Abstract: The ultimate focus of blame avoidance research lies in analyzing the generalized motivations underlying such behavior,thereby extracting its micro-theoretical foundations.As rationality has become a stable basis for individual action in a disenchanted age,its multiple manifestations provide important clues for identifying these foundations.Current blame avoidance research primarily relies on two micro-theoretical foundations—self-interest and exchange—highlighting the instrumental rationality of blame avoidance behavior,yet this approach deviates from the phenomenon of "compelled blame avoidance".From the perspective of moral obligations within the Party and government system,when officials bear moral responsibility but face accountability that threatens their basic career needs,blame avoidance becomes a compelled choice under strained moral relations.This represents not only an instrumentally rational choice to maintain basic job security but also a consequence of the difficulty in realizing value rationality.By taking self-interest,exchange,and moral obligation as fundamental types and integrating the degrees of self-interest and altruism present in diverse blame avoidance behaviors,we can further identify foundations based on deficient obligation and division of labor.Accordingly,five micro-theoretical foundations of blame avoidance can be derived:self-interest,deficient obligation,exchange,division of labor,and moral obligation.This framework helps reshape stereotypical perceptions of blame avoidance behavior and provides a more comprehensive analytical perspective for blame avoidance research.

Key words: blame avoidance, officials, rationality, self-interest, deficient obligation, exchange, division of labor, moral obligation