedom of speech, publication, assembly, association, procession, and demonstration." Undoubtedly, officials, as social elites, if they have certain research and unique insights in a certain field, they can put themselves The valuable experience and deep understanding in practice are written into books and published, which is a valuable ideological wealth for the society.

The reporter's investigation found that some officials have indeed contributed some good works to the society through their own hard work.But the books published by some officials are of poor quality and not written by themselves.What is even more unbelievable is that some officials also pay for the publication of books with public funds. After publication, they use their own power resources to sell the books to subordinate units and individuals, and put the money from selling books into their own pockets. Relevant experts interviewed believe that to solve the corruption problem of officials publishing books, we should not only rely on officials’ self-discipline, but also establish scientific and normal publishing channels for officials at the national level, so as to eradicate the reality of corruption in the name of officials lending books A hotbed for officials to regulate and restrain the behavior of officials.

On August 15, 2008, the reporter received a newly published book written by a local official whom the reporter had known for many years. "This book has printed 20,000 copies, and I have processed most of them." The official said frankly in a phone call to reporters afterwards, "The sales of this book are not good. I would like to ask you to write a book review to promote it in the newspaper." The reporter looked through it carefully and found that the book was published by a large domestic publishing house. The paper is fine and the decoration is luxurious and exquisite.

At present, it is an indisputable fact that it has become a "fashion" for officials to publish books.According to reports, many officials in Shaanxi Province have published novels, essays and anthologies.Yang Lesheng, a professor at the School of Liberal Arts of Northwest University, said: "In Shaanxi, official writing is very common, from the grassroots to the bureau, from the township to the provincial party committee, it can be said that it has become a scale." So, how many officials in the whole country are "writing books and setting up talks"?The reporter was unable to calculate an exact figure, but as long as you pay a little attention in the bookstore, you will find that the authors of many of these books also have the special status of officials.Some officials also gained the elegant titles of "study-type" and "scholar-type" officials and "literary officials", "amphibious officials" and "Confucian officials" because of "writing books and setting up theory".

"There are indeed a lot of books published by officials now, and they are often tomes or first and second volumes, one, two, three volumes, etc." A staff member of Beijing Xidan Book Building told reporters, "In such books, except for a few The books published by some officials that we know are relatively popular, but most of them are not selling well, and the backlog is very serious. We are generally more cautious in purchasing such books.” In reality, some officials are busy with entertainment and official duties all day long, so why can they publish "writings" every now and then?According to insiders, many of the officials' works were not written by themselves. "Secretary catches the sword, leader signs" has long been a "hidden rule" that everyone knows in official circles, but they never break it.

The reporter learned that as long as officials reach a certain level, they have their own "secretary team".The signed articles published by some officials in journals are almost all done by the secretary. "Composition" for officials has long been one of the important tasks of the "secretary team".Generally speaking, the unit's research room, office and other departments are the main source of official signed articles. A friend who worked as a secretary for the mayor of a certain city in Yunnan Province for many years explained to the reporter the "road map" for officials to publish a book - if an official wants to publish a book, he will arrange a "secretary team" to write a signed article for him, Including research reports, theoretical articles, learning experience, etc., which are published in local newspapers and periodicals, and when the number of articles has accumulated to a certain amount, someone will take the initiative to organize and compile them for public funds and publish them.After the book is published, royalties, manuscript fees, etc. will be given to officials.If the official is willing, he can also use his power and influence to promote the book to his subordinates in case of "needs for learning", and the money for the book will fall into his own pocket.

According to many people's reports, there are very few officials who want to publish a book, but they can't bear the face and ask the secretary to do it for them, so they go to universities or research institutions to find someone to write it for them.For those who write books, officials don't let them work for nothing. They often either give the other party a little remuneration, or help the other party with some other things. Some local officials even get involved in the compilation of teaching materials. On August 28, 2006, Xin Chunying, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and deputy director of the Legal Work Committee of the National People's Congress, said when interpreting the revised compulsory education law: "Officials in many places are involved in the compilation, publication and distribution of textbooks themselves. It has become a very important area of ​​education corruption."

The reporter's investigation found that the number of books published by officials is generally not low, and some even reach tens of thousands of copies, which is an enviable number.There are no more than two sales channels for such books: one is to purchase with public funds from the institutions and individuals under their jurisdiction, and the other is to enter the formal distribution channels through power resources.From the perspective of sales volume, the former often occupies an absolute proportion. "I also know that I am not expected to write a book, but my colleagues have been appreciated by their superiors for publishing books and have been promoted one after another, so I plan to publish a book myself." The reporter has a friend who is a bureau chief in a southern city. Later, he told reporters privately, "According to my current conditions, it is not difficult to find someone to write and publish a book."

"Some officials have a good starting point for publishing books, mainly because they want to write and publish their own experience and experience in practice, and leave a valuable ideological wealth to the society." Professor Li Chengyan, a doctoral supervisor at the School of Government and Administration of Peking University, accepted the reporter During the interview, he thought, “However, the purpose of a small number of officials publishing books is worthy of our vigilance. It is mainly reflected in three aspects. First, to improve social status. By publishing books, officials can package themselves and make others feel that they are not only leading cadres, Moreover, they are still literati and scholars, raising their status invisibly. Secondly, to gain political capital. Some officials consciously write some autobiographical content in the book, linking it with their political achievements and business, setting up a monument for themselves, and making hidden advertisements. Gain political capital. Third, collect money. Use power resources to sell books to institutions and individuals under their jurisdiction, and then 'justifiably' accept the money for selling books."

"The corruption of publishing books with official funds is extremely concealed, and it is not easy to attract others' attention, and the legal risk is relatively small." Associate Professor Yang Zhonghong of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology believes, "This kind of corruption is the same as fake works, fake titles, and fake diplomas. , False political achievements come down in one continuous line, the root of which is the wrong view of political achievements eager for quick success.” It is understood that as long as officials publish books, units and individuals with interests related to them are very "enthusiastic". They often not only actively sponsor the publication of books, but also purchase "monographs" in large quantities after publication. Some even know that the quality of the books is not high and the practical value is not good. Big, will "strongly request" officials to reprint and reprint, but actually buy the books back, either piled up in the warehouse all year round, or go directly to the waste collection station without opening.

"These are not quasi-books of works, but a kind of pollution to book publishing." Li Chengyan said. Relevant experts believe that officials have a special status, so publishing a book is not only a personal reputation, but also directly reflects the level and image of the government.If the quality of books published by officials is low, not only will the real level of officials be questioned by the public, but it will also reduce the government's social credibility. "Some officials steal the articles written by the secretary as their own, and even hire 'gunmen' to write for themselves, which seriously affects the prestige of the officials." A civil servant of an agency directly under Beijing said, "Especially after the book was published, many officials used Selling one's own power downwards not only increases the financial burden of subordinate institutions, but also affects the image of officials and higher authorities in subordinate institutions." The reporter learned that the publishing of books by officials also provides opportunities for some unscrupulous people to flatter them.Some people who are struggling to find opportunities for promotion and who have a bit of literary talent are often willing to take the initiative to grab the knife for officials and give them "books" to win the favor of officials with the intangible "gift" of authorship. "It is precisely because some officials like to be arty, there will be those who 'flatter officials with literature'." Professor Qi Shanhong, a doctoral supervisor at Nankai University, said in an interview with reporters. Those who flatter officials are regarded as talents and entrusted with heavy responsibilities at work, which destroys the normal atmosphere of employing people and causes confusion in personnel appointments." In recent years, there have been many typical cases of "fallen horses" in which officials published books. In April 2006, Gao Yong, former member of the Standing Committee of the Chengdu Municipal Party Committee and director of the Propaganda Department, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and deprived of political rights for life by the Sichuan Provincial Higher People's Court for accepting bribes and having a huge amount of property with unknown sources.Throughout the trial process, the procuratorate provided evidence that Gao Yong, in the name of publishing a book, demanded several dollars in sponsorship fees from nearly a hundred units and individuals in the name of "supporting Gao Yong's publication" or "buying books" since he served as the deputy governor of Liangshan Prefecture. million dollar.A total of 23 units gave money to Gao Yong. Officials have a wealth of power resources in their hands, and they have a lot of "convenience" in the process of applying for book numbers, paying royalties, and publishing and selling. Coupled with out-of-control supervision, it is easy to evolve into a new form of corruption. How to stop officials from using power for personal gain to publish books is already a new topic for the relevant anti-corruption departments.As early as September 2002, the Hubei Provincial Commission for Disciplinary Inspection and the Provincial Supervision Department stipulated: "Leading cadres are not allowed to use public funds to publish books edited by themselves or hold exhibitions of their own calligraphy, art, photography, etc. in violation of regulations." In March 2005, the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government also clearly defined the "red line" for leading cadres to publish books, requiring: "Without the approval of the organization, party and government officials at all levels shall not participate in the compilation of publications in their own name, and shall not Titles of party and government positions shall be placed on publications, and power and influence shall not be used to seek improper benefits in publishing books." As far as we know, there is no national-level regulation in our country to regulate the publishing of books by officials.However, in order to curb the abuse of administrative power, many countries in the West have strictly prohibited officials from publishing books while in office, and publishing books after retirement is a personal act.The reasons for this approach are very simple: First, on the whole, the effectiveness of publishing books during an official’s term of office is not strong, and it is easy to confuse the actual achievements of officials; second, during the official term of office, they belong to the establishment of civil servants, and publishing books during their term of office tends to plagiarize collective achievements . "For officials to publish books, we should analyze specific issues and there is no need to 'one size fits all'." Qi Shanhong believes, "Legislation should be made at the national level to clearly stipulate the publication of books by officials at all levels. On the one hand, officials are prohibited from using power for profit. Officials seeking papers, abusing power, and increasing punishment for officials publishing books in violation of discipline. On the other hand, normal publishing channels for officials should be established.” "Generally speaking, it is more meaningful to establish a scientific and normal publication channel for officials to strengthen the supervision of official publications than to simply curb official publications." Du Liyuan, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongsheng Law Firm, suggested, "First of all , check from the source, establish organizational approval procedures, and prevent problems before they happen. Without organizational approval, party and government officials at all levels are not allowed to participate in the compilation of publications in their own names, and they are not allowed to put party and government titles on publications. Leaking party and state secrets in books written by individuals. Secondly, set up relevant restrictive systems in the process to cut off illegal channels of "using power for personal gain" and "borrowing books for profit". , hold personal exhibitions; clarify the social roles and functions of party and government agencies, and prohibit party and government agencies from compiling "anthology" and "compendium" and other books and materials in the name of units and party and government officials at all levels; improve the official income declaration system to prevent party and government agencies at all levels Political officials use their power and influence to seek improper benefits in publishing books. Third, raise awareness of the law, strengthen supervision, and strictly investigate and punish violations.” Professor Gong Weibin of the National School of Administration suggested: "First, give full play to the role of the people, social organizations, and news media in supervising the publication of officials' books. Second, the publishing of books by in-service leading cadres must at least go through the record of the discipline inspection and supervision department, and the discipline inspection and supervision department will increase the supervision. Supervise the use of officials' publishing subsidies and manuscript fees. Third, properly handle copyright ownership and manuscript fee ownership for some in-service cadres who are collectively written by the organization and force of the unit and published in the name of individual leaders due to the work needs of the unit and department. It is up to the discipline inspection and supervision department to study and issue policies and regulations to strengthen the supervision of leading cadres publishing books."