Why Do We Obey the Law? A Comparative Study of Legal Awareness Among U.S. and Chinese Citizens

Abstract

Why do we obey the law? This question may be rephrased as, why do we not obey the law? U.S. social psychologist Tom Tyler once proposed the very same question with reference to the actual conditions of the United States in the mid-1980s, and produced a marvelous answer as to why U.S. citizens obey the law. Thirty years have passed since China began its transition to rule of law in 1978. A multitude of scholars have staged fierce debates on the theoretical basis of China’s legal reforms, but few have attempted to interpret and document the current state of legal awareness and conduct of Chinese citizens using empirical research methods. We have not seen the use of empirical methods in China to answer the question, why do Chinese citizens not obey the law? Petty crime is commonplace on the streets of modern China. Chinese people are all too familiar with the armies of ticket touts that flock around railway stations during the peak season of the Spring Festival, people selling fake graduation certificates and invoices in broad daylight under overpasses, and pickpockets scattered among passengers at bus stations. In addition, the “official data” as published in the Annual of Chinese Law are particularly noteworthy. In 1987, a total of 1,234,910