Abstract:

Using the primary and secondary education system as a case study, this paper examines the impact mechanism of public opinion in the digital age on grassroots governance. Departing from previous risk governance research that treats information transmission as an exogenous parameter, this article constructs an analytical framework of "information transmission transformation + governance structure transition + risk constraint reshaping", and introduces two concepts of "public visibility" and "superior visibility". This framework reveals the triple mechanism through which public opinion reshapes grassroots governance. At the level of information transmission, the traditional closed and hierarchical information control model is replaced by a two-way feedback mechanism. Horizontally, the public transforms from passive recipients of information to active producers, significantly enhancing information visibility through digital media and other channels. Vertically, information transcends hierarchical barriers, achieving direct access to higher levels of government, thereby weakening the original information advantage of the grassroots government. At the level of governance structure, public opinion promotes a transition from fragmented governance to collaborative governance. The public directly participates in the governance process through the expression of public opinion, shifting from external monitors to internal participants. Higher-level governments, leveraging digital monitoring tools, oversee local affairs much more closely, breaking down traditional boundaries of territorial administration and forming a horizontally and vertically coordinated governance network. At the level of risk constraints, the enhanced dual visibility of information subjects the grassroots governments to the dual pressures of public scrutiny and higher-level supervision, transforming grassroots risk constraints from elastic to rigid, and significantly compressing the risk avoidance space. The governance transformation driven by public opinion also spawns new structural contradictions: an inversion of governance capacity and responsibility risk, and a conflict between governance logic and the governance environment, leaving the grassroots facing unprecedented governance dilemmas. This paper provides a novel theoretical perspective for understanding governance transformation in the digital age.

Key words: public opinion, information transmission, governance structure, risk constraint, digital era