Type of Credit: Elective
Credit(s)
Number of Students
The class is designed to help students understand basic political developments in China, including brief history to the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party, its leadership and ideology, the power structure and decision-making, succession and factionalism, major events in the past 70 years of ruling, social discontents, political reforms, and future prospects for democratization.
能力項目說明
The class is designed to help students understand basic political developments in China, including brief history to the rise to power of the Chinese Communist Party, its leadership and ideology, the power structure and decision-making, succession and factionalism, major events in the past 70 years of ruling, social discontents, political reforms, and future prospects for democratization
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次Week |
課程主題Course Theme |
課程內容與指定閱讀Content and Reading Assignment |
教學活動與作業Activity and Homework |
學習投入時數Estimated time devoted to coursework per week |
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課堂講授Lecture Hours |
課程前後Preparation Time |
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1 |
Introduction |
layouts for the class |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
|
2 |
Chinese Political Tradition |
*Dreyer, Chap. 1& 2. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
|
3 |
The CCP’s Rise to Power |
What was the reasons behind Mao Zedong’s victory? What does it mean for China and rest of the world? *Dreyer, Chap. 3 & 4. Jung Chang, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (London: Flamingo, 1991). |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
|
4 |
Leadership and Ideology |
What’s communism? What does it mean for the Chinese? What’s Maoism? Is ideology still relevant? Who are the five generations of leadership in China? * Wang, “The Erosion of Chinese Communist Ideology,” chapter 3, pp. 37-68. **Ian Johnson, “Xi’s China: The Illusion of Change,” NY Times (2015/11/24). David Shambaugh, “Rebuilding the Party: The Ideological Dimension,” in China’s Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation (Wash. D.C.; Woodraw Wilson Center Press, 2008), pp. 103-127. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
|
5 |
Political Economy under Mao |
Who is Chair Mao and what is his legacy? *Dreyer, chapter 5, “PRC Politics under Mao”. |
1st short paper due |
3.0 |
4.5 |
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6 |
Film 1 |
China: A Century of Revolution, Part II. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
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7 |
Political Economy in the Post-Mao Era |
What are the reforms undertaken by Deng Xiaoping? Repercussions? * Dreyer, chapter 6, “PRC Politics in the Post-Mao Era.” *Dreyer, Chap. 7, “Politics of the Economy”. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
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8 |
Xi’s Era |
*Brown, chap. 2, “Xi the Man,” pp. 49-105. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
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9 |
Succession and Factionalism |
Very intricate issues worthy of your attention. *Dreyer, Chap. 9, “The Role of the Military.” *Cheng Li, chap. 7, “Factions: One Party, Two Coalitions?” pp. 249-300. Wang, “Elites and the Cadre System: Leadership Style, Factionalism, Succession, and Recruitment,” chapter 5, pp. 105-138 @Tang Tsou, “Chinese Politics at the Top: Factionalism or Informal Politics? Balance-of-Power Politics or a Game to Win All?” The China Journal, No. 34 (July 1995), pp. 95-156. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
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10 |
Power Structure and Decision-making |
Find out the structure and functions of the CCP power apparatus; and the meaning of the Leninist party-state system. **Allice Miller, “Road to the 19th Party Congress,” China Leadership Monitor, no, 51 (Fall 2016). **Allice Miller, “Politburo Processes under Xi Jinping,” China Leadership Monitor, no. 47 (Summer 2015). Cheng Li, “From Selection to Election? Experiments in the Recruitment of Chinese Political Elites,” China Leadership Monitor, No. 26 (2008). |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
|
11 |
Political System |
What’s the nature of the party-state system? *Cheng Li, chap. 2, “Structure: China’s Party-State System,” pp. 41-76. Pierre F. Landry, Decentralized Authoritarianism in China (Cambridge University Press, 2008), chap. 1, pp. 1-27. |
The 2nd short paper due |
3.0 |
4.5 |
|
12 |
Film 2 |
1989 Tiananmen Incident Transitions and Adaptation Bruce J. Dickson, “Cooptation and Corporatism in China: The Logic of Party Adaptation,” Political Science Quarterly, 115:4 (2001), pp. 517-540. *Minxin Pei, “Why Transitions Get Trapped: A Theoretical Framework,” China’s Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy (Harvard University Press, 2006), pp. 17-44. *David Shambaugh, “Rebuilding the Party: The Organizational Dimension,” “Can the Chinese Communist Party Survive?” in China’s Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation, pp. 128-160. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
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13 |
The Chinese Model |
Is there a Chinese model? Why is it so unique? *“China as an Economic Superpower,” in Martin Jacques, When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World (London: Allen Lane, 2009), pp. 151-193. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
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14 |
Social Instabilities and Reforms |
Is the Chinese society stable? What are the possible causes? Find out the ways Chinese authorities have resorted to clamp down on the internet and how the Chinese have resisted. *Brown, “The Political Programme of Xi Jinping,” pp. 146-184. **Roderick MacFarquar, “China: The Superpower of Mr. Xi,” ChinaFile (August 13, 2015). |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
|
15 |
Corruption and Vulnerabilities |
Find out why China has become one of the most corrupt countries in the world in such a short time? What are the causes? Who are they? *Dreyer, Chap. 8, “Crime and Punishment.” *Susan L. Shirk, China: Fragile Superpower (Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 1-12. Melanie Manion, Corruption by Design: Building Clean Government in Mainland China and HK (Harvard University Press, 2004), Cha. 3. |
The third short paper due |
3.0 |
4.5 |
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16 |
Emergence of Civil Society |
*Guobin Yang, “Online Activism in an Age of Contention,” in The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online (NY: Columbia University Press, 2009), pp. 25-43. Dreyer, Chap. 14, “Foreign Policy”. Yang Zhong, Jie Chen, “To Vote or Not to Vote: An Analysis of Peasants’ Participation in Chinese Village Elections,” Comparative Political Studies, 35:6 (August 2002), pp. 686-712. |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
|
17 |
Future Prospects: Is Democracy an Option? |
Would democracy reach China? Is it necessary? Is it possible to have “democracy with Chinese characteristics”? **Douglas Heaven, “The Uncertain Future of Democracy,” BBC (2017/3/30) **@ Andrew J. Nathan, “Authoritarian Resilience,” Journal of Democracy, 14:1 (January 2003), pp. 6-17. **@ Henry S. Rowen, “When Will the Chinese People Be Free?” Journal of Democracy, 18:3 (July 2007), pp. 38-52. Wang, “Democracy, Dissent, and the Tiananmen Mass Movement,” chapter 10, pp.269-300. @Minxin Pei, “How Will China Democratize?” Journal of Democracy, 18:3 (July 2007), pp. 53-57. |
Assignments in class |
0.0 |
0.0 |
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18 |
Group discussion |
Group discussion |
Assignments in class |
3.0 |
4.5 |
Students are required to read the assignments with the * sign in front (**means you can get it via internet). 2-3 short reflection papers (2-3 pages each) are required, as are a term paper (with a length of 5,000-7,000 words) and an oral presentation. Group discussion and class participation are encouraged.
June T. Dreyer, China’s Political System: Modernization and Tradition, 9th edition (NY: Pearson Education, Inc., 2015).
Kerry Brown, CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping (London & NY: I.B. Tauris, 2017).
Cheng Li, Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing the Collective Leadership (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution Press, 2016).
James Wang C. F. Wang, Contemporary Chinese Politic: An Introduction, 7th edition (NJ: Upper Saddle River, 2002).
Chien-min Chao & Bruce J. Dickson, ed., Remaking the Chinese State: Strategies, Society, and Security (New York: Routledge, 2001).