The Political Economy of Corruption in China, and: China's New Business Elite: The Political Consequences of Economic Reform (review)

© 1998 by University ofHawai'i Press Reviews 465 must keep in mind, however, that today's political and economic framework will require the Chinese to develop different responses. Filled with satirical illustrations by the Shibaojournalists, Print and Politics is both informative and entertaining. It will be ofinterest not only to scholars who specialize in late imperial China, but also to people interested in die history ofthe press, in civil society, and/or in Chinese society in general. Judge succeeds in presenting historical material in a way that speaks to contemporary concerns and elucidates some ofthe obstacles diat Chinese journalists faced, and continue to face, in their effort to create a middle realm in China. Viren Murthy University ofHawai'i at Mänoa Viren Murthy is a doctoral candidate; he is currently writing his dissertation on "The Possibility ofChinese Democracy." Julia Kwong. The Political Economy ofCorruption in China. Studies on Contemporary China / An East Gate Book. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1997. xv, 175 pp. Hardcover, isbn 0-7656-0086-2. Paperback, isbn 0-7656-0087-0. Margaret M. Pearson. China's New Business Elite: The Political Consequences ofEconomic Reform. Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press, 1997. x, 207 pp. Hardcover $35.00, isbn 0-520-20718-1. Any recent visitor to China is likely to be impressed by die remarkable extent to which the "socialist market economy" has transformed the country, in particular the urban areas. Both books under review give dioughtful overviews of two key elements in that economy: contemporary business as practiced by indigenous entrepreneurs , and the corruption which so often underlies that practice. Margaret Pearson's examination ofwhat she describes as a new business elite involves a central question, indicated in die tide: whedier or not the economic reforms introduced under Deng Xiaoping are likely to result in political change— meaning democracy. This simplistic equation is one ofthe weaknesses ofthe book, as it precludes any serious consideration of alternatives to Western-style democracy, or of the various intermediate stages that might be involved in a gradual move away from a less authoritarian political structure. 466 China Review International: Vol. 5, No. 2, Fall 1998 Pearson's empirical research was based on a series of interviews with two groups of businessmen, the Chinese nationals who manage foreign-backed businesses and private entrepreneurs. The rationale underlying her sample choice is that these two groups function with the most autonomy and have at their disposal considerable economic resources, sufficient to affect state-society relations if they so desire. Her discussion begins with an analysis of tiiree models of state-society relations , as proposed by Western scholars. The democratization or civil-society model suggests that indeed economic reform will lead to political liberalization, with the actors most heavily involved in that reform process most likely to be the leaders of the liberalization process. The second model is labeled "clientelism" or "neo-traditionalism," defined as the intertwining of the state and society in personal networks, aka our old friend guanxi. Finally, she looks at corporatism and East Asian statism, a concept adopted in part from work by Philippe Schmitter, which depicts businessmen as subordinate to die state and heavily dependent on relations with the bureaucracy to accomplish their goals. Pearson wisely opts for none of the concepts above exclusively, preferring to develop her own hybrid model of state-society relations, with her skepticism mosdy reserved for the overly optimistic liberalization model. The second chapter provides a useful historical summary ofbusiness-state relations from the Qing through the Maoist era, from which Pearson identifies several strands of continuity including, most intriguingly, the notion that the postMao state may have reached back to the late Qing and Republican years for institutional and other models to apply to contemporary modernization. Chapters 3 and 4 detail conclusions drawn from two rounds of interviews, conducted in 1991 and 1995. The conclusions are less than startiing: that the new business elite is notable for its structural autonomy and independence of thinking , but that it has little interest in or capability of influencing government policy in any coherent kind of way. Rather, "clientelism is the major currency ofinteraction " (p. 115), with narrow and limited aims. Far from being a force...