Young Researcher Workshop: Politics, Morals, Complaints: Moral Judgments and Discretions in the Chinese Municipal Government

Politics, Morals, Complaints: Moral Judgments and Discretions in the Chinese Municipal Government

Speaker: Tianhao Hou, PhD Candidate in Sociology, Stanford University

What motivates bureaucratic decision-making in China? In contrast to the earlier theories of incentive mechanisms and “muddling through”, I argue that local officials in the Chinese regime also mobilize moral judgments to wield discretionary power in completing their tasks. With a five-month ethnography and additional interviews, I examine the Public Complaints and Proposals Bureau in two municipal governments as a case study. Qualitative analysis shows that, even in a field with strong bureaucratic pressure, there are numerous occasions where cadres do not merely follow regulations, policies, or laws, or are driven by the maximization of rational interests. Instead, I observe that there is a moral persistence of collectivism – local officials evaluate the “reasonableness” of cases based on 1) motivation and deservingness, 2) collective benefits, and 3) honesty and compliance in the selection for escalation, which typically results in substantial treatment. This study contributes to the literature on Chinese bureaucracy by drawing attention to the relevance of morality and appropriateness in rational organizations.

About the Workshops

The SCCEI Young Researcher Workshops are a bi-weekly series of presentations from scholars around campus who are working on issues related to China’s economy and institutions. The aim of the series is to bring together young scholars by providing a platform to present new research, get feedback, exchange ideas, and make connections. Each session features a single presenter who may present a new research plan, share results from preliminary data analyses, or do a trial run of a job talk or conference presentation. The Workshop Series is an opportunity to give and receive feedback on existing research, get to know other researchers around campus who are working on or in China, and be a testing ground for new ideas, data, and presentations.

Workshops are held every other Thursday from 1 - 2 pm. Afternoon refreshments will be provided! 

Visit the Young Researcher Workshops webpage for more information on the content and format of the series and to learn how to sign up to present.