Syllabus
Society and politics in Contemporary China
Winter Semester 2019/2020
Lecturer:
Alexey Maslov, PhD, Professor
AlexeyMaslov@me.com
Course description
This course provides a concise introduction to the political, economic, and social factors that determine present-day China’s government and gives a basic overview of the major political, economic, and social issues relevant to the study of contemporary China. The main purpose of this course is to provide students with a broad, yet subtle understanding of the preconditions, prospects, and risks associated with China’s political and social development.
This course introduces various social science disciplines as well as the major theories on how politics, economic development, and social processes work in China. After nearly four decades of rapid economic growth, China is now a major power whose actions can significantly affect other countries. The course covers core issues in contemporary China studies, such as the relation between the Chinese Communist Party and the state, the rapid changes that the economy has undergone, the crucial challenges that people today face as they go about their everyday lives. The central questions throughout the module will be how China has changed over the past decades, how political, economic, and social issues are related to one another, and how we might make sense of recent developments in the PRC under Xi Jinping’s rule.
The course is structured thematically rather than historically:
Part 1 discusses, in short, the historical process of the building of a new China’s political and socio-economic system, which is very important for further understanding of present-day party-state architecture.
Part 2 examines policy-making and policy implementation and includes analyses of élite politics, central-local relations, government reform, and bureaucratic behavior.
Part 3 explores the political economy, including issues such as an economic system of China, Government involvement in the Chinese economy, economic globalization and government policy, public finance, budget, and public debt, price system and expenditure priority, etc.
Part 4 brings together the legal system of PRC, the role of the military in the political process
Part 5 focuses on the system of education, the cadre system, and public administration as well as demography, health and social problems such as unemployment, the rural-urban income gap, the inadequate provision of social welfare, the exploitation of migrant workers, and new public-health challenges.
Part 6 discusses arts, media, social media and social control, national and religious policy, political consequences of social change in China
Course objectives
Students in this course will acquire the following:
- An understanding of basic political and socio-economic concepts of Modern China, and the ability to critically assess those concepts in light of the Chinese and International context.
- An understanding of the broad issues and changes that shape the societies and characterize the political and economic systems of the Contemporary China.
- A knowledge of the mechanisms used to steer China’s development, the system of economic development
- an understanding of the China’s political decision making, the structure of most important central and local party and administrative political institutions and bodies;
- A knowledge of main Chinese modern political doctrines and ideas;
- An understanding of the main issues and problems run China’s social policy, mass media, demography, urban and rural policy, social unrests
Prerequisites
There are no formal prerequisites, although some prior knowledge of the history of China and Asia as well of political institutions will be helpful. No knowledge of the Chinese language is required.
Class Attendance & Discussion
Regular class attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to attend class as well as participate in lectures, discussions, and review sessions. Class participation will constitute 20% of the final grade. Each student is allowed a maximum of two (2) and no more than two (2) unexcused absences during the semester. For each unexcused absence thereafter, five (5) points (%) are deducted from your final grade. You are responsible for keeping the professor informed of any situation that prevents you from attending class. Students who have more than 5 unexcused absences will not pass the course
Academic Honesty
Academic Honesty is taken very seriously in this course. Plagiarism or academic dishonesty in any form will result in a failed grade for the project, and possibly for the course. In order to avoid the sanctions applied to cases of academic dishonesty, please make sure that you properly cite all sources that you utilize in your writing, including works that are directly quoted or paraphrased, as well as works used as a source of information. This includes both print and online sources. Your paper submissions must consist of your own writing, and any direct quotations or paraphrasing from other works must be properly cited.
Evaluation
A: 91 -100%
B: 81 - 90%
C: 71 - 80%
D: 61 - 70%
E: 51 - 60%
F: 0 - 50%
Assessment method
In order to pass this course, the following will be required of the participants:
• Class participation - 20% of final mark
• Essay paper - 30% of final mark.
• Discussion (see Topic 12 ) — 30% of final mark
• Written examination with open factual questions and a brief essay question (20% of final mark).
Regular, punctual attendance, thorough preparation of reading material, and continuous participation in plenary debates are also expected.
In the case of successful pass of discussion and essay papers test a student can be exempted from the final exam.
Exam review
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
Students should be prepared to do a fair amount of reading and to confront a number of unfamiliar-looking names and places. If you find yourself confused, or not understanding what we are covering, please do not hesitate to inform me.
Some materials for the course you can find here: www.asian-studies.com
There is no one mandatory textbook for this course. The changing in the contemporary China’s politics and society happens so fast that students beside main textbooks should read actual publications in academic journals and newspapers (could be recommended during classes).
Two most important readings are:
• Dreyer, June (2019). China’s Political System: Modernization and Tradition. 2019. ISBN 978-1138501522
At the end of each chapter you can find a good list of suggestions for further reading
• Heilmann, Sebastian. China’s Political System. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2016. ISBN 1442277351
Students interested in getting a head-start may find the following introductory books useful (in alphabetical order):
• Joseph, William A. (ed.). Politics in China: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014
• Naughton, Barry J. The Chinese Economy: Adaptation and Growth (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2018.
• Abrami, Regina, William Kirby, and F. Warren McFarlan. Can China Lead. Harvard Business Review Press, 2014.
• Cavolo, Mario. China, the Big Lie. Long River Press, 2014.
• Gescher, Jeanne-Marie. Becoming China. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.
• Kynge, James. China Shakes the World. Hachette UK, 2010.
• Lewin, Arie Y., Martin Kenney, and Johann Peter Murmann. China’s Innovation Challenge. Cambridge University Press, 2016.
• Pettis, Michael. Avoiding the Fall. Brookings Institution Press, 2013.
• Pieke, Frank. Knowing China: A Twenty-First Century Guide. Cambridge