The Commissar's Not In Town.(e-government in China)

Byline: Melinda Liu

When Guangzhou resident Ma Yiyong, 57, went to renew his unemployment certificate last month, something extraordinary happened: he did so efficiently and discreetly, with a few keystrokes. "It used to be really troublesome in the past," says Ma. "I would have to stand in line several times, and sometimes the government officials weren't at their desks. Now it's fast."

China's romance with e-government is now reaching the grass-roots level, bringing efficiency and convenience to citizens. But its biggest benefit may be in circumventing one of the last bastions of communism: the infamous neighborhood committees. These groups of local party members have for decades served as the authorities' eyes and ears. They were also notorious busybodies, making it their business to know who was having marital problems, grumbling about the government or out of work.

Citizens in Guangzhou, the capital of one of China's most prosperous provinces, now go directly to the source. In several pilot neighborhoods, they can apply for official documents, gripe ...