12/26/2019 0 Comments The Role of Setting and Landscape in “Mrs. Dalloway†and “On the Roadâ€â€œMrs. Dalloway†by acclaimed novelist Virginia Woolf is an interesting literary piece with several distinctly remarkable features. The author utilizes a stream-of-consciousness technique records ‘the atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall… tracing the pattern, however disconnected… in appearance, in which each incident scores upon the consciousness’ (Woolf, 1) to bring out the innermost thoughts of the characters in a manner which effectively weaves together the elements of memory and time.Prior to the early 20th century fictive literature had emphasized the primacy of plot and detailed descriptions of the characters and the settings, with externalities serving as the most significant turning-point in the story, effectively limiting the innermost workings of the characters’ minds to a more secondary role, mainly that of providing the motivation for the external occurrences in the plot. Going against the grain, Woolf’s refinement of the stream-of-consciousness technique – the representation of multiple consciousness lingering around a locus – is definitely one of her lasting contributions to the literary world, as evidenced by her novels.In “Mrs. Dalloway†the plot can be described as generated by the inner lives of the characters, i.e. Mrs. Dalloway and Septimus, whose natures are revealed through the ebb and flow of their emotions, impressions, thoughts and feelings. This in turn effectively transforms the rather ordinary events in their lives into the extraordinary, particularly as their consciousness appears to slip in and out through time conceptualized not merely as a linear series of events but also as cyclical.Focusing on the two distinct worlds of the primary characters – gracious London society matron Clarissa Dalloway with a stable life in London’s high society and young Septimus Warren Smith thought to be suffering from a metal affliction brought about by the loss of a friend in World War I – the novel explores their seeming parallel thought processes despite differences in social station and the fact that they did not know each other and had never met, within a single eventful day in June.Both appear to experience exhilarating shifts in their moods, eerily similar to bouts with manic depression which Woolf apparently suffered from: profound joy over the simple beauty of spring and the appearance of its fresh, tiny leaves, apprehensive dread over what they perceive as the on-rushing of time, alarm over their impending demise, and what could only be described as overt guilt over the crime of being human with its accompanying sensibilities, awareness, failures and shortcomings.In the concluding chapter of the book the reader finds Clarissa finally being acquainted with the character of Septimus posthumously when his distinguished doctor’s wife explains to their hostess Mrs. Dalloway the reason for their tardiness – the suicide of a patient earlier in the day, leading her to internally remark that ‘Here is death, in the middle of my party’ (Woolf, 108). A peak at Mrs. Dalloway’s mind reveals a rather emphatic understanding of the sensitivity, despair and ultimately defiance besieging her symbolic double.In admirable literary fashion, despite all events happening within the 24-hour span of a single day, the setting and landscape appear to be effectively adequate for the story to unfold. The seemingly fluid nature of time the author utilizes allows the effortless weaving of the characters’ thoughts from the present to the past and vice-versa, even allowing the creeping up of thoughts about the future. Despite the cornucopia of ideas taking shape in the characters’ minds and the feelings such thoughts evoke, the clever use of time imparts order to the fluidity of thoughts, memories and encounters populating the world of Mrs. Dalloway.Big Ben that seemingly solid symbol of a strong England sounds out the passing of time hour after hour, a constant reminder to the characters painfully aware of the grip of time over their lives. Yet when the hour is chimed, the sound disappears as if its “leaden circles dissolved in the air†– signifying the ephemeral nature of time which most people in their wary obsession with time still fail to understand. Woolf skillfully introduces the notion of time not merely as having a linear character but a circular aspect to it as well when the reader is introduced to the ancient woman singing the same song for a seeming eternity at the Regent’s Park Tube Station.In terms of the visual landscape, the author captures the beauty of a London summer day in June with the abundant images of trees and flowers in the story. The variety of flowers appearing throughout the text is suggestive of the characters’ fleeting emotions. In the opening pages of the book, the reader is acquainted with Clarissa Dalloway on her way to the flower shop.Clarissa, deep and profound in her thoughts, revels in the beauty of flowers and trees, while the stiffer, more aloof members of the English establishment trained in the art of keeping their emotions in check all the time are represented as awkward in the way of handling flowers (Richard treats the bouquet of flowers as if it was a weapon while Mrs. Bruton appeared to be at a loss with the flowers offered to her, eventually stuffing them into her dress, the femininity and grace of the gesture surprising even herself) and traditional in their choice of blooms – roses and carnations as picked by Richard and Hugh.In tune with the reflective tone of the novel, the significant abundance of trees with their far-reaching root systems appear to signify the extensive reach of the human soul, even as the two protagonists wage their own personal battles in a struggle to protect their souls. The element of water appearing in the characters’ fluid thoughts as on-rushing waves evokes images of the washing away of the old to be replaced by the new in an endless cycle of the waves lapping at the shore (the appearance of which increases in intensity until it reaches the shore, only to fade into another), i.e. death as the fate awaiting us all.Set against the background of post-war London, traditional English society is presented as if a tide pulling down those who fail to adapt to the pressing changes plaguing England, and one such casualty was Septimus Warren Smith who had ultimately failed to accept and understand his vastly altered concrete social realities following the end of the war and the irreparable scarring of humankind.In contrast, Clarissa appears to have navigated the murky waters of London high society quite admirably (a “silver-green mermaid†in Peter Walsh’s eyes) yet underneath the veneer of dutiful wife and mother is a kindred soul who identifies with Septimus and his wish to struggle against the oppressive pressures of society, attempting to strike a balance between privacy and open communication with the significant people in their lives. In the last analysis, she refuses to succumb to the temptation herself, and veers away from the outlet chosen by Septimus.In a similar manner to that of Virginia Woolf, the American writer Jack Kerouac, who founded the so-called “Beat Generationâ€, could also be considered as a pioneer in terms of contributions to the literary field. Though Kerouac was of a different generation and genre from the English author, the two share the similarity of going against convention in their own lifetimes in a bid to assert their own ideas on crafting literary pieces. His novel “On the Road†could be described as an attempt to inspire readers to go out there and seize the day – “Carpe diem!†as the French say, so to speak – and live life.“On the Road†we meet the young, somewhat naïve writer Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty, whom the narrator describes as “tremendously excited with life†in their adventure traipsing around America to test the limits of their “American Dream.†Various settings, e.g. a small town in rural Virginia, a jazz joint in urban New York, a Mexican whore-house,  and landscape are utilized by the author in their full extent to present the reader with images of the USA and its new-world wonders – urban jungles, sleepy towns, the American rural wilderness, vast expanse of desserts – the only tangible connection between them being the road, the need for a generation to get out of their seeming confinements limited by space, to break out and seek freedom unchained by any imposed-from-above belief, sentiments or ideology.These youths, overwhelmed by the lack of fulfillment and the overriding sense of desperation in their lives made them feel that “the only thing to do was go,†providing the impetus to search for their own personal freedoms, the pleasure of which they found in sex, drugs and jazz music. For Sal, “…life is holy and every moment precious,†which may perhaps account for Dean seeming “to be doing everything at the same time†as a fear and wariness of death appeared to haunt the gang in their sojourn throughout America (“…death will overtake us before heavenâ€), manifested by visions of a great spirit trailing after them across the desert of life.Yet this fear did not prevent them from living their life not held by the sway of materialism, that “mad dream-grabbing, taking, giving, sighing and dying just so they could be buried in those awful cemetery cities beyond Long Island.†As their travels together come to an end, Sal and Dean find themselves in the poverty-stricken city of Mexico, where among the brothels, barefooted old women, and simple meals, Sal notices that “[b]eggars slept wrapped in advertising posters torn off fences†(Kerouac, 248).An excited Sal declares “This was the great and uninhibited Fellahin-childlike city that we knew we would find at the end of the road†(Kerouac, 248). They had found a world where people could apparently live in bare, unadorned simplicity not harassed by the pressures of a materialistic culture, a timely reminder that despite the pretentiousness of the relatively affluent 20th century, people’s possession of goods, or the lack of it are not the sole determinants of being human. Such an idealistic message in a work of fiction attempts to counter the overriding negativism and corruption of the corporate fantasy dominant in American culture, of which its inherent conflict with other needs and interests of the human spirit continues to be played out in contemporary societies up to the present.The two novels, “Mrs. Dalloway†and “On the Road†utilize landscape and setting to the full extent, resulting in powerful narratives which allow the reader much visual power, i.e. the reader is transported to post-War early 20th century London and a modernizing 20th century America. Yet the authors use setting and landscape in rather different ways. In the case of Woolf’s “Mrs. Dalloway, she employs the setting and landscape in an interestingly novel manner which complements her stream-of-consciousness technique, while Kerouac resorts to a rather typical use of setting and landscape to paint a picture of the America of the Beat generation in “On the Road.†The techniques they used might be different yet the end result is the same – stunning literary narratives which are undoubtedly some of the excellent works written in their respective periods by writers of their generation.ReferencesClark, Tom. “Jack Kerouac†New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovich, 1984.Dunphy, Mark. “Call Me Sal, Jackâ€: Visions of Ishmael in Kerouac’s “On the Road†in Melville Society Extracts, July 2002.Hunt, Tim. “Kerouac’s Crooked Road: The Development of a Fiction.†Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.Kerouac, Jack. “On the Road.†New York: Viking Press, 1957.Woolf, Virginia. “Mrs. Dalloway.â€originally published 1925. Accessed through the University of Adelaide Library Electronic Texts Collection, on 28 November 2007
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History Of The Corruption In China Politics Essay
Chinas economic ascendance puts China in a position to have many wonderful prospects. In 2008, Chinas strong economic and political systems seemed to resist the idea of a global economic crisis. Chinas massive growth has enhanced China as an important economic power in the world. With over one billion people and the second largest national economy, China is still controlled by an authoritarian political regime; the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party seems to be able to rule the state and keep a stable and sustainable economy. However, corruption poses a serious hindrance to Chinas economy and political systems. The failure to eliminate political corruption could cause the collapse of Chinas economy and the Chinese Communist Party in the future (Bergsten C. F 2009 P.97). Corruption also causes the biggest disaster in Chinese history, Tiananmen Square Massacre (Harris 2003). In fact, many of the developing nations that have fast economic growth seem to have a lot of political corruption. Perhaps corruption in a fast developing nation is inevitable. Corruption was widespread in Singapore during the 1960s (Quah S.T. P.31). Singapore was one of the serious corruption countries during its economic development. Many of developing countries with the rapid economic growth have different levels of corruption. The argument in this paper is: corruption in authoritarian states is more prevalent than democratic states. And corruption is a deeply ingrained issue, which is not easy to remove in Chinese society and from Chinas government corruption. This paper will introduce the historical background of China after the Chinese Communist Party overthrew the Chinese Nationalist Party and it will address how its culture and people have changed under the leading Chinese Communist Party. In this paper, moreover, Chinese economic reform is the main factors to cause corruption in China (Chow G. C. 2006 P.266). Chinese economic reform is the most important revolution which is different from the original ideology of communism. Because of the economic reform Chinas great economic achievements rely on the new modern- socialist market economy- a mixture of open- market economy and state-owned enterprise. Economic reform, at the same time as political reform, or new directions of the party, has never been engaged before by the Chinese Communist Party. The causal factors of an open- market economy impacted on the new western ideologies, and the social and political climates have changed quickly in China. For these reasons, current Chinese society, culture, and politics are being changed, and it is causing major internal issues, political corruption and other relative crimes. This paper will address and explain how and why Chinas economic reform, and Chinas political system, caused corruption and related crimes in contemporary with China. Also, I would like to introduce the different kinds of corruption in Chinas government and in Chinese society. For example, political corruption has influenced the entire state, as well as the leaders of its government. In China, most influential senior officials and high level business and government positions are held by the elite who have propelled their family members and caused inheritance of their power for next generations. Those powerful people are called princelings party or Crown Prince Party. They and even their relatives control most entrepreneurs, so they are capable of shifting the profits and starting the money laundering out of their state. They are the one who mostly believed to be involved in the political corruption in China. An example of this is the biggest political corruption case: the former of party chief Bo Xilais and his families making billions of U.S. dollars by privileged upbringing and political influence (Barboza D. April 23, 2012). Secondly, bribery is another kind of corruption in China. This paper will introduce guanxi, the practice that is such a rule and code to conduct businesses with local business partners. In China, Guanxi used to be widely translated as connections and relationships, which reflects the process and maintaining of interpersonal relationship. Guanxi is a method of exerting power to gain more benefits and it is being used succeefully in all networks of society, such as jobs and business. This paper will also analyze how Guanxi plays an important role in corruption, and more importantly, to analyze the largest amount of smuggling and bribery in Chinese history- the criminal cases of Lai Changxing. Lai Changxing operations were based on his good social networks and Guanxi, and he smuggled over £3.3 billion, and bribed 64 officials during the 1990s (Watts J. May 18, 2012). There is a wide range of literature on corruption from which to choose, and the literature review in this paper should focus on the definition of general practice of corruption, the different levels of corruption by macro-level, and how corruption practice occurs in authoritarian states. I will explore Chinas individual case with special political and economic orientation. Peter Hays Griess book Chinese Politics: State, Society and the Market, is an excellent source in which to study the specific cases of corruption in China, and how corruption is performed in China. Yan Suns book, Corruption and Market in Contemporary China, researches the authors viewpoints and controversial points in the academic field. Richard McGregors book The Party: The Secret World of Chinas Communist Rules, is an excellent source which reveals the integrity of Chinas Communist Party and the top secret of the central power rule of the Chinese Communist Party. Literature Review Meanings of Corruption Corruption is not a new practice, but one which has existed for many years. There are various definitions of corruption in literature scholars. Corruption currently is a term which used to be studied in philosophy, social science, and political science. In general, to define corruption in academic work is usually in various forms. Klitgaad writes: In ordinary usage, too, corruption embraces a wide array of illicit behaviors, including bribery, extortion, fraud, nepotism, graft, speed money, pilferage, theft, embezzlement, falsification of records, kickbacks, influence-peddling, and campaign contributions. (Klitgaard 1998, P1.). Klitgaard (1998) gives different violations terms to describe corruption. When people are involved in these terms, they could be accused of corruption. In philosophy, corruption is a moral deviation or depravity in human behavior. In economics, it is an exchange between people who give payment to enjoy privileges and receive payment to provide services. Klitgaard (1998) indicates corruption is an illegal act, and it has expended some of terms of crimes. All these criminal activities are too narrow to understand corruption in a particular field of study. But bribery is first term that Klitgarrds (1998) pointing to as a usual term by which many people perceive corruption. By studying particularly regional corruption in this paper, bribery and the mainly characterized of authoritarian regimes, nepotism, are important fields to study in this topic of the paper. Bribery and Briber Bribery is one of the most common terms of thought under the topic of corruption. It is based on the improper acceptance, giving, receiving, offering or solicitation of a gain or advantage from the briber, including the some actions, views, advices, or decisions of a public official, or person in a position of trust, or person bound by a duty to act impartially (Bribery and Corruption Law. 2012). In bribery and corruption law, it notes that it is necessary to understand that bribery is two exchanges with purposes of payment and receiving benefits from each other. Or a person merely attempts to bribe, even though unsuccessfully, could also be considered to be a briber. On one hand, a person who provides implication of money or gift could be defined as a briber. Gifts do not only include objects of value, such as goods and property, but also includes immaterial matters, such as services and emoluments (i.e. salary, fees or other benefits). On the other hand, a person who gains all these advantages or materials directly or indirectly from briber could be defined as being involved in bribery. Bribe, as well as corruption, is an illegal act with different levels, and the person may be accused of corruption which is a criminal activity. Low level of Corruption: government official corruption Low level corruption is characterized often by the traffic cop asking for bribes on the street. It undermines peoples trust in political institutions and its leaders. (Kristoff M and Pertio, R May 01, 2010 P.2) There are many scholars who discuss corruption as multi-level, which involve different magnitudes of the bribe. The authors, Kristoff and Pertio (2010) argue two levels of corruption, higher and lower levels of corruption. Low level corruption has a higher impact on the social fabric of society, with small amounts of money or other benefits. It usually takes place in some government officials, institutions, or public organizations. It erodes peoples trust and the public confidence in government. Kristoff and Pertio (2010) think that police corruption is a common corruption in low level of corruption. Police can gain from corruption easily and commonly, which damages the effective security in society. Low level corruption also includes corruption of government official. Government corruption is usually defined that the sale, by government officials, of government property for personal gains. Government officials usually receive bribes from a particular person or a group of people for providing permits or licenses, for giving passage at customs, and for prohibiting the entry of competitors. Also, government officials charge privately the products for their own using. (Shleifer. A and Vishny. R. W. May 1993. P3) In addition, government officials note that the cost of producing goods is immaterial to the official since the government pays this cost. They cover the sale of licenses, passports, or a passage on a government toll- charged road, or a policeman sells services that he is supposed to offer for free, and this exerts personal effort (Shleifer. A and Vishny. R. W. May 1993. P5). The authors, Shleifer and Vishny (1993) clarify how government officials or police offices engage in corruption and provide different offers to bribers. Government officials include particular institutions or organizations by the government, which has an obligation to provide public services, such as educational institutions. These institutions do not have rights to sell any products or services privately, and expropriate any frees by unofficial announcement. Based on the authority of government officials, such as policemen, they may force or inflict the charging fees which are supposed or obligate to be provides free services. In some weak governments, they even sell passports and drivers licenses, as long as people could make a certain payment or provide personal connections within the government. People living under a weak deviant government do not a desk to compliant or report police and government misconduct. This causes some government officials, such as police officers, to provide or to force charging fees for services which are received from the briber. Because there can be an absolute execution by powerful people, this prevents the right to inspect government procedures and activities. Therefore this results government corruption becoming serious. High Level of Corruption: Political Corruption A high level of corruption usually involves substantial amounts of payment, and it often involves senior levels of government officials. The procurement of high level corruption can deal with the massive amounts of money, but it has a high secrecy from the public. (Kristoff, M Pertio, R May 01, 2010 P.2) Kristoff and Pertio (2010) indicate high level corruption that appears in higher level senior of the government or leading politicians. It has also involves a massive amount of money in procurement. Unlike low level of corruption, high level corruption has a lower impact on society, and people or citizens do not recognize high level corruption on the daily lives. Moreover, some political party in power requires their members to dominate government positions. Its members can be controlling key positions in awarding government contracts with businesses for a price of a briber, and then give money to the party. The illicit activities, including funds or huge infrastructure projects could be funneled into the party (Governance, Corruption and Conflict, 2010, P.12). In this article, the author examines how politicians and businesses corruption and gain benefits. High level of corruption often involves in politicians or political parties who could influence public decisions, politics and rules. It is a common skill for most misconduct political leaders and their party to start political corruption when they are in office. Politicians utilize their political power in a state, and they attempt to dominate all key positions by appointing their party members or even their relatives. Most government contracts are assigned by particular businesses that would have provided bribes to the politicians for getting governmental contracts. For businesses, they could be a huge infrastructure project, such as bridge and freeway. This can be considered as a high level political corruption. Citizens usually cannot recognize the serious political corruption in the state. Therefore, it causes that high level corruption of political parties and politicians occur in both democratic and autocratic countries. Meanwhile, high level of corruption often occurs in election campaigns in democratic states. In order to remain in office, politician may manipulate election campaigns by corruption related to campaign financing, which is a serious political issue in some states. Some elect officials help the welfare of people in constituencies, in the hopes of getting their votes. For example, a politician may be required to present expensive gifts at a wedding by a supporter in the electoral district. Or a politician may also need to participate wed receptions, birthday parties, celebrations and fund raising ceremonies that can cost huge amounts on elected officials (Myint U. December 02. 2000 P.40). To Myint (2000), high level corruption especially occurs on politicians in some democratic countries. In which the politicians or leaders of states are elected by citizens. Therefore, election campaign contributions are placed in high importance to them. Soliciting financial contributions for the election campaign is extremely important for every candidate because it may very well determine whether or not the candidate wins the election. In order to have sufficient funds for an election, campaign most candidates attempt to draw contributions from the people or from entrepreneurs in the election campaign of their political parties. These rich people, entrepreneurs or dignitary, will provide benefits to the new leaders in the future government. And these benefits may foster many of the connections between leaders and entrepreneurs, which may result in the politicians participating in different gatherings of entrepreneurs. This could cost huge amounts of money to the government. Corruption in Autocracies Corruption in Autocratic and Corruption in Democratic States There are many scholars to argue that corruption in autocratic country is higher than democratic country. According to the article Governance, Corruption and Conflict, one-party system has a higher potential for corruption. This is because of the lack of checks and balances in their countries. Without checks on government and a strong public voice that can cause difficultly if it sees corruption, there will be no one who can accomplish putting pressure on the government for accountability and transparency. There is also the argument that democratic states have lower of corruption. Corruption exists in all societies, but democratic systems have a high check on corruption (Governance, Corruption and Conflict, 2010, P.10). The writer argues that corruption is more prevalent in autocratic states. The authoritarian states have more corruption is not surprising. He explains there are some major factors including the lack of check from the public, no independent media, and no public voice, with the result that widespread corruption cannot be combated efficiently. Most authoritarian states are closed societies in which the government controls newspapers, television broadcasts and internet. Therefore, citizens cannot hold the government to be transparent. The writer states there is no guarantee that a state can free from corruption. But in most democratic states, fair elections and the stronger public voice determine the nature and integrity of the government and the leadership. Corruption can be recognized by citizens based on the structure of government, and people can check government by different ways. Most democratic states have corruption investigations and anti-corruption agencies that can efficiently combat corruptions. But, unlike democratic states, most authoritarian states do not have strong independent commissions to combat and investigate corruption. It concludes that corruptions in autocratic states are higher than corruptions in democratic states. Meanwhile, the redistributive demands by the poors mute voices and their oppression have little or no effect, when the rich have a direct political power, or easy access to political authorities, in countries with authoritarian regimes (Khagram You. December 09, 2003. P.3). Khagram and You (2003) illustrate that the degree of unequal redistributive demands between two groups of people, the poor and the rich, have different social status, which determines if the people can speak out or not. The rich, with higher social status can express themselves much easier and have easier access to government. Thus, the greater disparity between the poor and the rich, the greater is impact of high corruption in authoritarian or communist countries. Dictatorship corruption In most authoritarian states, a significant contribution to corruption is the deviated behavior of leaders. Authoritarian or totalitarian regimes do not have an institutionalized provision for succession. So, leaders in personalist dictatorships face uncertainty regarding their political futures. In dictatorships, government officials are without a democracys preoccupation and concern about their citizens evaluations. A Dictator can be considered to be a robbery, who steals the state for satisfying their short-term desires and needs, but might ultimately destroy the states economy in the long-term consequences. They completely control public life and maintain resources to benefit its elites and other strategic coalitions (Harmel Yeh 2011 P. 2, Ezrow Frantz 2011 P. 134). Ezrow Frantz (2011) argue that most dictators are only desired to dominate their power in their state and hold most executive positions, or even control their whole state by appointing executive positions. They only abuse tangible power for their own interests. Ezrow and Frantz (2011) describe leaders in authoritarian states as robbers, who dare to misappropriate the states natural resources and public lives. Importantly, they also determine to increase their personal wealth. Only corruption can enable them to satisfy their own interests. There are many of State-owned enterprises, such as telecommunications and television broadcasting, when, in fact, the dictator and his elites monopolize these enterprises and embezzle the funds of the state-owned enterprises. On the other hand, citizens live under an authoritarian regime suffer different levels of social control, including information control, cultural control, or even thought control. Thought control, which is one of the social controls, is used by most dictators to consolidate their political power in their states (Oh, K. and Hassig,R.C. 2000 P. 140). Thought control teaches that loyalty to the leader is necessary for every citizen, who should obey their leaders completely. It is similar to a cult of personality where monarchs or leaders are held in reverence. Without the citizens inspection, corruption in authoritarian states cannot be perceived, and this has contributed to rampant dictator corruption. So the dictator and his political corruption is one of the main types of corruption in authoritarian states. Nepotism By discussing the character of corruption in authoritarian or communist regimes, it is important to understand how nepotism is practice in these societies. Communist officials consistently prove that they are corruptible and nepotistic. It is not the first time to notice that nepotism thrives in communist bureaucracies, such as the Soviet nomenklatura, is a famous for nepotism during the 1920s (Bellow July 13, 2004, P.98). Bellow (2004) argues that nepotism is a common term within communist regimes. Some communist states announce that nepotism is a rule for dictators to consolidate their power in a country. In fact, this is an informal and personal mode, which is commonly adopted by government officials and societies in communist countries. The widespread building of nepotism in a social network is important for the governmental elites to hold their positions and enlarge their influence in the government. According to The Clearing House, it clarifies the meanings of nepotism in a normal society: Nepotism in Georgia schools, as well as over the nation, is one of the most serious hindrances to the development of a democratic and effective system. On almost every hand we find wives, daughter, sons and in-laws of members of boards of education teaching in our public schools. In many places a system of reciprocity is in vogue where one board member agrees to vote for anothers kin in return for a vote for his own kin. There is nothing good about nepotism. It is unfair to the teacher for it creates envy among other teachers who feel that many earned advances are the result of favoritism (The Clearing House 2005). To the author, nepotism is a serious hindrance to the social network. The author (2005) gives a negative view to nepotism because he thinks that it carries an unequal treatment of people in both democratic countries and in authoritarian countries. Nepotism is a powerful influence for people to have great achievements in jobs and politics. Based on favored groups and social relationships, such as friends or relatives, people engaging in nepotism could be appointed or granted a position, or promoted or employed in government positions, as well as in some enterprises. When people rely on this informal mode, however, it often becomes a significant deviation in most societies, from what is good. It has been usually included in the topic of corruption, because nepotism carries many of conveniences which characterize the one who is bribed and the briber who corrupts others. Methodology I began the research by reading a lot of books and journal articles that consisted of topics relating to corruption, such as corruption in China, and political corruption in China. By understanding the characteristics of Chinas corruption, I should first study general corruption in the world, and how different practical modes of corruption are used in different states. Second, corruption in similar regimes has similar features, so corruption in both authoritarian and communist states should be discussed in this topic. Most authoritarian and communist states have similar political systems, such as one-party system or dictatorship. To succeed in this paper, it is important to know the factors of a topic, Corruption in China, including the contribution of Chinese economic reform, the Chinese political system, and Chinas society today. I have also gathered all information for this paper by accessing most sources from online to find media sources which include Google scholar, ProQuest, LexisNexis, JSTOR and some of Chinas websites, such as China Daily. Using Google scholar to search primary sources mostly, it widely provides numerous relevant articles. And some websites including CNN International, South China Morning Post, New York Times and China Daily provide many useful cases that I can study for this paper. For example, the case of former of party Chief Bo Xilai and his families who stole billions of U.S. dollars. And the case of Lai Changxing, who bribed numerous of officials and smuggled products with values of billions of pounds. |