Contemporary Chinese Politics

Syllabus

Week 1

* Introduction

Joseph, William A.: “Studying Chinese Politics.” In: Politics in China: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 3-19.

*O’Brien, Kevin J.: “Studying Chinese politics in an age of specialization.” Journal of Contemporary China 20.71 (2011): 535-541.

Week 2

* Politics in Reform Era

Gilley, Bruce: “Deng Xiaoping and His Successors (1976 to the Present).” In: Politics in China: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 124-143.

*Lieberthal, Kenneth: Governing China: from revolution through reform, Norton & Company, 2004, pp. 127-166.

*White, Gordon: “The Politics of Industrial Reform.” In Riding the Tiger, Palgrave, 1993, pp. 118-146.

Week 3

* Ideology and Chinese Politics

Joseph, William A.: “Ideology and China’s Political Development.” In: Politics in China: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 157-200.

*Dynon, Nicholas: “ʻFour Civilizations’ and the Evolution of post-Mao Chinese Socialist Ideology.” The China Journal 60 (2008): 83-109.

* Yu, Keping: “Ideological Change and Incremental Democracy in Reform-era China.” China’s Changing Political Landscape: Prospects for Democracy (2008): 44-58.

*Zhao, Suisheng: “Xi Jinping's Maoist Revival.” Journal of Democracy 27.3 (2016): 83-97.

* “Harmonická společnost”, Sinipsis, March 26, 2016.

* “Dokument č. 9 (Oběžník o současném stavu v oblasti ideologie)”, Sinipsis, December 3, 2020.

*“Společenství sdíleného osudu lidstva”, Sinipsis, February 27, 2020.

Week 4

* CCP and It’s Governance of China

Li, Cheng: “China’s Communist Party-State: The Structure and Dynamics of Power.” In: Politics in China: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 201-237.

*Stromseth, Jonathan R., Edmund J. Malesky, and Dimitar D. Gueorguiev: China’s Governance Puzzle: Enabling Transparency and Participation in a Single-party State. Cambridge University Press, 2017.

* McGregor, Richard: The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers. Penguin, 2010.

*Tsai, Wen-Hsuan, and Nicola Dean: “The CCP’s Learning System: Thought Unification and Regime Adaptation.” In: Critical Readings on the Communist Party of China. Brill, 2017, pp. 1049-1071.

Week 5

* Authoritarian Resilience

Dickson, Bruce: The Dictator’s Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party’s Strategy for Survival. Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 1-30.

*Nathan, Andrew J.: “China’s Changing of the Guard: Authoritarian Resilience.” In: Critical Readings on the Communist Party of China. Brill, 2017, pp. 86-99.

*Fewsmith, Joseph, and Andrew J. Nathan: “Authoritarian Resilience Revisited: Joseph Fewsmith with Response from Andrew J. Nathan.” Journal of Contemporary China 28.116 (2019): 167-179.

* Pei, Minxin: “China and East Asian Democracy: Is CCP Rule Fragile or Resilient?” Journal of Democracy 23.1 (2012): 27-41.

*Heurlin, Christopher: Responsive Authoritarianism in China. Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Week 6

* Examining Chinese Capitalism

Zweig, David Stephen: “China’s Political Economy.” In: Politics in China: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 277-314.

*Lardy, Nicholas R.: Markets over Mao: The Rise of Private Business in China. Columbia University Press, 2014.

*Tsai, Kellee S.: Capitalism without Democracy: The Private Sector in Contemporary China. Cornell University Press, 2007.

*Yang, Hongxing, and Dingxin Zhao: “Performance Legitimacy, State Autonomy and China’s Economic Miracle.” Journal of Contemporary China 24.91 (2015): 64-82.

*Naughton, Barry: “Is China Socialist?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 31.1 (2017): 3-24.

Week 7

* Propaganda and Media

Shambaugh, David: “China’s Propaganda System: Institutions, Processes and Efficacy.” The China Journal 57 (2007): 25-58.

Stockmann, Daniela, and Mary E. Gallagher: “Remote Control: How the Media Sustain Authoritarian Rule in China.” Comparative Political Studies 44.4 (2011): 436-467.

*King, Gary, Jennifer Pan, and Margaret E. Roberts: “How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression.” American Political Science Review (2013): 326-343.

*Bolsover, Gillian, and Philip Howard: “Chinese computational propaganda: automation, algorithms and the manipulation of information about Chinese politics on Twitter and Weibo." Information, communication & society 22.14 (2019): 2063-2080.

Week 8

* Civil Society and Political Participation

Dickson, Bruce: The Dictator’s Dilemma: The Chinese Communist Party’s Strategy for Survival. Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 123-143.

*Teets, Jessica C.: Civil Society under Authoritarianism: The China Model. Cambridge University Press, 2014.

*Ho, Peter: “Embedded Activism and Political Change in a Semiauthoritarian Context.” China Information 21.2 (2007): 187-209.

*Mertha, Andrew: “ʻFragmented authoritarianism 2.0’: Political Pluralization in the Chinese Policy Process.” The China Quarterly 200 (2009): 995-1012.

*He, Baogang: The Democratic Implications of Civil Society in China. Springer, 2016.

*Fu, Diana, and Greg Distelhorst: “Grassroots Participation and Repression under Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping.” The China Journal 79.1 (2018): 100-122.

Week 9

* Xi Jinping and the China Dream

Economy, Elizabeth: The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, 2018, pp. 2-35.

*Li, Cheng: Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership. Brookings Institution Press, 2016.

*Ferdinand, Peter: “Westward Ho-the China Dream and ‘One Belt, One Road’: Chinese Foreign Policy under Xi Jinping.” International Affairs 92.4 (2016): 941-957.

*Wang, Zheng: “The Chinese Dream: Concept and Context.” Journal of Chinese Political Science 19.1 (2014): 1-13.

* “Čínský sen”, Sinopsis, December 9, 2020.

*“Čtyři všestrannosti”, Sinopsis, October 19, 2020.

*“Si Ťin-pchingovo myšlení o socialismu s čínskými rysy pro novou epochu”, Sinopsis, December 28, 2020.

Week 10

* Facing up to the Environmental Challenge

Economy, Elizabeth: The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, 2018, pp. 152-185.

* Gilley, Bruce: “Authoritarian Environmentalism and China’s Response to Climate Change.” Environmental Politics 21.2 (2012): 287-307.

*Xie, Lei, and Hein-Anton Van Der Heijden: “Environmental Movements and Political Opportunities: The Case of China.” Social movement studies 9.1 (2010): 51-68.

*Teets, Jessica: “The Power of Policy Networks in Authoritarian Regimes: Changing Environmental Policy in China.” Governance 31.1 (2018): 125-141.

Week 11

* Trade War and the Future of US-China Relations

Economy, Elizabeth: The Third Revolution: Xi Jinping and the New Chinese State, 2018, pp. 231-250.

Hass, Ryan, and Abraham Denmark: “More Pain than Gain: How the US-China Trade War Hurt America.” Brookings, August 7 (2020). https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/08/07/more-pain-than-gain-how-the-us-china-trade-war-hurt-america/

*Nathan, Andrew J., and Andrew Scobell: “How China Sees America: The Sum of Beijing's Fears.” Foreign Affairs 91.5 (2012): 32-47.

* Zhao, Suisheng: “A New Model of Big Power Relations? China-US Strategic Rivalry and Balance of Power in the Asia-Pacific.” Journal of Contemporary China 24.93 (2015): 377-397.

*Shambaugh, David: “US-China Rivalry in Southeast Asia: Power Shift or Competitive Coexistence?” International Security 42.4 (2018): 85-127.

Week 12

* China Goes Global

Zhao, Suisheng: “A Revisionist Stakeholder: China and the Post-world War II World Order.” Journal of Contemporary China 27 (2018): 643-658.

Yu, Hong: “Motivation behind China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ Initiatives and Establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.” Journal of Contemporary China 26.105 (2017): 353-368.

*Leverett, Flynt, and Wu Bingbing: “The New Silk Road and China’s Evolving Grand Strategy.” The China Journal 77.1 (2017): 110-132.

*Campbell, Kurt M., and Rush Doshi: “The Coronavirus Could Reshape Global Order.” Foreign Affairs, March 18, 2020. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-03-18/coronavirus-could-reshape-global-order.

*Pu, Xiaoyu, and Chengli Wang: “Rethinking China's Rise: Chinese Scholars Debate Strategic Overstretch.” International Affairs 94.5 (2018): 1019-1035.

*“16 + 1”, Sinopsis, November 6, 2016.

*“Oboustranně prospěšná spolupráce (win-win)”, Sinopsis, May 19, 2020. https://sinopsis.cz/sinopis/oboustranne-prospesna-spoluprace-win-win/

Week 13

* Course Wrap-up: Summary of the Key Themes

Please go through your notes and readings. The guidelines for the final paper will be discussed.

Annotation

This course examines Chinese politics since the beginnings of China’s economic reforms with a focus on the current political affairs and developments. The course begins with the post-Mao reform period and the discussion of social, eco-nomic, and political and ideological challenges posed by the changes.

The biggest part of the course looks at key subjects and issues in Chinese politics and society today including the Chinese Communist Party (and its methods of resilience), Xi Jinping’s and China’s dream, Chinese media, state-society relations and envi-ronmental challenges. The last few classes are devoted to China’s emergence as a global power and its turbulent relations with the USA.