POL 324: POLITICS OF CHINA

The University of Mississippi
Fall 2011, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 16:00-17:15, 200 Bryant Hall
Instructor: Dr. Gang Guo * Office: 128 Deupree Hall * Telephone: (662) 915-5419 * e-mail: gg at olemiss dot edu
Office hours: by appointment

Course Overview

This course is an introduction to the politics of China, with an emphasis on the mainland in the post-Mao reform era. It includes important topics in the Chinese political history, political ideology, political institutions, political processes, as well as some key issues in contemporary Chinese politics. By the end of the semester, students shall be able to gain a better understanding of the historical and current developments in Chinese politics and to appropriately apply the concepts and theories to the study of China.

The following textbook is recommended but not required:

• Lieberthal, Kenneth. 2004. Governing China: From Revolution Through Reform (2nd Edition). New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN: 0-393-92492-0.

The required readings for this course will be linked from this web page or through electronic journals at the University of Mississippi libraries.

It is essential for students to read the required materials before class and attend all class sessions. Class participation accounts for 10% of the course grade.

Each student is also required to make a 10-minute in-class presentation of a most recent news on China. The presentation accounts for 10% of the course grade. In reporting the news, the presenter should synthesize news stories from at least two major mass media outlets. If necessary the presenter should also provide some background information to help the class understand the story better. After each presentation there will be a short period in which the presenter responds to questions or comments from the audience. For the preparation of the presentation, there are many English-language websites that cover news on China. Some of those are linked from the online resources section on this web page.

There will be one or more pop quizzes, a midterm exam, and a final exam for the course. The pop quiz(zes) will be held on randomly chosen dates in class and account for 5% of the course grade. The mid-term exam in class on Thursday, October 6, will account for 35% of the course grade. The final exam starts at 16:00 on Wednesday, December 7 according to the Registrar's Office. It accounts for 40% of the course grade.

Note

• Beginning in Fall 2006, grades lower than C in political science courses will not be counted toward the political science major.
• If you can not open the PDF files you may need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
• If you can not open the PowerPoint files you may need to download and install the free PowerPoint Viewer.

Course Schedule

References

• Benewick, Robert, Irene Tong, and Jude Howell. 2004. "Self-Governance and Community: A Preliminary Comparison between Villagers' Committees and Urban Community Councils." China Information, Volume 18, Number 1, March, pp. 11-28.
• Bian, Shu, and Logan. 2001. "Communist Party Membership and Regime Dynamics in China." Social Forces, Volume 79, Number 3, March, pages 805 - 841.
• Bickford, Thomas J. "A Retrospective on the Study of Chinese Civil-Military Relations Since 1979: What Have We Learned? Where Do We Go?".
• Bo, Zhiyue. 2004. "The 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party: Formal Institutions and Factional Groups". Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 13, Number 39, pages 223 - 256.
• Brzezinski, Chen, Harding, Metzger, Oksenberg, Scalapino, Waldron, Wang, Zhao, and Nathan. 1998. "Will China Democratize?" Journal of Democracy, Volume 9, Issue 1, January, pages 3 - 64.
• Central Intelligence Agency, United States. 2011. "China." The World Factbook.
• Chan, Ming K. 2003. "Different Roads to Home: The Retrocession of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese Sovereignty". Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 12, Number 36, August, pages 493 - 518.
• China Internet Information Center. 2004a. "China's Judiciary."
• China Internet Information Center. 2004b. "The National People's Congress."
• Congressional-Executive Commission on China. 2009. "What Democracy Means in China After 30 Years of Reform." Roundtable, 111th Congress, First Session, May 22.
• Copper, John F. 2003. "Taiwan: Democracy's Gone Awry?" Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 12, Issue 34, pages 145 - 162.
• Deng, Xiaoping. 1992. Excerpts from Talks Given in Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shanghai.
• Fewsmith, Joseph. 2001. "The Political and Social Implications of China's Accession to the WTO." The China Quarterly, Volume 167, September, pages 573 - 591.
• Goldman, Merle and Roderick MacFarquhar. 1999. The Paradox of China's Post-Mao Reforms. Harvard Contemporary China Series, 12. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  1. Goldman and MacFarquhar. "Dynamic Economy, Declining Party-State", Chapter 1, pages 3 - 29.
  2. Naughton, Barry. "China's Transition in Economic Perspective", Chapter 2, pages 30 - 44.
  3. Fewsmith, Joseph. "Elite Politics", Chapter 3, pages 47 - 75.
  4. Godwin, Paul H. B. "Party-Military Relations", Chapter 4, pages 76 - 99.
  5. Murray Scot Tanner, "The National People's Congress", Chapter 5, pages 100 - 128.
  6. Li and O'Brien. "The Struggle over Village Elections", Chapter 6, pages 129 - 144.
  7. Tianjian Shi. "Mass Political Behavior in Beijing", Chapter 7, pages 145 - 169.
  8. Martin King Whyte. "The Changing Role of Workers", Chapter 8, pages 173 - 196.
  9. Thomas P. Bernstein. "Farmer Discontent and Regime Responses", Chapter 9, pages 197 - 219.
  10. Solinger, Dorothy J. "China's Floating Population", Chapter 10, pages 220 - 240.
  11. David S. G. Goodman. "The New Middle Class", Chapter 11, pages 241 - 261.
  12. Kristen Parris. "The Rise of Private Business Interests", Chapter 12, pages 262 - 282.
  13. Merle Goldman. "The Emergence of Politically Independent Intellectuals", Chapter 13, pages 283 - 307.
  14. Elizabeth J. Perry. "Crime, Corruption, and Contention", Chapter 14, pages 308 - 329.
  15. Richard Baum & Alexei Shevchenko, "The 'State of the State'", Chapter 15, pages 333 - 360.
• Goldstein, Avery. 2001. "The Diplomatic Face of China's Grand Strategy: A Rising Power's Emerging Choice." The China Quarterly, Volume 168, December, pages 835 - 864.
• Goldstein & Schriver. 2001. "An Uncertain Relationship: The United States, Taiwan and the Taiwan Relations Act." The China Quarterly.
• Guo, Gang. 2005. "Party Recruitment of College Students in China." Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 14, Number 43, May, pages 371 - 393.
• Guo, Zhenglin and Thomas Bernstein. 2004. "The Impact of Elections on the Village Structure of Power: The Relations Between the Village Committees and the Party Branches". Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 13, Number 39, pages 257 - 275.
• Hsieh, John Fuh-Sheng. 2004. "National Identity and Taiwan's Mainland China Policy." Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 13, Number 40, August, pp. 479-490.
• Johnston, Alastair Iain. 2004. "Chinese Middle Class Attitudes Towards International Affairs: Nascent Liberalization?" The China Quarterly, Volume 179, September, pp. 603-628.
• Kent, Ann E. 2001. "States Monitoring States: The United States, Australia, and China's Human Rights, 1990 - 2001." Human Rights Quarterly, Volume 23, Issue 3.
• Kuan, Hsin-Chi and Lau Siu-Kai. 2002. "Traditional Orientations and Political Participation in Three Chinese Societies." Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 11, Number 31, pages 297 - 318.
• LawInfoChina. 2002. "China's Judicial System."
• Manion, Melanie. 1996. "The Electoral Connection in the Chinese Countryside." The American Political Science Review, Volume 90, Number 4, December, pages 736 - 748.
• Nathan, Andrew J. 2011. "What China Wants: Bargaining with Beijing." Foreign Affairs, July/August.
• National People's Congress, PRC. 1990. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, adopted at the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress on April 4.
• Naughton, Barry. 2007. Introduction, in The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Overholt, William H. 2001. "Hong Kong: The Perils of Semidemocracy." Journal of Democracy, Volume 12, Issue 4, pages 5 - 18.
• Pei, Minxin. 1997. "Citizens v. Mandarins: Administrative Litigation in China." The China Quarterly, Number 152, December, pages 832 - 862.
• Pei, Minxin. 1998. "Chinese Civic Associations: An Empirical Analysis." Modern China, Volume 24, Number 3, July, pages 285 - 318.
• Solinger, Dorothy J. 2002. "Labour Market Reform and the Plight of the Laid-off Proletariat." The China Quarterly, Volume 170, June, pp. 304-326.
• Swaine, Michael D. and Zhang Tuosheng, editors. Managing Sino-American Crises: Case Studies and Analysis. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
• Tomba, Luigi. 2004. "Creating an Urban Middle Class: Social Engineering in Beijing." The China Journal, Number 51, pages 1-26.
• Tsui, Kai-yuen and Youqiang Wang. 2004. "Between Separate Stoves and a Single Menu: Fiscal Decentralization in China." The China Quarterly, Volume 177, pages 71 - 90.
• Washington Post. 2003. "Interview With Wen Jiabao: A Complete Transcript From Chinese Premier's Meeting."
• Zhao, Suisheng. 2003. "Political Liberalization without Democratization: Pan Wei's Proposal for Political Reform." Journal of Contemporary China, Volume 12, Number 35, pages 333 - 355.

On-line Resources

• South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper.
• People's Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP.
• China Internet Information Center
• Sina
• China News Digest
• Asia Wall Street Journal
• Financial Times
• The Economist
• Google News on China
• Asia Source
• China Radio International
• CNN Asia
• BBC Asia-Pacific
• New York Times - Asia Pacific news
• China Top News
• Carter Center -China Village Elections Project
• Embassy of the People's Republic of China, in Washington D.C.
• Embassy of the United States of America, in Beijing.