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CORRUPTION: Dare We Compare the United States & China?
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government) from countries like China (with widespread corruption), according to Manion, “is not the content of laws [or rules] relating to abuses of official power, but their relevance” (5). In the United States, even if the spirit of the law is broken, the laws are still relevant, they are abided by. To illustrate with an example described earlier, American politicians try to find legal loopholes so they can fundraise for amounts above the money limits set by the campaign-finance laws; the politicians who find and take advantage of the loopholes have conscientiously observed the rules and the laws. They may try to get around the rules and laws, but they are using them as their standard. However, in countries, like China, that have massive corruption, officials “commonly flout rules” -- the laws and rules are virtually irrelevant.
In a country of low corruption, not only are rules and laws important, so is
enforcement. Laws that guide and prohibit activity need to be enforced consistently without favoritism by neutral agencies like the police and courts. The public has to have confidence that enforcement agencies have the resources and commitment to be effective and fair. Without this, laws are merely symbolic. Although America does a less than perfect job, the United States generally enforces laws neutrally and more consistently than China. A case in point is the police.
Police are law enforcement agents. Observers of China have criticized the
Chinese police for being understaffed, underpaid and unprofessional. Having too few police has led to a situation where other groups, like neighborhood committees, have become responsible for law enforcement. This makes the system of policing vulnerable to favoritism. Chinese police officers have themselves been criticized for their failures in a national “five taboos” campaign, publicly targeting police who drink, and gamble, and accept bribes. The public has complained and there is a formal backlog of complaints of police beatings, unlawful detention, confiscation of property and arbitrary fines. Low pay and under funding of the police make them especially susceptible to bribes and other illegal arrangements (Lawrence 2004) and police corruption is so routine (and ordinary), it is not “the stuff of scandals” (Manion 2004: 5).
The United States shares with China problems with police and corruption. For
police everywhere, it is difficult for their departments to control individual police officers because officers work alone or in pairs, out in the community, far from the oversight of their superiors (Johnson 2005). But in the United States, police corruption is experienced with occasional incidence of wrongdoing or publicized scandals; in contrast to China’s more pervasive problem, the United States’ problem with corrupt police is, in general, confined to a small number and to a relatively few rogue officers. American police officers are very well-paid, formally trained, and policing is seen as a profession. In fact, many American police officers have college degrees and some have a post baccalaureate education.
IV. The Importance of Clean Bureaucracy -
Building an efficient and fair
bureaucracy usually takes time, consistency in policy, commitment and ample funding. In the United States, it took decades after the Pendleton Act was passed in 1883, to create a merit system with neutral public service-oriented agents. A major part of the process was paying a good salary to both attract trained employees and reduce their need to take bribes. As already described, another important part of the American process of developing public agencies was socializing each generation of public agents to believe
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| | Authors: Johnson, Roberta Ann. |
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government) from countries like China (with widespread corruption), according to
Manion, “is not the content of laws [or rules] relating to abuses of official power, but
their relevance” (5). In the United States, even if the spirit of the law is broken, the laws
are still relevant, they are abided by. To illustrate with an example described earlier,
American politicians try to find legal loopholes so they can fundraise for amounts above
the money limits set by the campaign-finance laws; the politicians who find and take
advantage of the loopholes have conscientiously observed the rules and the laws. They
may try to get around the rules and laws, but they are using them as their standard.
However, in countries, like China, that have massive corruption, officials “commonly
flout rules” -- the laws and rules are virtually irrelevant.
In a country of low corruption, not only are rules and laws important, so is
enforcement. Laws that guide and prohibit activity need to be enforced consistently
without favoritism by neutral agencies like the police and courts. The public has to have
confidence that enforcement agencies have the resources and commitment to be effective
and fair. Without this, laws are merely symbolic. Although America does a less than
perfect job, the United States generally enforces laws neutrally and more consistently
than China. A case in point is the police.
Police are law enforcement agents. Observers of China have criticized the
Chinese police for being understaffed, underpaid and unprofessional. Having too few
police has led to a situation where other groups, like neighborhood committees, have
become responsible for law enforcement. This makes the system of policing vulnerable to
favoritism. Chinese police officers have themselves been criticized for their failures in a
national “five taboos” campaign, publicly targeting police who drink, and gamble, and
accept bribes. The public has complained and there is a formal backlog of complaints of
police beatings, unlawful detention, confiscation of property and arbitrary fines. Low
pay and under funding of the police make them especially susceptible to bribes and other
illegal arrangements (Lawrence 2004) and police corruption is so routine (and ordinary),
it is not “the stuff of scandals” (Manion 2004: 5).
The United States shares with China problems with police and corruption. For
police everywhere, it is difficult for their departments to control individual police officers
because officers work alone or in pairs, out in the community, far from the oversight of
their superiors (Johnson 2005). But in the United States, police corruption is experienced
with occasional incidence of wrongdoing or publicized scandals; in contrast to China’s
more pervasive problem, the United States’ problem with corrupt police is, in general,
confined to a small number and to a relatively few rogue officers. American police
officers are very well-paid, formally trained, and policing is seen as a profession. In fact,
many American police officers have college degrees and some have a post baccalaureate
education.
IV. The Importance of Clean Bureaucracy -
Building an efficient and fair
bureaucracy usually takes time, consistency in policy, commitment and ample funding.
In the United States, it took decades after the Pendleton Act was passed in 1883, to create
a merit system with neutral public service-oriented agents. A major part of the process
was paying a good salary to both attract trained employees and reduce their need to take
bribes. As already described, another important part of the American process of
developing public agencies was socializing each generation of public agents to believe
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