First, modern society is a polarized one, with different strata or groups having different interests and, as a result, different demands and aspirations.
Entrepreneurs giving ratings on local government officials' records merely expresses the opinions and demands of a specific group of people. If the officials' fate is thus decided by only one portion of the public, a situation would arise in which a specific group of people dictates the behaviour of the government and oversees personnel affairs.
We may as well imagine that an environmental official catches out the wrongdoing of an entrepreneur who, taking no heed of the government's pollution control decrees, discharges large amounts of waste into the air or water, and the latter is very likely to pass his judgment on the former's performance.
What can we expect from this? The environmental official's fate is sealed.
Second, different economic capabilities ought not to be translated into differentiated political power. True, private entrepreneurs constitute an important force in promoting the country's economic progress and it is, therefore, necessary to offer them channels through which they can participate in political affairs.
But this can only be done by improving the institutions and mechanisms with regard to citizens' getting involved in political affairs, instead of endowing political privileges to a portion of the citizenry.
The author is a professor from the Sociology of Tsinghua University.
