Politics of China

Politics of China

Chronology

BC495 Confucius begins work on his philosophy

BC 214 Chin Dynasty begins construction of Great Wall of China

618-907 Tang Dynasty

1380s Ming Dynasty rules China

1644 Manchu Dynasty established

1840-42 Opium War

1900-1901 Boxer Rebellion

1911 Sun Yat-sen becomes president of China after Collapse of manchu dynasty

1925 Sun Yat-sen dies; Chiang Kai shek takes over Nationalist (Guomindang) party/army

1931 Japan occupies Manchuria; Nationalists/Communists clash

1934 Long March led by Mao Zedeong

1937 Full-scale Japanese invasion of China

1945 Japanese forces surrender to Chiang Kai Shek

1949 Communists win civil war, drive Nationalists to Taiwan

1957 Great Leap Forward

1965 Cultural revolution

1972 Nixon visits

1976 Mao dies/ Gang of Four imprisoned

1977 Deng Xiaoping rehabilitated

1989 Tiananmen Square

1997 Death of Deng

Historical Background

Traditional society—hierarchical, authoritarian in many respects

Education was valued

Foreign Influence an important event in China of 1800s

Fall of Manchu dynasty caused by a variety of influences: nationalism, economics and social disunity.

Overthrow of Manchu did not bring stability

Warlords through the 1930s
Conflict between nationalists and Communists
Japanese invasion
Resumption of Civil war until Communist victory in 1949

Politics in the PRC

First priority was security due to history of instability and the Cold War

Implemented Industrialization and land reform

Great Leap Forward (1958)

Cultural Revolution (1966-76)

Economic Modernization under Deng

Tiananmen

Why do some writers believe that the Chinese are distrustful of the West? What historic events are evidence of this distrust? What historic events are the basis of the distrust?

In your opinion, what factors precluded China from becoming a democratic country early in this century? Which of the factors were related to China's domestic environment and which to its external environment?

Evaluate Mao's leadership of China. What were his strengths and weaknesses? To what extent is China's position today a result of the personalities of Mao and Deng?

The Chinese State

National People’s Congress (Constitutionally important but mostly ceremonial)

Central Military Commission (Standing Committee of NPC, most politically powerful state organ)

State Council (akin to a Cabinet in the US; administratively the center of power)

1982 Constitution claims state is more important than Party

Jiang Zemin remains President; Premier Li Peng was replaced by Zhu Rongji in March of 1998

The Chinese Communist Party

Parallels state structures--i.e. Provincial People's Congress (state) and Provincial communist party Congress

--allows party to be informed of state activities
--party officials more authoritative in the past than state officials

Important party structures:

National Party Congress' are important (one held in 1998); establish Central Committee

Central Committee designates the Politburo, military commission and top party leaders

Military

PLA important role in many policy issues due to:

Revolutionary victory
Salience of security issues
PLA's role in ending cultural revolution
Cultural desire for stability represented by PLA

Controversy caused by PLA role in Tiananmen

Political socialization

Family

Government policies to try to alter traditional practices
Government policy to limit family size
Family remains basic unit of society

Ethnicity and religion

Small ethnic minorities: Tibet and Muslim groups most important

Education

Modernization has improved education
University educated becoming apolitical, cynical and materialistic in aftermath of reforms and Tianamen

Political Participation and Recruitment

(student presentation)

Interest Articulation

Only recognized through the party.

Establishment of networks

How was Tiananmen an attempt to expand interest articulation?

How did the Chinese government attempt to encourage "participation"? Would you label such participation as part of a primarily parochial, subject or participant political culture?
What are the dangers of democratic centralism related to interest articulation and aggregation?

Policymaking

Chinese Communist party is Chief decision-maker

Authoritarian, democratic-centralism, but not dictatorial

Collegial

Willing to experiment with different policies (models)

Problems with being seen as an advocate of discarded policy: limits rational evaluation of policy

Efforts at control of bureaucracy by party

Efforts at decentralization

Policy performance

Differing goals during different eras

--Extraction and regulation in post-revolutionary period
--distribution and symbolic values in the 1960s
--economic development during the 80s/90s

Agricultural achievements are significant

Impressive economic growth in the 80s/90s

Open door has improved economic performance but has had unintended consequences

Is it possible for China to pursue more free market economic activity in an authoritarian political context?

Evaluate the US policy of trade with China as a way of democratizing Chinese politics.

How do democratic centralism principles and the use of "models" impact on policy evaluation and formulation.