CORRUPTION: Dare We Compare the United States & China?

Abstract: This paper examines the nature and character of corruption and presents a general overview and comparison of corrupt practices in the United States and China. Neither country is corruption free but the United States has a substantially lower rate of perceived corruption than China. To understand United States corrupt practices, the focus is on three areas: (1) bureaucracy, (2) political practices, and (3) business. Today, the U.S. bureaucracy is generally clean but historically, this has not always been true; in the second areas of U.S. political practices and in the third area of U.S. business activities, the following is generally the case: laws, law enforcement, public expectation, and professional standards guide transactions and control/reduce corruption. In contrast, the Chinese political system is very different and unlike the United States, their political context does not allow for a neat separation into the three areas of bureaucracy, political practices, and business activities. In fact, the relevant Chinese activities usually reflect a blend/confluence of these three categories. To understand Chinese corrupt practices, the paper focuses on the nature of collusive corruption, the ineffectiveness of corruption control through harsh penalties, the centrality of law to state stability, and the importance of law enforcement. The paper ends with a discussion of clean bureaucracy and the conclusion that the United States, however different and however imperfect, can offer a useful comparison to China. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]