未尽的理性化:当代中国官僚制发展的典型理论与典型事实

An Unfinished Rationalization:Stylized Theories and Facts about the Development of Bureaucracy in Contemporary China

时至今日,在分析官僚制在中国的历史演变时,研究者虽然难以逾越韦伯官僚制理论中的“理性化”概念,却可以不断尝试更全面地对话韦伯,从而深化对“理性化”的理解,更新对中国官僚制历史的认知,并为“官僚制之问”——传统官僚制如何实现理性化并转变为现代官僚制,现代官僚制该如何避免走入理性化的“铁笼”——提供基于中国经验的回答。文章以对话韦伯的官僚制理论为标准,选取并分析当代中国官僚制发展中典型理论的得失与典型事实的启示,进而提出:结束逗留于韦伯所述的传统官僚制与现代官僚制的区别,开启对理性化所应具备的经济社会条件的关注,将有助于推动中国官僚制研究在新的方向上发现理论中的未尽之处与现实中的未尽之可能。

Weber’s theory of bureaucracy and his conceptualization of rationalization still overwhelmingly influence how researchers account for the dynamics of China’s bureaucratic system.However,the ongoing dialogues with his classic works often enrich our understanding of the historical trajectory of the Chinese bureaucracy.At this point,Chinese empirics on the modernization process in a traditional bureaucracy provide a unique and valuable observation to investigate and address Weber’s inquiry into bureaucracy:what enables the transition from a traditional bureaucracy to a modern democracy?And how can the latter avoid becoming an iron cage that suffocates the entire modern society?This research first identifies and reviews those stylized theories developed in the Chinese context that seek to resolve Weber’s inquiry into bureaucracy,highlighting their contribution and enthusiasm in investigating the difference between China’s bureaucratic heritage and the authentic principles of rationalization.In addition,the fact that the stylized theories do not recognize the impact of China’s marketization reforms on the rationalization of its bureaucratic system,a key explanatory mechanism in Weber’s account for the prevalence of rationality in the early 19th century,therefore prompts a revisit to and a restructuring of the stylized facts that underpin the stylized theories.Next,China’s ongoing administrative reforms are analyzed as stylized facts to reveal their consistent logic in clarifying and specifying the realm of—and border between—the state and the market.Meanwhile,bottom-up socioeconomic demands reinforced by top-down political pressures restrain the discretion and ambiguity in the bureaucracy.On the one hand,our research findings display how the market reforms and the development of a market economy have significantly fostered a rationalization of China’s bureaucratic system.On the other hand,they also underscore the necessity for as well as the benefits of returning to the spirit of Weber’s rationalization and of scrutinizing the full picture of his theory to produce an upgraded and overall re-interpretation of the reality.