POLS 241, "Chinese Politics," Spring 2004
MW 2-3:50, 1.0 unit, WAC 202
John Rapp, MI 203, ext. 2335, email: rappja@beloit.edu
Office hours: MWF 10-12, 1-2, TTH. 1-2:30
I. Description
This course aims to provide students with the fundamentals necessary to analyze contemporary Chinese politics. The first half of the course will provide an overview of the various influences on modern Chinese politics and a survey of the main ideological and policy shifts from the rule of Chairman Mao through the "Reform Revolution" of 1979 to the present. In the second half of the course we will examine in more detail the structure of the Chinese Party-State and key domestic and foreign policy issues.
II. Readings
The following required texts are available for purchase at the bookstore:
Chang, Jung. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. NY: Doubleday, 1991.
Dreyer, June Teufel. China’s Political System: Modernization and Tradition. Fourth
Edition. NY: Pearson Longman, Inc., 2004.
Ogden, Suzanne. Global Studies, China. Ninth Edition. Guilford, CT:
McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2002.
Qiu Xiaolong. Death of a Red Heroine. London: Soho Press, 2001.
In addition, students are required to subscribe to either the New York Times, The Economist, or the Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly. Other required readings will be placed on reserve for selected weeks.
III. Assignments and Grading
--Oral report on a historical or political figure (10%) (students pick week in 1st module,
instructor picks assignment)
--5 page write-up of biography (10%) (due 1 week after oral)
--Topic, outline and bibliography of policy paper (5%) (due March 3)
--10 page paper on particular policy area (15%) (due April 5)
--Oral report on policy paper (10%) (due in 2nd module when topic fits course schedule)
--Midterm (15%) (held Wednesday, March 3)
--Final (20%) (held Tuesday, May 11, 2-5 P.M.)
--Attendance and participation (15%)
Attendance is crucial to this course. Any more than three absences (excused or not) will result in reducing the attendance and participation grade by at least half. Arriving in class more than five minutes late will be counted as an unexcused absence. In the case of excused absences and tardiness, all medical, family and other emergencies must be documented and the instructor notified in advance or as soon as possible. Applications for excused absences, including for special religious observances, athletic or performance events, family emergencies, and/or health problems should be given to the instructor ahead of time in the case of scheduled events or holidays, and as soon as possible in the case of family emergencies or illness.
Students should also let the instructor know of special needs, such as but not limited to, note takers, handicapped access, tape recorders, and/or special exam needs. If anyone has a disability and would like to speak to someone about possible accommodations, please visit the LSSC (Learning Support Services Center) located on the first floor of 635 College St. Such students will need to provide appropriate documentation of their disability to Diane Arnzen, director of the LSSC. Anyone wishing to receive accommodations in this class should provide the instructor the LSSC Accommodation Verification Letter dated for this semester as soon as possible so your learning needs can be appropriately met.
IV. Tentative Course Schedule and Main Topics
PART I: POLITICAL HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
Overall reading: Chang Jung, Wild Swans (entire)
Week 1
Overview; Course structure and assignments;
Themes from Chinese history and culture:
ti-yong; dynastic cycle, North-South division, guanxi;
Models of Chinese politics:
totalitarianism, factional and “palace politics” models,
organizational and bureaucratic politics models,
Communist neo-traditionalism and Leninist Party-State models
Readings: Dreyer, Chapter 1; Ogden, Article 6, pp. 131-146
Reserves: Moody, Tradition and Modernization in China and Japan, pp. 75-91;
Friedman, “China’s North-South Split and the Forces of Disintegration” and “Three
Leninist Paths within a Socialist Conundrum”; Walder, “Communist Neo-Traditionalism”
Weeks 2-3
Geography and physical setting; Language;
Pre-modern Chinese political culture and state tradition;
Pre-imperial and imperial eras up to late Qing;
Decline of Qing and Impact of Western Imperialism, 1842-1911;
May Fourth and New Culture Movements and rise of nationalism
KMT-CCP alliance and conflict, 1921-1949
Readings: Dreyer, Chapters 2-4; Ogden, pp. 12-20, 28, 29, and Article 12
Reserves: Moody, pp. 16-26, 38-67, 106-119, 128-150, 164-169 (for those needing more
historical background)
Video: China in Revolution, Part 1
Discussion: Wild Swans, 1st half
Weeks 4-5
Chinese Communist Ideology, Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin:
Chairman Mao and Mao Zedong Thought, Yan’an to the Cultural Revolution;
Deng Xiaoping and “Seeking Truth from Facts”;
Jiang Zemin and attempt at “third generation” of Chinese Marxism;
Marxist democrats in Mao and reform eras
Readings: Ogden, pp. 28-29
Reserves: Moody, 172-192; Wang, “The Erosion of Chinese Communist Ideology”;
Mao Zedong, “On Contradiction,” from Essays on Philosophy
Meisner, two essays from Marxism, Maoism, and Utopianism: “Utopian Socialist Themes in Maoism,” and “Leninism and Maoism”;
Rapp, “Maoism and Anarchism”;
Friedman, “Was Mao Zedong a Revolutionary?”;
Central Committee of the CPC, Resolution on CPC History
Andrew and Rapp, part 2, chapters 15-20;
Wang Ruoshui, “Discussing the Problem of Alienation”
Videos: The Secret Life of Chairman Mao; China Rising
Weeks 6-7
Policy Eras of PRC, 1949-present:
1949-52: “Land to the Tiller”
1953-57: “Leaning to One Side”
1956: Hundred Flowers
1958-1960: Great Leap Forward
1962-1965: Stunted Reform Interregnum
1966-1976: Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution or “Ten Bad Years”
1976-1978: Hua Guofeng Interregnum
1978-1997: Deng Xiaoping and the “Reform Revolution”
1997-2003: Jiang Zemin and the “Third Generation of Leadership”
2003-present: Hu Jintao and the “Fourth Generation of Leadership”
Readings: Dreyer, Chapters 5-6; Ogden, pp. 20-23, 30-37
Video: China in Revolution, Part 2
Discussion, Wild Swans, 2nd half
Mid-term exam, Wednesday, March 3
PART II: POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY ISSUES
Overall Readings: Qiu Xiaolong, Death of a Red Heroine, entire
Week 8
Changing Structure of the Chinese Party-State:
Party-State Structure; military; mass organizations; regional and local structure
Readings: Dreyer, Chapters 5-6 (review), 9; Ogden, pp. 40-49
Reserves: Moody, pp. 192-207
Week 9
Economic structure and policies:
“Opening Up and Reform policies”:
responsibility system, joint ventures, SEZ’s, WTO
Guest lecturer: Warren Palmer
Readings: Dreyer, Chap. 7; Ogden, pp. 32-37, Articles 1-2, 4, 9, 10, 13
Reserves: tba
Week 10
Social cleavages:
national minorities, gender, religious minorities, generational differences
Readings: Dreyer, Chapter 13; Ogden, pp. 24-28, articles 3, 6
Reserves: tba
Week 11
Social Issues:
marriage law and one-child policy;
environment and energy policies;
health and education, urbanization
Readings: Dreyer, Chapters 10-11; Ogden, pp. 23-24, 29-32, articles 5, 8, 10
Reserves: tba
Week 12
Culture and the arts;
Human rights and intellectual dissent;
Law and the legal system
Readings: Dreyer, Chapters 8, 12; Ogden, pp. 37-41, 45-47
Reserves: Nathan, “The Tian’anmen Papers,” others tba
Discussion: Death of a Red Heroine
Film: The Story of Qiu Ju
Weeks 13-14
Selected foreign policy and “greater China” issues:
relations with U.S. and Russia; UN and other international bodies;
“One Country Two Systems” and Taiwan and Hong Kong;
relations in Asia: India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea, and SE Asia;
offshore islands disputes.
Readings: Dreyer, Chapter 14; Ogden, pp. 49-103, articles 14-19
Reserves: tba
Final Exam: Wednesday May 11, 2-5 P.M.
