【摘要】随着我国加入WTO，农业无可选择地步入了国际化竞争时代。由于我国农业组织化程度低，“小生产”与“大市场”的矛盾日益突出，并成为我国农业经济发展的基木矛盾。农民合作社是农民成员共同所有、民主控制、经济参与并受益的经济组织。其有利于提高农民的组织化程度，创新农业经营方式，切实维护农民利益。大力发展农民合作社已经成为国际上扶持与振兴农业经济的共识。在我国农民合作社方兴未艾，但其作为农业产业化转型和农民增收的重要载体，作为解决我国“三农”问题的关键，已经受到政府和民众的普遍关注。自改革开放以来，我国对农民合作社的研究一直以农业经济学界的研究为主导，农民合作社的法学研究相对滞后和薄弱，法律制度供给不足已经为农民合作社发展的最大障碍之一。本文遵循从理论到实践、宏观到微观、历史到现实，国外到国内的总体思路，运用解释分析、比较分析、实证分析与规范分析等研究方法，以我国经济社会转型为背景，以农民权益保护为立足点，从法律变革与社会变迁的密切关系出发展开研究。本文从农民合作社的基础理论入手，探讨了农民合作社的主体制度，阐释了我国转型期农民合作社发展现状、面临的问题和成因。针对我国农民合作社发展中面临的重大现实问题，本文在借鉴国际农民合作社发展经验的基础上，从完善农民合作社立法、加强对农民合作社的法律规制以及构建农民合作社文化三个方面提出了具体的建议和构想。

　　农民合作社有着深厚的理论基础。早期空想社会主义合作思想、马克思主义合作社理论、现代合作经济理论均对合作社做出了具有时代特征的阐述。农民合作社是各类合作社中发展最快、普及最广的。农民合作社不同于农业生产合作社、农村经济合作社、农村供销合作社、农村信用合作社以及股份合作企业。农民合作社的产生有其深刻的经济、社会和文化根源。农民合作社的广泛存在与农业的弱质性密切相关。农民合作社是农民弱势群体经济联合的必然产物。农民合作社作为商品经济的一种制衡力量，是现代国家实施农业保护政策的重要形式。农民合作社的产生和发展还有着深厚的文化根源，包括强调个人价值和个人自由的人文主义精神、西方市民社会传统以及普遍主义的信任文化。

　　农民合作社的主体法律制度是一个长期争论不休的问题。按照大陆法系传统民法的分类方法，农民合作社应当属于社团法人中的非营利法人。我国《民法通则》没有采用传统民法的分类方法。农民合作社要融入我国的法律体系中，要准确把握“营利性组织”和“企业”这两个非典型法学术语的涵义，在此基础上改变传统上将企业法人等同于营利性法人的观念，采纳广义的企业法人概念，企业法人不仅包括像公司这样的营利性法人，也包括农民合作社这样的非营利法人。与其他企业组织相比，农民合作社是农民所有并为农民服务的经济组织，具有经济性和社会性双重属性；农民合作社实行按交易额分配盈余为主的分配制度，实行成员民主控制制度；农民合作社属于典型的自治性组织。

　　20世纪80年代江浙一带的新型农民合作社悄然兴起，标志着我国现代意义上的农民合作社的产生。它是广大农民适应市场经济发展的自主选择，是继家庭承包经营、发展乡镇企业、农业产业化经营之后，我国农村又一项重大的体制创新。2006年10月《中华人民共和国农民专业合作社法》的颁布标志着农民合作社步入了法治化的轨道。在政府的支持和推动下，农民合作社近年来发展迅速，呈现出了前所未有的生机和活力。然而我国农民合作社总体还处于发展的初级阶段，面临诸多挑战。从整体上看，地区和产业之间发展不平衡，规模不大，总体实力不强，带动农户能力弱；从外部来看，有关法律法规不完善，政府监督管理不到位，资金支持政策不健全，农民合作社资金短缺问题普遍存在；从内部来看，农民合作社不规范问题突出，假农民合作社泛滥，很多农民合作社异质性严重，缺乏民主管理和监督机制，不能真正代表农民利益。因而规范我国农民合作社的发展己经刻不容缓。

　　国际农民合作社的发展历程和实践经验，为我国农民合作社的发展提供了借鉴和启示。20世纪80年代以来，传统农民合作社已经无法适应现代农业日益加剧的市场竞争，世界范围内传统农民合作社衰退的迹象日益明显。西方发达国家采取了一系列的应对措施，其中最为瞩目的就是欧洲和北美先后出现了股份合作社和新一代合作社。这些新的农民合作社类型呈现出明显的公司化倾向。农民合作社的公司化并不意味着农民合作社的消亡，它是农民合作社在坚持合作社本质性基础上对传统合作社制度的扬弃。农民合作社是较其他一市场主体更具多元化的经济组织。纵观世界各国，农民合作社大体有三种有代表性的发展模式：以法国为代表的欧洲合作社模式；以美国为代表的美洲合作社模式；以日本为代表的亚洲合作社模式。借鉴国际农民合作社的发展趋势和启示，要在坚持农民合作社木质特征的基础上注重创新，要选择专业型与综合型合作社并存的多元化发展模式，积极推进农民合作社之间的联合，处理好政府与农民合作社的关系。

　　针对我国农民合作社发展中的重大现实问题，完善我国农民合作社法律制度已经不容回避。结合我国的法治实践，应从农民合作社的资本制度、自治章程、成员权利救济三个方面完善和推进我国农民合作社立法。严重的成员异质性问题是我国农民合作社发展面临的核心问题。在成员异质性的条件下，应当加强对公司领办型合作社的监管，完善农民合作社的内部治理结构，健全对农民合作社的资金扶持政策，处理好农民合作社发展与规范的关系。农民合作社法律制度的建立必须要有其适宜的文化土壤。我国农民合作社文化的构建必须加强合作社教育，注重对我国传统文化的传承和超越，融合国内外先进的农民合作社文化，将集体主义精神与个人本位的理念结合起来，形成会通中西之维与古今之维的农民合作社文化体系。

　　【关键词】农民合作社、主体制度、成员异质性、合作社文化

　　【Abstract】With China’s accession to WTO, agriculture has no choice but to step into the era of international competition.Because of the low level of agricultural organization,the contradiction between "small production" and "big marke" has become increasingly prominent,and become the fundamental contradiction in China’s agricultural economic development. International experiences show that the way to ease the contradiction between small farmers and the big market is to develop farmer cooperativesin agricultural production,circulation and service areas.Farmer cooperatives can improve farmers’ organizational level.Developing farmer cooperatives has become the international consensus in the revitalization of the agricultural economy.In China,farmer cooperatives are newly developed,but they have been widespread concerned by government and public as transformation of agricultural industrialization,and as a key to solve the "Three Rural Issues".The current legal research of farmer cooperatives in China is relatively backward. Insufficient supply of the legal system for farmer cooperatives has become one of the biggest obstacles. In this article, the anthor analyzed the basic theory of farmer cooperatives by describing the ideas and practice of cooperatives, clarifing the concept of farmer cooperatives and discussing the economic, social and cultural roots of them. On this basis, the researcher explored the legal status of farmer cooperatives.According to the current situation of farmer cooperatives,the researcher anylayzed their problems and drawed on international experiences.On this basis,the researcher made three specific recommendations, which included improving legislation, strengthening the supervision of farmer cooperatives,and constructing farmer cooperatives culture.

　　Farmer cooperatives have a profound theoretical basis. Thoughts are made from the early utopian socialists to modern cooperatives economists. Farmer cooperatives are the fastest growing and the most widely spread type of cooperatives. Farmer cooperatives are economic organizations of agricultural practitioners in order to seek, maintain and improve their common interests. Farmer cooperatives have deep economic, social and cultural roots. The prevalence of farmer cooperatives is closely related with the inferiority of agriculture. Farmer cooperatives are checks and balances in commodity economy.They are the implementation of the modern state and an important form to carry out gricultural protection policy.Farmers are the biggest vulnerable group, Farmer cooperatives are the inevitable result of economic integration. Emergence and development of farmer cooperatives also have deep cultural roots, including the individual freedom spirit of humanism, the western tradition of civil society and the universalism culture of trust.

　　The legal properties of farmer cooperatives are a long debated question. According to the classification of the traditional civil law, farmer cooperatives should be classified in the non-profit corporation aggregate.China’s "Civil Law"does not use the traditional classification of civil law. Farmer cooperatives can not integrate into our legal system. The meaning of for-profit organizations should be accurately grasped. Based on this, we should change the traditional concept of equating enterprise legal person to the for-profit organization. The broad concept of enterprise legal person should be adopted. The enterprise legal person not only include for-profit company, but also include non-profit farmer cooperatives. As enterprise legal person, compared with other business organizations,farmer cooperatives are owned by farmers and provide services for farmers with the dual economic and social attributes.Farmer cooperatives distribute surplus in accordance with turnover,and implement democratic control system of members in order to protect subjectivity of farmers.Farmer cooperatives are typical autonomous organizations.

　　In China, farmer cooperatives in our modern sense originated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang area in the 1980s.They are an independent choice made by the vast number of farmers to adapt to development of market economy. Following the household contract responsibility system, the development of township enterprises,and the industrial management of agriculture,farmer cooperatives are the major institutional innovation in rural areas in China.With the promulgation of Chinese Specialized Farmer Cooperatives Act in October 2006,farmer cooperatives entered the orbit of the rule of law.In the government’s support and promotion, farmer cooperatives develop rapidly in recent years,and show an unprecedented vigor and vitality.However,the farmer cooperatives are still in early stage of development in China.they are facing many challenges. On the whole, their development is uneven between regions and industries with small scale and weak strength.From an external point of view, the relevant laws and regulations are incomplete, government supervision and managementa re not in place,financial support policy is not sound,fund shortage problem is prevailing,and false cooperatives are flooding.Internally,farmer cooperatives are not standardized,and membership heterogeneity are severe in many farmercooperatives.With the lack of democratic management and supervision mechanisms, farmer cooperatives can not truly represent the interests of farmers.Therefore,it has been urgent to regulate the development of farmer cooperatives in China.

　　Development of the international farmer cooperatives provides reference and inspiration for farmer cooperatives in China.Since the 1980s,along with the industrialization and marketization of agriculture, the traditional farmer cooperatives have been unable to adapt to the increasing competition in the market of agricultural. Globally, the traditional cooperative increasingly dicline.Facing the changed external environment, the Western developed countries take a series of response measures, the most notable one is the emergence of Stock-Cooperatives in Europe and the New Generation Cooperatives in North America. These new types of farmers cooperative show a clear tendency of corporatization. They are abandoned the traditional farmer cooperatives with insistence on their essence nature. Farmer cooperatives are more diversified than other market players in the economic organization. Throughout the world, there are three typical development models of farmer cooperatives:the European cooperative mode represented by France, the Americas cooperative mode represented by the United States, the Asian cooperative mode represented by Japan. A lot of useful experiences and enlightenment can be gained from the international development of farmer cooperatives. we should adhere to the essential characteristics of farmer cooperatives and focus on innovation. We should choose the development model according to our own national conditions.We should actively promote the alliance among farmers cooperatives. We shoula handle the relationship between the government and farmers cooperatives.

　　Based on the problems exposed above, it has been unavoidable to improve the legal system of farmer cooperatives. According to our country’s legal practice, it is critical to improve the capital system, the self-government rules and the right remedy for farmers in terms of legislation.Membership heterogeneity is the core issue of farmer cooperatives in China. Under the condition of membership heterogeneity, we should strengthen supervision of the farmers cooperatives leaded by companies, improve the internal governance structure,and perfect capital support policy for farmer cooperatives.We should deal with relationship between the development and standardization of farmer cooperatives to form a farmer-led model of development gradually. The establishment of farmer cooperatives legal system must have appropriate cultural soil.In the construction of farmer cooperatives culture of China, we must derive domestic and international advanced farmer cooperatives culture.We should combine collectivism spirit and individualism idea.We should pay attention to inherit traditional culture and strengthen cooperatives education to form an inclusive farmer cooperatives cultural system.

　　【Key Words】farmer cooperatives; subject system; cooperatives culture; membership heterogeneity