Research On Curruption In China From Perspective Of "Guanxi"

Corruption is chronic illness which has been accompanied by the development ofhuman society.Scholars around the world have always been concerned about theproblem from the perspective of different disciplines to interpret and discuss. Since thereform and opening up in China, the corruption has spread rapidly and continued todeteriorate. Domestic scholars start to conduct a lot of research and discussion on thecorruption referring and using the concepts theories and models of Western corruptionresearches in China’s economic and social transformation process.However, whether theconcepts, theories and models built by Western scholars and based on the study ofcorruption in Western societies can effectively explain the behavior and thephenomenon of corruption in our country which has a different cultural background ornot, this research path itself still remains to be explored and discussed. On the otherhand, on the background of institutional analysis becoming the main trend of the studyof corruption in our country, the “guanxi” which is all-pervasive in our society andcontinues to play a role and exerts profound influence on social behavior (especially onacts of corruption), is largely ignored by the domestic researchers. Therefore, this articleexplores and researches corruption from perspectives of “guanxi” which is a uniquephenomenon in our society.Due to the specificity of this research theme of corruption, it is difficult to adopt themethod of investigation and seek the interpretation of the problem of corruption. Thus,this article adopts the literature research method by collecting, visualizing and analyzinga number of typical cases of corruption in the existing literature. And this articleinterprets corrupt behaviors from four aspects: the foundation of “guan xi”, theoperation of guanxi, the dynamics of guanxi, and the ethics of guanxi.Most corruption behavior in Chinese society is not as explained from perspectives of economics and politics as a simple process and results of "trading power for money".Whether corruption occurs, to a certain extent, depends on the presence or absence ofthe "guan xi" between the actors that often becomes a key factor in corruption behavior.The foundation of “guanxi” is the ascribed factor of the existence of “guanxi”. Theactors will take particularistic action according to their “guanxi” which could result incorruption behavior finally. When actors do not have the foundation of “guan xi” witheach other, one party actors will build a relationship with the other party through theprocess of the operation of guanxi that uses one or more intermediators. This process ofthe operation of guanxi has the same logic with the foundation of “guan xi” whichmeans that the operation of guanxi still needs to be built on the foundation of “guan xi”and the foundation of “guan xi” is also the source of the operation of “guanxi”. Nomatter the actors has the foundation of “guan xi” or establish a relationship with eachother by the operation of the “guan xi”, in order to maintain and strengthen the guanxibetween actors involved, it always needs to resort to banquet, gift and other methods toprovide driving force, especially to transform bribery which is illegal to gift whichcould be recognized by social norms through self-justification in moral terms. And thisstrategy could serve as the basement which can enhance the legitimacy and rationalityof the relationship between the two sides. The favor and face which is guanxi-orientedserve as a medium throughout the process of establishment, maintenance anddevelopment of guanxi among individuals. The foundation of guanxi, the operation ofguanxi and the dynamics of guanxi all need to conduct under the guidance andregulation of social ethics and norms which were composed by the compulsory favorand the entrenched face. On the other hand, the ethics of guanxi also provides the threeaspects above with basic framework to understand and explain.An operation mode of corruption in our society and its features make theunderstanding of the institution in our society, which is significantly different from that in Western society. The conception of institution which was originally very serious andimportant in western society cannot draw people’s attention and compliance in China.The intervention and integration of the “guanxi” factors, resulting in the institution cannot play its normative role or weaken its effect in the face of the “guanxi”. In otherwords, the effect of institution can make sense only if the “guanxi” does not exist. Thus,guanxi is the source of corruption, but not the imperfect institution causes corruption.Although our country tries to solve the problem of corruption by perfeceing integrityand improvement of the institution and spareing no effort in practice, the corruption hasstill not been fundamentally contained and resolved. The institution construction drivenby the national power is a gradual, long process, the autogenous characteristic of cultureleading to the principles and operation of the behavior patterns of corruption in thisprocess remains the same, and quickly combined with the new factors so as to continueto convert and update its behavior manners. Therefore, using the influence of culture topromote individuals to obey the rules, using the power of the institution to forceindividuals to comply with the rules, forming a positive interaction between institutionand culture. Finally this can provide a new way of thinking and a new path of selectionto solve corruption.