社会异质性、冲突威胁与国家权力结构和政府规模——对中、日历史发展路径的比较制度分析

Social Heterogeneity,Conflict Threats,State Power-Structure and Government Size——A Comparative Institutional Analysis from Historical Developments of China and Japan

本文探讨了社会异质性和冲突威胁对政府规模的影响。社会异质性作为一种制度发展的嵌入层,是实际权力分配的表现,驱动了冲突威胁的发生并影响了制度设计的权衡,具体表现为政府数量与规模的选择。基于制度经济学的权力分配—制度变迁逻辑框架和区域政府规模的理论模型,通过对明清中国和江户日本的历史比较制度分析,我们说明更大的社会异质性和冲突威胁将使国家选择建立数量更多和规模更小的政府。科举制和官僚体制使中国国家内部的社会异质性更低,而日本幕藩体制下区域之间社会异质性更强,且面临的内部冲突威胁更大,这导致了中日两国历史上政府组织结构上差异。本文的研究为我们理解制度变迁和治理格局形成提供了理论解释和历史证据,也为当今时代理解国家治理问题提出了新方向。

This paper explores the impact of social heterogeneity and conflict threats on the size of government.Social heterogeneity,as an embedded layer in institutional development,manifests in the actual allocation of power,driving the occurrence of internal confict threats within society and influencing the balance in the design of national institutions,specifically reflected in the choice of the number and size of governments.Based on the logic framework of power distribution and institutional transition in institutional economics and the theoretical model of regional government formation,a comparative historical institutional analysis of Ming and Qing China and Edo Japan is conducted.We demonstrate that social heterogeneity and conflict threats lead countries to choose to establish a greater number of smaller govermments.The examination of the civil service examination system and bureaucratic system reveals that social heterogeneity within the Chinese state is lower,whereas under the feudal system in Japan,there is greater social heterogeneity among regions,coupled with a greater internal conflict threat.This results in structural differences in the traditional societal government organizations of China and Japan.This study provides a theoretical explanation and historical evidence for understanding institutional transitions and the formation of governance patterns,offering a new direction for understanding contemporary issues in national governance.