Department of Politics and International Relations

Understanding China’s Rise: Domestic Politics and Foreign Policy

PR3860

Course Leader: Dr Jinghan Zeng

Course Handbook

Session: 2015/2016

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Course Summary

If the history of modern China was written as a novel its author would be accused of losing

touch with reality. During the twentieth century, China witnessed the collapse of a centuries-

old imperial system, two revolutions, foreign occupation and civil war, the introduction of a

radical form of communism under Mao Zedong, the retreat from communism following the

death of Mao and the adoption of capitalist style economic reforms, albeit still under the

auspices of a nominally communist ruling party. China has started the twenty-first century

much as it started the last – in a state of transition and flux. Home to around a quarter of the

world’s population, the implementation of post-Mao economic reforms has made China one

of the fastest growing economies in the world. As China’s military expenditure increases and

economy expands, many believe that China will emerge as the next leading superpower,

eclipsing the United States some time during the next decade or so. Others predict that China

is on the brink of collapse, implosion and disaster with hundreds of millions currently out of

work, gross social and economic inequality and rampant official corruption.

This course seeks to understand China’s rise, but first we consider how China got to where it

is today, and its domestic dynamics with an emhasis on the mainland China in the

contempoary era. The first half of this module will examine the domestic aspect of Chinese

politics including China under Mao, elite politics, democratization, political legitimacy, and

nationalism. Will China become a democracy? Why does the one-party system in China

thrive? How does the communist party achieve ecoomic opening while maintaining the

authoritarian rule politically? Are we witnessing the coming collaspe of the party?

The second half of this course seeks to understand China’s rise with a focus on its foreign

relations. The “rise of China” is proving to be one of the most important developments of the

early 21st century. It is widely believed that China will (or even has already) replace the US to

become the next leading superpower (in purchasing power parity measurement), China has

already replaced the US to become the largest world economy since 2014. Many argue that a

rising China and a declining US will be engaged in security competition with considerable

potential for war. Others argue that given its economic and political openness, the current

international order is well able to accommodate China’s peaceful rise. What are the

implications of China’s emergence as a global power? Can China rise peacefully? What are

China’s strategic intentions? Will China overthrow the exiting international order, or become

a part of it? How to deal with the rise of China? The course will enable students to understand

China’s emergence as a global power and Chinese foreign policy.

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The module aims to:-

Provide students with a thorough overview of how government and politics are organised

and function in the People’s Republic of China

Introduce students to the complex and distinct nature of Chinese politics, along with their

historical and theoretical basis

Locate the theoretical debates on the nature of the Chinese political system within the

contexts of both contemporary Chinese politics and modern Chinese history

The learning objectives of the module are:-

1. To be familiar with the main foundations of the Chinese political structure

2. To understand the functioning of power in the Chinese party-state

3. To have an awareness of the major policy debates in Chinese politics

4. To be familiar with a wide range of literature on Chinese politics and international

relations

5. To be able to critically analyse complex ideas, both orally and in writing, with

relation to Chinese politics

6. To develop IT and research skills through the use of the library, internet and e-

mail based resources

7. To develop the ability to work both as a group and independently

Teaching Staff

Dr Jinghan Zeng

Room: FW 145

E-mail address: Jinghan.zeng@rhul.ac.uk

Term 1 Week Schedule: China’s domestic politics (subject to change)

Monday 9-11am

Week Number Lecture Title (subject to change) Location

1. Introduction: China FW101

2. From late Qing to 1945 FW101

3. Ideological Evolution: Marxism, Leninism, and Maoism FW101

4. China under Mao (1949-1976) FW101

5. China under Deng/ The Party-State FW101

6. Elite Politics and Succession FW101

7. Corruption FW101

8. Economic Development: the China Model? FW101

9. Political Legitimacy of the Party FW101

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10. A democratic future? FW101

Term 2 Week Schedule: China’s international relations (subject to change)

1. China’s International Relations: Will China Rule the

World?

FW101

2. Republic of China and People’s Republic of China FW101

3. Sino-Soviet Split FW101

4. Sino-US Relations FW101

5. Sino-Japan relations FW101

6. China’s Grand Strategy/ China’s soft Power FW101

7. Nationalism and Foreign Policy FW101

8. China’s Economic Power (IPE) FW101

9. China’s Military Power FW101

10. Can China Rise Peacefully? FW101

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Course Assessment

This course is assessed on the basis of:

1. Essay 1 (25%) to be submitted on 7 December (9am via Moodle and in the seminar)

(3,000 words)

2. Essay 2 (25%) to be submitted on Spring term N/A (9am via Moodle and in the

seminar) (3,000 words)

3. Examination (50%) in Week N/A(3 questions in 3 hours)

Full details about each form of assessment will be provided in due course.

This course does not accept late essay submission. However, if you have major extenuating

circumstances, policy for coursework extensions or deferral and exam deferral is as

follows:

1. You must contact the course leader in advance to request an extension or deferral ask.

2. You must submit your request on the Permission for Deadline Extension form

together with any evidence to support your case.

3. Get advice from your tutor

Your request might be considered by a university panel that will decide whether your request

is allowed or not. If the panel allows the deferral, the course leader may extend the relevant

deadline or make alterative arranges for assessment where appropriate or practical, on medial

or other reasonable grounds for up to 14 calendar days. Reasonable grounds include

A serious debilitating illness causing unavoidable prolonged absence from the

university

A serious accident or acute illness just before or on the hand-in day

A significant family event, e.g. the death of a member of the immediate family or the

need to care for an unexpectedly sick relative

They do not include

Problems that should have been planned for, e.g. problems with printers, computers,

or software like office or windows

Needing a bit more time to get another book or refine the work

Each student is also required to undertake the following forms of non-assessed work

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A 10-15 minute in-class individual presentation of a most recent news on China. In

reporting the news, the presenter should synthesize news stories from at least two

major mass media outlets.

A 20-30 minute in-class group presentation on a specific subject. Presenters are

expected to introduce the research and critically review its key conclusions.

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.

Module Textbook and Core Reading

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China: Third Edition (Comparative Government and

Politics), Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution to. Reform, 2nd edition. New York;

London: W. W. Norton, 2004.

Marc Lanteigne, Chinese Foreign Policy: An Introduction, Routledge; 3 edition, 2016

Bibliography

To get the best out of the course the standard advice is to read widely and use the library:

there are many more relevant references than this reading-list contains and many more

arguments than we will cover in the lectures. Finding these can be a matter of both

serendipity and enlightenment but if you do not read your chances of finding any of them will

be greatly diminished.

Electronic Resources

Other relevant sources could be several thousand references long – it has been restricted to

particular sites that relate to information and arguments that will be explicitly dealt with in

the lectures and seminars. (NB. Wikipedia does not count as a relevant site by itself: it should

only ever be used as a springboard into other sites).

For the preparation of the individual presentation, there are many English-language websites

that cover news on China including

South China Morning Post

People's Daily

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China Internet Information Center

China File

Sina

The John L. Thornton China Center, the Brookings Institution

China Digital Times

China News Digest

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

Embassy of the United States of America

For the group presentation, the students are encouraged to keep an eye on the following

scholarly journals which include material related to this course. Here is a list of top-ranked

journals. It is recommended you spend time searching these, many of which are held

electronically by RHUL library and Senate House.

China Quarterly

The China Journal

Journal of Contemporary China

Chinese Journal of International Politics

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China: an international journal

China Review

China Information

Journal of Chinese Political Science

Modern China

Pacific Review

Pacific Affairs

Asian Survey

American Political Science Review

Comparative Political Studies

Comparative Politics

Tips and Advice

Be confident. Do not fear. This is not a language course. Excellent Chinese language skills

will be an asset; however, you do not have to be good at Chinese in order to get high grades

in this module. The most important thing that students shall bring is a willingness to work

hard on possibly unfamiliar material.

Read. As with all academic subjects, reading is an essential complement to the taught parts

of the course. The reading list is there to provide an indication of resources for essays and

exams. You will not be expected to be familiar with all of the texts, rather the aim to get you

all to read some key articles and pieces of work that will give you direction and then allow

you to go on to develop your own interests.

Go to lectures. Attendance at all sessions, seminar presentations and participation in the online

seminar discussion are compulsory. This is a closely integrated and tightly structured course.

If you miss a lecture, you will quickly loose direction and find it very difficult to keep up.

With this in mind, I expect you to attend all lectures, do all readings, and actively participate

in class. If you have trouble thinking of things to say, take notes on the readings – this will

often bring you to class with thoughts or questions that can then be used to help jump-start

discussion. If you are not able to attend a lecture because of major extenuating circumstances,

you must contact the lecturer in advance by email. Being more than fifteen minutes late to

class will count as an absence. Please note that students with unsatisfactory attendance and

participation records will fail the course.

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Contact Policy

Email Policy: I check email daily during the week, and will usually respond within 24

working hours. Email works best for procedural questions (setting up appointments, etc.);

detailed questions about course material are usually easier to clarify in class or in office

hours.

Office Hours: I hold office hours on N/A; if you have a scheduling conflict at this time,

email me and we will arrange another time to meet. We encourage you to come by office

hours regularly; they give you a chance to ask questions and talk about difficulties you’re

having with the readings, your essays, or any other aspects of the class. You are always

welcome to come to office hours in pairs or small groups.

Plagiarism, Copying and Cheating

Everything submitted for assessment by an individual student or group of students

must be original work.

A short guide for students in the Department of Politics and International Relations Royal

Holloway, University of London states

“Plagiarism an extremely serious offence, both within the College and the Department.

Ignorance of the meaning of plagiarism is no defence and all students will be deemed to

understand and be aware of the University of London Student Regulation as set out below.

There are very serious penalties for students who have been found to have plagiarised their

work. Please do not be tempted to jeopardise your degree in this irresponsible fashion.”

Follow these simple guidelines to help avoid problems of plagiarism:

Read “a short guide for students in the Department of Politics and International Relations

Royal Holloway, University of London”

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/philosophy/documents/pdf/pirplagiarismandreferencing

guideplusinstructionsforelectronicessaysubmission2012-13.pdf

Append a list of references and other sources used to each of your assignments.

Surround all direct quotations with inverted commas, and cite the precise source

(including page numbers) either in a footnote or in parentheses directly after the

quotation.

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Use quotations sparingly and make sure that the bulk of the essay is in your own words.

Try to ‘distance’ yourself from your sources by putting aside the source material (books

and downloaded web information etc.) that you have used, and perhaps also the notes

you have made on them, when you actually sit down to write.

It is usually not necessary to cite or attribute lecture material, though again you should

avoid copious direct quotations or near quotations, and should not rely wholly on lecture

notes to form the structure of your essay.

WARNING. When plagiarism is established, penalties will apply.

The severity of the penalty will vary with the extent to which work is plagiarised e.g.

sporadic lapses in citation will be treated differently to wholesale copying. However, it

should be noted that in some cases the penalty can be (and has been) expulsion from the

university.

Grade Descriptors

This is a guide to the criteria used by staff in assigning a mark to a piece of work. The final

mark awarded to a piece of work will be informed by its predominant character. In each Mark

Range the criteria indicate the quality of the work. Within each band it is possible for a piece

of work to have some flaws provided that such weaknesses are sufficiently compensated by

the quality of the remainder of the work. These principles apply to all formally assessed

work with some differences in emphasis for assessments completed in different

circumstances. For example, the standards for English and referencing are likely to be higher

for coursework than for examinations (for instance, exam answers would not normally

include detailed references to cited works but, where appropriate, the latter should appear in

coursework).

Courses generally use a range of assessment methods designed to monitor your progress and

to find out whether or not you have achieved the intended module learning outcomes. It

would be unusual for all learning outcomes to be tested in a single assessment. Therefore,

you should note that the marking criteria will be adapted to suit the requirements of particular

assessments. It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand the criteria being

applied in any particular assessment.

Grade Disputes Policy

If you have any questions about your grade, you should wait 24 hours after receiving your

grades. This will give you time to clearly identify what you want to dispute and organize your

rationale for why the grade should be reconsidered. After collecting your thoughts, please

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write a short memo (1-2 paragraphs) explaining why you think your grade should be

changed, then email it to me along with your request to meet. You must contact the module

leader within 7 days of getting your essay or exam results back. You will be asked to bring

the graded document to the meeting. After talking with you and reviewing your memo and

document, I will give you my decision by email. Please be aware that it is possible that you

may get lower as well as higher grades after review. Please also note all marks are

provisional until they are approved by the external examination board.

Feedback:

Feedback on formal assessments should be linked to the marking criteria. This feedback can

take different forms, including generic oral feedback to a whole class or individual comment

sheets. The aim of the feedback is to help you develop the knowledge and skills needed for

successful completion of the module.

Informal feedback from tutors is used to inform you of your progress and takes place through

individual meetings and classroom discussions. Peer feedback between students is usually

encouraged through group meetings, seminar and class discussions. You should make use of

all these different forms of feedback to evaluate your learning and identify further appropriate

learning activities.

Teaching and Reading List

The course will be divided into 2 hours of seminar per week. I will be asking each of you to

give presentations. I will then lead you through the subsequent discussions, ensuring that all

the important aspects of each subject are adequately dealt with. This format clearly puts some

of the onus on you to do the reading and you should all be prepared to get actively involved

in the discussions. Some discussion questions are provided in the reading list but it does not

include all questions that we will discuss during the seminar.

The reading list below is extensive, but by no means exhaustive. It is up to you to identify

any other relevant sources.

General Reading

There are dozens of good “generalist” books about post-49 China. I have found the following

volumes useful (including a couple of my own!).

Baum Burying Mao: Chinese Politics in the Age of Deng.

Brandt and Rawski China’s Great Economic Transformation.

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Breslin Mao.

Broudehoux The Making and Selling of Post-Mao Beijing.

Cheng Li China’s Changing Political Landscape.

Fewsmith China Since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition.

Gittings Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market. Goldman and

MacFarquhar The Paradox of China’s Post-Mao Reforms.

Gray Rebellions and Revolutions: China from the 1800s to the

1980s.

Hays Gries and Rosen State and Society in 21st Century China: Crisis, Contention and

Legitimation.

Kuhn How China’s Leaders Think.

Lawrence China Since 1919: Revolution and Reform

Leonard What Does China Think?

Lieberthal Governing China: From Revolution to Reform.

MacFarquhar The Politics of China: The Eras of Mao and Deng.

Meisner Mao’s China and After: A History of the People’s Republic.

Naughton The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth.

Pei Minxin China’s Trapped Transition.

Saich Governance and Politics of China.

Shambaugh The Modern Chinese State.

Shirk China: Fragile Superpower.

Spence In Search of Modern China

Teufel-Dreyer China’s Political System: Modernization and Tradition.

Wang Contemporary Chinese Politics: An Introduction.

Weatherley Chinese Politics Since 1949: Legitimizing Authoritarian Rule.

Weatherley Making China Strong: The Role of Nationalism in Chinese

Thinking on Democracy and Human Rights

White Riding the Tiger: The Politics of Economic Reform in Post-

Mao China.

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Womack Contemporary Chinese Politics in Historical Perspective.

Zeng, Jinghan, The Chinese Communist Party's Capacity to Rule: Ideology, Legitimacy and

Party Cohesion, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015

01. Introduction

Summary: The introductory session will explore China. It will briefly introduce the course,

as well as explore students’ interests and backgrounds and the modes of assessment.

02. From late Qing to 1949

Discussion questions

To what extent was the CCP victory a victory for nationalism as an ideology?

What is the relationship between war and revolution?

Did the Guoming dang defeat itself?

Outline the relevance of the May Fourth Movement for the revolution

Explain the relationship between the Guoming dang and the warlords

How did Mao’s revolutionary ideas differ from orthodox Marxists’?

Required reading:

Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution to. Reform, 2nd edition. New

York; London: W. W. Norton, 2004.page 1-53

Documentary China: A Century of Revolution 1911-1949 Part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7C40M9GM3k

Supplementary reading:

The Late Qing Empire in Global History http://www.asian-studies.org/EAA/Crossley-13-

2.pdf

Documentary: The Last Emperor of China, a documentary film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5LZAIg4yRQ

Dwight, Perkins. "History, Politics, and the Sources of Economic Growth: China and the East

Asian Way of Growth." In China in the Twenty-First Century: Politics, Economics, and

Society. Edited by Fumio Itoh. Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1997, pp. 25-41.

Xun, Lu. "Preface" and "The True Story of Ah Q." In Selected Stories of Lu Hsun. Beijing:

Foreign Languages Press, 1978, pp.1-6, 65-112.

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Recommended for additional historical background:

Fairbank, John K. The United States and China. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1982,

Chap. 1-3, 7-8.

03 Ideological Evolution: from Marxism, Leninism,

Maoism to China Dream

Discussion Questions:

What is Marxism, Leninism and Maoism ?

Was ideology important? Is it important? Is it obsolete?

Is ideology about belief and worldview?

What is three represents? Why was it promoted?

What is Scientific Outlook of Development and Harmonious Society? What are their

functions?

What is China Dream?

What does Chinese ideology include?

Required reading:

Zeng, Jinghan, The Chinese Communist Party's Capacity to Rule: Ideology,

Legitimacy and Party Cohesion, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, Chapter 1 and 5

Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution to. Reform, 2nd edition. New

York; London: W. W. Norton, 2004.page 59-76

Supplementary reading

Jinghan Zeng, Changing Manners of Displaying Loyalties through Ideological Campaigns in

post-Deng China, Journal of Contemporary China

Heike Holbig, "Ideological Reform and Political Legitimacy in China," in Regime

Legitimacy in Contenporary China: Institutional Change and Stability, ed. Thomas Heberer

and Gunter Schubert (Routledge, 2009);

Maria Bondes and Sandra Heep, "Frames We Can Believe In: Official Framing and Ideology

in the Ccp's Quest for Legitimacy," (available at http://www.giga-

hamburg.de/dl/download.php?d=/content/publikationen/pdf/wp187_bondes-heep.pdf access

on April 24, 2013: German Institute of Global and Area Studies, 2012);

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Heike Holbig, "Ideology after the End of Ideology. China and the Quest for Autocratic

Legitimation," Democratization 20, no. 1 (2013);

Anne-Marie Brady, "Mass Persuasion as a Means of Legitimation and China's Popular

Authoritarianism," American Behavioral Scientist 53, no. 3 (2009);

Nora Sausmikat, "More Legitimacy for One-Party Rule? The CCP’s Ideological Adjustments

and Intra-Party Reforms?," Asien 99, no. S (2006);

Xiaobo Su, "Revolution and Reform: The Role of Ideology and Hegemony in Chinese

Politics," Journal of Contemporary China 20, no. 69 (2011);

Peter Thomas, Legitimating the Chinese Communist Party since Tiananmen: A Critical

Analysis of the Stability Discourse (Oxon: Routledge, 2011);

Yih-Jye Hwang and Florian Schneider, "Performance, Meaning, and Ideology in the Making

of Legitimacy: The Celebration of the People’s Republic of China’s Sixty-Year

Anniversary," The China Review 11, no. 1 (2011).

Joseph Fewsmith, "Studying the Three Represents," China Leadership Monitor (2003);

Yongnian Zheng and Liang Fook Lye, "Elite Politics and the Fourth Generation of Chinese

Leadership," Journal of Chinese Political Science 8, no. 1&2 (2003);

Victor Shih, ""Nauseating" Displays of Loyalty: Monitoring the Factional Bargain through

Ideological Campaigns in China," The Journal of Politics 70, no. 4 (2008);

Andre Lieber, "The Chinese Ideology: Reconciling the Politics with the Economics of

Contemporary Reform," Journal of Chinese Politics Science 18, no. 4 (2013);

Zhiyue Bo, "Hu Jintao and the CCP's Ideology: A Historical Perspective," Journal of Chinese

Political Science 9, no. 2 (2004).

04 China Under Mao (1949-1976) Discussion questions

Was Mao a Marxist or did he actually abrogate Marxism?

How did he manage to overcome opposition in the party to launch his great revolutionary

adventures?

What were the costs and consequences of the Great Leap?

And likewise the costs and consequences of the Cultural Revolution?

Good Mao or Bad Mao?

What are the main principles of Maoism?

Is Maoism a form of, or an aberration from Marxism?

And most importantly for this module, what has been the legacy of this modus operandi

for contemporary Chinese politics?

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Required reading

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 4th edition, Palgrave, 2015, page 29-40

Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution to. Reform, 2nd edition. New

York; London: W. W. Norton, 2004.page 84-122

Documentary: China A Century of Revolution 1949/1976

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L6aTHtZF00

Supplementary reading

Web-sites

Good Mao http://rwor.org/i/quiz.pdf and

http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/wim/mythsofmao.html

Interesting Mao http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/glf.html

Bad Mao http://www.cnd.org/CR/ (nb: this sometimes hangs and you have to

close your browser down, but its worth it when it is working)

Try and read one from each of the following sections

Mao’s ideas and ideology

Andrew G. Walder “Marxism, Maoism, and Social Change” Modern China, Vol. 3,

No. 1. (Jan., 1977), pp. 101-118 and Marxism, Maoism, and Social Change: A

Reexamination of the "Voluntarism" in Mao's Strategy and Thought Modern China,

Vol. 3, No. 2. (Apr., 1977), pp. 125-160. You can also read the responses to Walder

and Walder’s response to these responses in Modern China on JSTOR.

Shaun Breslin Mao

Nick Knight “The Marxism of Mao Zedong: Empiricism and Discourse in the Field of Mao

Studies” The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 16. (Jul., 1986), pp. 7-22.

The Great Leap and Its Consequences

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William A. Joseph “A Tragedy of Good Intentions: Post-Mao Views of the Great

Leap Forward” Modern China, Vol. 12, No. 4. (Oct., 1986), pp. 419-457.

Richard D. Baum “’Red and Expert’”: The Politico-Ideological Foundations of

China's Great Leap Forward” Asian Survey, Vol. 4, No. 9. (Sep., 1964), pp. 1048-

1057.

Victor Lippit “The Great Leap Forward Reconsidered” Modern China, Vol.1, No.1 (Jan.,

1975), pp. 92-115

MacFarquhar The origins of the cultural revolution – Vol 1 Its long, but its VERY good and

its available as an e-book with access via the library catalogue

The Cultural Revolution and Its Consequences

You might look at the www.morningsun.org which will show you a lot about the

Cultural Revolution in particular, and the politicisation of everything in Mao’s China

in general

David Goodman “The 6th Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the CCP: Look Back in

Anger?”, China Quarterly, 87 (September ), 1981, 518-527

Anne F. Thurston “Victims of China's Cultural Revolution: The Invisible Wounds: Part I”

Pacific Affairs, Vol. 57, No. 4. (Winter, 1984-1985), pp. 599-620. Part II Pacific Affairs,

Vol. 58, No. 1. (Spring, 1985), pp. 5-27.

David Lester, “Suicide and the Chinese Cultural Revolution” Archives of Suicide Research,

Vol 9, No 1, 2004, 99-104.

05 Party-state

Required reading

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 4th edition, Palgrave, 2015, page 85-187

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Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution to. Reform, 2nd edition. New

York; London: W. W. Norton, 2004.page 169-242

You can also look at:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/organs/home.shtml

http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/state_structure/64401.htm

http://www.chinaknowledge.com/infobank/ccp.aspx

06 Elite politics

Questions:

What is China’s succession system? How is this different from other countries?

Is China’s succession system legitimate?

Is the current succession system sustainable?

How do you compare the contemporary elite politics with that in Mao’s and Deng’s

era?

Required reading:

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 4th edition, Palgrave, 2015, page 65-81

Jinghan Zeng, Institutionalization of the Authoritarian Leadership in China: A Power

Succession System with Chinese Characteristics? Contemporary Politics, Vol. 20, No.

3, July 2014, 294-314/ Zeng, Jinghan, The Chinese Communist Party's Capacity to

Rule: Ideology, Legitimacy and Party Cohesion, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, Chapter 6

Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution to. Reform, 2nd edition. New

York; London: W. W. Norton, 2004.page 148-166

Supplementary reading

Dittmer, Lowell and Yu-shan Wu. "The Modernization of Factionalism in Chinese

Politics." World Politics 47, 4 (July 1995): 467-94. http://www.jstor.org/

Jinghan Zeng, What Matters Most in Selecting Chinese Top Leaders? Qualitative

Comparative Analysis Journal of Chinese Political Science, Vol. 18, No. 3, September 2013,

223-239

Fewsmith, Joseph. "Is Political Reform Ahead." China Leadership Monitor (Winter 2002):

Issue One.

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Miller, H. Lyman. "The Road to the Sixteenth Party Congress." ( PDF) China Leadership

Monitor (Winter 2002): Issue One.

MacFarquhar, Roderick. "Demolition Man." New York Review of Books (27 March 1997).

-------. "Passing the Baton in Beijing." New York Review of Books (18 Feb 1988).

07 Corruption

Discussion questions:

Does corruption matter?

What are causes of corruption in China?

How to solve corruption in China?

What has been done to solve corruption in China?

How do you think about Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaigns? Is anti-corruption

only about corruption?

Required reading:

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 4th edition, Palgrave, 2015, page 354-363

Ting Gong, ‘Forms and Characteristics of China’s Corruption in the 1990s’,

Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 30, 3 (1997), pp.277-88.

Angang, Hu. "Public Exposure of Economic Losses Resulting from Corruption" China and

World Economy 10, 4 (July-Aug. 2002): 44-49.

Mai, Lu. "China's Urgent Challenge: To Provide Public Goods in a Market Environment."

Unpublished manuscript, 2002.

Rose-Ackerman, Susan. Corruption and Government. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press,

1999, pp. 1-25.

Xiaobo, Lu. "Booty Socialism, Bureau-preneurs, and the State in Transition: Organizational

Corruption in China." Comparative Politics 32, 3 (2000): 273-294.

Wederman, ‘Stealing from the Farmers: Institutional Corruption and the IOU Crisis’, China

Quarterly, 152 (1997), pp.802-38.

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China’s new leaders discuss fight against corruption, but some are skeptical of action

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinas-new-leaders-focus-on-fighting-

corruption/2012/12/27/9953e00a-4f77-11e2-950a-7863a013264b_story.html

Cleaning up the Party http://www.economist.com/blogs/theworldin2013/2012/12/corruption-

china

A Family Affair: http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/05/30/a-family-affair/

Rich-Poor-and-Chinese: http://www.chinafile.com/conversation/rich-poor-and-chinese-does-

anyone-trust-beijing-bust-corrupt

Mistakenly-released report reveals embarrassing extent of Chinese corruption:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/accidentally-released-report-reveals-

embarrassing-extent-of-chinese-corruption/story-e6frg6so-1226076938605

08 Economic development

Discussion Questions

Have China’s economic reforms been a success or a failure?

Is there a China model? What is a China model? How Chinese is China model?

Is there a Beijing consensus? What we can learn from Beijing consensus?

Why should we expect economic reform to lead to democratisation? …. and why might it

not be the case?

Where would we expect the challenges to party power to emerge from? (and where has it

come from)

What is meant by neo-authoritarianism?

Required reading

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China, 4th edition, Palgrave, 2015, page 244-267

Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China: From Revolution to. Reform, 2nd edition. New

York; London: W. W. Norton, 2004.page 245-272

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Supplementary reading

Shirk, Susan. The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China. Berkeley: Univ. of

California, 1993.

Shleifer, Andrei, and Daniel Treisman. Without a Map: Political Tactics and Economic

Reform in Russia. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000, Chap. 1 and 2 (pp. 1-38).

[Optional: Hirschman, Albert. Journeys Toward Progress. New York: Twentieth Century

Fund, 1963.]

The Successes and Failures of Economic Reform

Successes

Chen Baizhu and Feng Yi, ‘Determinants of Economic Growth in China: Private Enterprise,

Education and Openness’, China Economic Review, 11, 1 (2000), pp.1-15.

Chow, China’s Economic Transformation.

Fan Rui et al, ‘Resource Abundance and Economic Growth in China’, China Economic

Review, 23, 3 (2012), pp.704-719.

Kynge, China Shakes the World: The Rise of a Hungry Nation.

Lardy, Integrating China into the World Economy.

Li Hongbin et al, ‘Entrepreneurship, Private Economy and Growth: Evident from China’,

China Economic Review, 23, 4 (2012), pp.948-61.

Lin, Fang and Zhou, The China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform.

McNally, ‘Sino-Capitalism: China’s Emergence and the International Political Economy’,

World Politics, 64, 4, pp741-76.

Naughton, The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth.

Zweig, Internationalizing China: Domestic Interests and Global Linkages.

*Have a look at some of the statistics provided by the World Bank and IMF on China’s

recent/annual economic growth.

22

Failures

Day, China’s Environment and the Challenge of Sustainable Development.

Duckett, ‘China’s Social Security Reform and the Comparative Politics of Market Transition’,

Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, 19, 1 (2003), pp.80-101.

Lu Xiaobo, Cadres and Corruption: The Organizational Involution of the Chinese

Communist Party.

Shirk, China: Fragile Superpower: How China’s Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful

Rise.

Solinger, ‘The Creation of a New Underclass in China and its Implications’, Environment

and Urbanization, 18, 1 (2006), pp.177-93.

Solinger, ‘The New Crowd of the Dispossessed: The Shift of the Urban Proletariat from

Master to Mendicant’, in Hays Gries and Rosen, State and Society in 21st Century.

Thornton, ‘Comrades and Collectives in Arms: Tax Resistance, Evasion and Avoidance

Strategies in Post-Mao China’, in Hays Gries and Rosen, State and Society in 21st Century

China.

Wederman, ‘Stealing from the Farmers: Institutional Corruption and the IOU Crisis’, China

Quarterly, 152 (1997), pp.802-38.

Weston. ‘The Iron Man Weeps: Joblessness and Political Legitimacy in the Chinese Rust

Belt’, in Hays Gries and Rosen, State and Society in 21st Century China.

09 Political Legitimacy of the Party-state

Discussion Questions

How has the CCP sought to legitimise its monopoly on political power since 1949?

What are the sources of political legitimacy in Mao’s China?

What are the sources of political legitimacy in Deng’s China?

What are the sources of political legitimacy in contemporary China?

What will be the sources of political legitimacy in China in the future?

Required reading

Jinghan Zeng, The Chinese Communist Party's Capacity to Rule: Ideology, Legitimacy and

Party Cohesion Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, Chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4

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Supplementary reading

Beetham, The Legitimation of Power.

Ding Xueliang , The Decline of Communism in China: Legitimacy Crisis, 1977-1989.

Feng Chen, Economic Transition and Political Legitimacy in Post- Mao China: Ideology and

Reform.

Bruce Gilley, ‘Legitimacy and Institutional Change: The Case of China’, Comparative

Political Studies, 41, 3 (2008), pp.259-84.

Guo Baogang,‘Political legitimacy and China’s transition’, Journal of Chinese Political

Science, 8, 1/2 (2003), pp.1-25.

Hays Gries and Rosen, State and Society in 21st Century China.

Kluver, Legitimating the Chinese Economic Reforms: The Rhetoric of Myth and Orthodoxy.

Lynch, After the Propaganda State: Media, Politics and ‘Thought Work’ in Reformed China.

Martin, Cult and Canon: The Origins and Development of State Maoism.

Misra, From Post-Maoism to Post-Marxism: The Erosion of Official Ideology in Deng’s

China.

Pye, ‘Mass Participation in Communist China: Its Limitations and the Continuity of Culture’,

in Lindbeck, China: Management of a Revolutionary Society.

Rigby, ‘Political Legitimacy, Weber and Communist Mono-organisational Systems’, in

Rigby and Feher, Political Legitimation in Communist Systems.

Sandy-Thomas, Legitimating the Chinese Communist Party Since Tiananmen.

Schurmann, Ideology and Organization in Communist China.

Shue, ‘Legitimacy Crisis in China?’, in Hays Gries and Rosen State and Society in 21st

Century China, pp.24-49.

Teiwes , Leadership, Legitimacy and Conflict in China: From a Charismatic Mao to the

Politics of Succession.

Tong Yanqi, ‘Morality, Benevolence and Responsibility’: Regime Legitimacy in China from

Past to Present’, Journal of Chinese Political Science, Published online, 12 February 2011.

Townsend, Political Participation in Communist China.

Weatherley, Politics in China Since 1949.

24

Weber, The Theory of Social and Economic Organization.

White, ‘Economic Performance and Communist Legitimacy’, World Politics, 38, 3 (1986),

pp.462-82.

Zheng Shiping , ‘Leadership Change, Legitimacy, and Party Transition in China’, Journal of

Chinese Political Science, 8, 1/2 (2003), pp.47-63.

Bruce Gilley and Heike Holbig, "Reclaiming Legitimacy in China," Politics& Policy 38, no.

3 (2010);

10 Democracy in China

Discussion questions:

Will Economic Reform Lead to Democratisation?

Why should we expect economic reform to lead to democratisation? …..and why

might it not be the case?

Where would we expect the challenges to party power to emerge from? (and where

has it come from)

What did the Tiananmen protestors want? (and why hasn’t it happened again)?

Required reading

Jinghan Zeng, The Chinese Communist Party's Capacity to Rule: Ideology,

Legitimacy and Party Cohesion Palgrave Macmillan, 2015, Chapter 7

Does democracy stifle economic growth? TED Talks – Yasheng Huang

Tianjian Shi and Jie Lu, The Shadow of Confucianism, Journal of Democracy,

Volume 21, Number 4, October 2010, pp. 123-130

Supplementary reading

Web Sites http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sdc/tiananmen.html

warning – contains disturbing images of the 1989 Tiananmen

demonstrations and its suppression

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/toc/jod9.1.html

A bit of a cheat really as this is reading rather than a website – it’s a special issue of the

Journal of Democracy on China from 1998

Read something on democratization theories

Michael Moran and Geraint Parry (eds) Democracy and Democratization (London:

Routdledge, 1994) Part one on theories and explanations. Christiansen’s Chapter on China is

pretty decent too, but remember its more than a decade old now. E-book available via the

library catalogue

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David Potter et al Democratization (Milton Keynes, Open University) – there are a number of

copies in the library and one in the learning grid

Jean Grugel Democratization : a critical introduction (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002) – again,

a copy in the learning grid plus three (I think) on 3 day loan in the main library so don’t be

greedy.

…. something on democratisation in China in general

Wang Hui “The Year 1989 and the Historical Roots of Neoliberalism in China” Positions:

East Asia Cultures Critique, Volume 12, Number 1, 2004, pp. 7-70

Mary Gallagher ‘"Reform and Openness": Why China's Economic Reforms Have Delayed

Democracy’ World Politics, - Volume 54, Number 3, 2002, pp. 338-372

Yan Jiaqi, Toward a Democratic China (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992) out of

date, but good on what happened in Tiananmen 1989, and interesting to see what he says

about the future (which is now the past). An e-book available via the library catalogue

Yongnian Zheng “Development and Democracy: Are They Compatible in China?” Political

Science Quarterly, Vol. 109, No. 2. (Summer, 1994), pp. 235-259.

Minxin Pei “Democratization In The Greater China Region” scroll down for the section on

the PRC

http://www.nbr.org/publications/review/vol1no2/essay1.html

Mark P. Petracca, Mong Xiong “The Concept of Chinese Neo-Authoritarianism: An

Exploration and Democratic Critique” Asian Survey, Vol. 30, No. 11. (Nov., 1990), pp. 1099-

1117.

Again, this is rather dated, but it’s a good overview of the literature in the 1980s that talked

about the need for a strong state to oversee economic reform. An important strand of Chinese

intellectual thinking in the post-Mao era.

D Shlapentokh “Post-Mao China: an Alternative to 'the End of History'?” Communist and

Post-Communist Studies Vol 35 No 3 (2002) pp: 237-268

Chen An “Rising Class Politics and its Impact on China's Path to Democracy”

Democratization Vol.10 No.2 (2003) pp.141-162 or Chen An “Capitalist Development,

Entrepreneurial Class, and Democratization in China” Political Science Quarterly, Volume

117, Number 3, 1 October 2002, pp. 401-422

Cai Yongshun “Managed Participation in China” Political Science Quarterly, Volume 119,

Number 3, 1 October 2004, pp. 425-451

…. and something on civil society in China

He Baogang The democratic implications of civil society in China

David Yang “Civil Society as an Analytic Lens for Contemporary China”, China: An

International Journal, 2, (1), 2004, p: 1 – 27

Gordon White, Jude Howell and Shang Xiaoyuan In search of civil society: market reform

and social change in contemporary China (Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1996) – the first 8

pages are available on questia if you cant get it out of the library Old, but the one of the first

major academic works on civil society in China

Guobin Yang “The Internet and Civil Society in China: a preliminary assessment” Journal of

Contemporary China, 12(36), 2003 p. 453–475

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Caroline Cooper “‘This is Our Way In’: The Civil Society of Environmental NGOs in South-

West China” Government and Opposition, Volume 41, Number 1, January 2006, pp. 109-136

Jude Howell “Women's Organizations and Civil Society in China: Making a Difference”

International Feminist Journal of Politics, Volume 5, Number 2, August 2003, pp. 191-215

Reading list for Spring Term will be given at the beginning of next term