Political Science 30465

Introduction to Chinese Politics

Spring, 2010

Instructor: Peter Moody

534 Flanner

MTW 2:00-3:00, F 9:00-10:00

Requirements:

1. Attendance, completion of assigned readings, participation in class discussions.

2. Two analytic essays: the first, due before around spring break, examining some aspect of Chinese policy or policy making; the second, due at the end of the semester, examining political relations within the Chinese elite.

3. A midterm and a final examination

The general text for the class is James Wang, Contemporary Chinese Politics: An Introduction (latest edition); and a set of readings that should be found online or on electronic reserve.

Tentative schedule of readings and discussions.

CHINESE CULTURE AND REVOLUTION

January 15. Culture and geography.

Wang, Chapter one.

January 18. Confucian politics: the examination system.

Max Weber, The Religion of China, Chapter VI (electronic reserve)

January 20. Confucian politics: the court and emperor.

Ray Huang, 1587: A Year of No Significance (1978), pp. 1-41

January 22. Grass-Roots Society.

Hsiao-tung Fei, China’s Gentry, Chapter 4 (electronic reserve)

January 25. Revolution and modernity.

Qian Long Emperor to Lord McCartney, in China’s Response to the West, edited by Ssu-yu Teng and John K. Fairbank, pp. 17-21 (electronic reserve)

Lu Xun, The True Story of Ah Q (1919). You can find a complete copy online and download it from

< http://blacksheep.marxists.org/archive/lu-xun/1921/12/ah-q/index.htm >

Read all nine chapters.

January 27. Republican China and the barrel of the gun.

Hans van de Ven, "The Military in the Republic," China Quarterly, 150 (June, 1997). (Find in JSTOR; download).

THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT

January 29. Marxism, Leninism, and China.

Wang, Chapter two.

February 1. The Thought of Mao

Stuart Schram, The Political Thought of Mao Tse-tung (1969), pp. 171-180, 190-201 (electronic reserve)

February 3. War and revolution.

Chalmers Johnson, Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power in China (1962), Ch. 1 (electronic reserve)

February 5. The Soviet model.

Wang Meng, "The Butterfly" (1980), in Chinese Literature, January, 1981, pp. 3-16 (electronic reserve)

February 8. The Great Leap Forward

Thomas Bernstein, “Mao Zedong and the Famine of 1959-1960: A Study in Wilfulness,” China Quarterly, 186 (June, 2006), pp. 421-445 (see: journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=449715)

February 10. The Cultural Revolution.

Wang, “The Butterfly,” pp. 17-29 (electronic reserve)

Andrew Walder, “Beijing Red Guard Factionalism: Social Interpretations Reconsidered,” Journal of Asian Studies, 61, 2 (May 2002). Find in JSTOR.

February 12. The reform movement.

Wang, "The Butterfly,” pp. 30-55.

INSTITUTIONS

February 15. The Communist Party of China

Wang, Chapter four.

February 17. The Executive organs

Wang, Chapter five

February 19. Legislative, judicial, and advisory institutions

Wang, Chapters six and seven

February 22. Military institutions

Wang, Chapter nine

February 24. Work units

Qin Gao, “The Social Benefit System in Urban China: Reforms and Trends from 1988 to 2002,” Journal of East Asian Studies, No. 6, 2006 (Academic Search Premier)

February 26. Reform and the ideological system

Wang, Chapter three.

Zhiyue Bo, “Hu Jintao and the CCP’s Ideology: a Historical Perspective,” Journal of Chinese Political Science, September 2004 (Academic Search Premier)

March 1. Social development after reform

John W. Lewis, Xue Litai, "Social Change and Political Reform in China: Meeting the Challenge of Success," China Quarterly, December, 2003; for the text, see: journals.cambridge.org/article_S0305741003000559

March 3. Midterm Examination

March 5. Analytic essay.

Using a variety of secondary sources and, where possible, primary sources, write a brief analysis of a particular area of Chinese policy concern. Some suggestions:

Family planning and birth control

Reform of state-owned enterprises

The role of private businesses and entrepreneurs

Religious policy

The Falungong

The Tibetan issue

Islamic minorities

Migration to urban areas

Rural poverty

Development of the western regions

Modernization of the military

New doctrines on unconventional war

Adapting the economy to the WTO

Public health and disease (AIDS, SARS, bird flu)

Food safety

Land rights policy

Education policy

Issues of safety in the workplace

Corruption

Local government finance

Local elections

Issues of regional or personal income inequality

Water pollution, desertification, other ecological issues

Development of a rule of law

Enhancing governmental efficiency

The relationship of the Party and other political and governmental institutions

The internet and control over information (the firewall)

Student nationalism and Japan

The effects of the 2008 Olympics

Political reform, and its relation to economic reform

The handling of natural disasters

Recent commentary on inner-party democracy

The global financial crisis

Or anything else you may be interested in: consult with the teacher concerning possible topics and readings.

POLICY AND SOCIETY

March 15. Agriculture: the Maoist pattern

Franz Schurmann, Ideology and Organization in Communist China (1966), pp. 464-500 (electronic reserve)

March 17. Agricultural reform

Wang, Chapter eleven

March 18. Urban reform

Wang, Chapter twelve

March 22. Issues in urban reform.

Tim Clissold, Mr. China, pp. 147- 178 (electronic reserve)

March 24. Social contradictions and political protest

Wang, Chapter ten

March 26. Styles of reform and development

Yasheng Huang, Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics, pp. 1-41 (electronic reserve)

POLITICS AND PEOPLE

March 29. Connections

Bruce Jacobs, "A Preliminary Model of Particularistic Ties," China Quarterly, June 1979. (Locate in JSTOR; download)

March 31. Informal politics

Erika Evasdottir, Obedient Autonomy: Chinese Intellectuals and the Achievement of Orderly Life, pp. 173-178, 184-187 (Electronic reserves)

April 7. Elite relations

Xuezhi Guo, “Dimensions of Guanxi in Chinese Elite Politics,” China Journal, July 2001 (Locate in JSTOR: download)

April 9. The succession to Mao

Alexander Pantsov, “Mao Zedong and the Lin Biao Affair,” Far Eastern Affairs, 34, 4 (2006) (Academic Search Premier).

April 12. Succession politics since Deng Xiaoping

Richard Baum, "The Fifteenth Party Congress: Jiang Takes Command?" China Quarterly, March 1998. (Locate in JSTOR; download)

Joseph Fewsmith, "The Succession That Didn't Happen," China Quarterly, 173 (March, 2003) (journals.cambridge.org/article_S0009443903000020)

April 14. The Seventeenth Congress

China Leadership Monitor, No. 23 (http://www.hoover.org/publications/clm), articles by Naughton, Fewsmith, Miller, and Li.

April1 16. Prospects for democracy

China Leadership Monitor, No. 30, articles by James Mulvenon and Cheng Li.

GREATER CHINA

April 19. Greater China

Wang, Chapter eight.

April 21. Hong Kong

Anthony B. L. Cheung, “Executive-Led Governance or Executive Power Hollowed Out: The Political Quagmire of Hong Kong,” Asian Journal of Political Science, June, 2007(Academic Search Premier)

Lord Wilson, “Hong Kong Ten Years On,” Asian Affairs, November 2007 (Academic Search Premier).

April 23. The Chiang regime on Taiwan

Jeremy Taylor, “The Production of Chiang Kai-shek’s Personality Cult, 1929-1975,” China Quarterly, 185 (March 2006), pp. 96-110 (journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=416031)

April 26. Democratization of Taiwan

John Copper, “Taiwan’s Failed President,” Asian Affairs, Winter 2008 (Academic Search Premier)

April 28. Review and conclusions

Due April 30, morning: Analytic research essay on Chinese politics.

Using a variety of secondary and, where possible, primary sources, write an analytic essay on some aspect of contemporary politics. Some suggestions:

The Seventeenth Party Congress was held in the fall of 2007 Explain what happened there. How well did actual events fit in with prior expectations?

In the fashion of Fewsmith's essay on the 16th Congress, try to explore what seems to be the general direction of Chinese politics.

Choose some member of the current Politburo Standing Committee and trace his career and his political affiliations, speculating on his current and future influence.

Try to identify political alliances and rivalries among the current leadership.

Trace the way in which different policy and ideological positions are used to make a political point.

Discuss the general pattern of succession politics, with speculation (based on evidence) about whether the political system is becoming more institutionalized.

Examine which leaders have made pronouncements or otherwise taken positions on matters of current controversy inside China, and try to make sense of this behavior.

What is the evidence for factionalism in contemporary elite relationships?

See the teacher to talk about further ideas and to figure out how to find information.