Political Change In China

This book describes through case studies how various factors, such as the single-party political system, traditional culture, market reform, and industrialization, shape public opinion and mass political behavior in urban China. Case studies focus on the process of conducting public opinion polls in China’s political environment, regime legitimacy and reform support, media control and censorship, interpersonal trust and democratization, mass political participation, labor relations and trade unions, and the role of intellectuals in political change. The book draws most of its empirical evidence from twelve Chinese public opinion surveys conducted between the late 1980s and the late 1990s. The same questions repeated in many of these surveys provide a rare opportunity to examine the changing pattern of the Chinese public mind during this period. The book ends with the provocative conclusion that China’s authoritarian political system proved to be less effective than traditional culture, marketization, and industrialization in shaping public opinion and mass political behavior. Liberal ideas and bottom-up political participation can emerge even in the absence of direct elections.

Observers often note the glaring contrast between China’s economic progress and its stalled political reforms. This volume, written by experienced scholars, explores a range of grassroots efforts—initiated by the state and society alike—to restrain corrupt behavior and enhance the accountability of local authorities.

This book grew out of a series of my doctoral essays and discussion with Fulbright scholar, Mr. Tasawar Baig and Professor David Earnest at Old Dominion University. Some ideas and thoughts were also inspired by Professor Robert Putnam at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and Professor Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski (former US National Security Advisor) when they did lectures and special discussion with me at Old Dominion University in 2009 and 2012, respectively. In The Third Wave (1991), Samuel Huntington explains various sociopolitical factors caused radical political changes in developing countries. His analysis shows that for Africa, the main obstacle for building democracy is economy, While for East Asia and the Middle East, the major obstacle are culture and religion. Huntington’s analysis oversimplified the driving factors of democratization in specific case, such as China, a hybrid of Capitalist economy and communist politics. This paper measures the current democratization of Chinese politics from three perspectives: social capital, rapid economic development and radical social movement. Thus, the grand question is whether these factors can lead to a regime change in China? The author draws a conclusion that the radical political change is possible but not desirable in Chinese politics. In the eyes of rising Chinese middle Class, a Singaporean political transformation or South Korean democratization is more favored than radical democratization. Following the US Presidential election, China went through a one week meeting of the 18th National Congress starting on November 8, 2012. Without much surprise, Xi replaced Hu, becoming the core of Chinese communist power. The power transition seems to be smooth in Chinese media coverage. However, anecdotes, rumors, unofficial reports and foreign news exposed the political battle behind the stage. President Xi is now facing a stark different situation compared to Hu. Today, China is the world’s second largest economy. At the same time, China is experiencing rising mass disturbance every year. As a non-democracy, leaders’ past experience, network and personality can greatly influence state policies. With more people getting rich and educated, the mass claim the mismatch between Chinese politics and economy. Other than changing domestic Chinese politics, China has drawn much attention internationally. China’s presence in Africa and the Middle East tightens the nerves of U.S. policy makers. Is China a peaceful or benign riser? Where is China heading toward? What interests are Chinese companies pursuing and what strategies are they using globally? The book investigates these questions in different chapters. Globalization is the current trend. As a propeller, China’s participation in global trade greatly shapes world order. In return, global trade also produced effects on China’s domestic labor market, particularly on the traditional Chinese women labors. This book is a sound recipe integrating both faces of China domestically and internationally.

While China's economic rise is being watched closely around the world, the country's changing political landscape is intriguing, as well. Forces unleashed by market reforms are profoundly recasting state-society relations. Will the Middle Kingdom transition rapidly, slowly, or not at all to political democracy? In China's Changing Political Landscape, leading experts examine the prospects for democracy in the world's most populous nation. China's political transformation is unlikely to follow a linear path. Possible scenarios include development of democracy as we understand it; democracy with more clearly Chinese characteristics; mounting regime instability due to political and socioeconomic crises; and a modified authoritarianism, perhaps modeled on other Asian examples such as Singapore. Which road China ultimately takes will depend on the interplay of socioeconomic forces, institutional developments, leadership succession, and demographic trends. Cheng Li and his colleagues break down a number of issues in Chinese domestic politics, including changing leadership dynamics; the rise of business elites; increased demand for the rule of law; and shifting civil-military relations. Although the contributors clash on many issues, they do agree on one thing: the political trajectory of this economic powerhouse will have profound implications, not only for 1.3 billion Chinese people, but also for the world as a whole.

This book takes a close look at major issues about China's democratisation, highlighting main barriers to democratisation and providing key angles to understanding China's great difficulties in making democratic progress. The author examines the possible linkages between elite, class and regime transition in China, and maintains that China's democratic development needs to be understood in the context of state-society relations, all the while emphasising that class power is playing an increasingly significant role in China's elite politics and the people's struggle for democracy.

The Ming period of Chinese history is often depicted as one of cultural aridity, political despotism, and social stasis. Recent studies have shown that the arts continued to flourish, government remained effective, people enjoyed considerable mobility, and China served as a center of the global economy. This study goes further to argue that China’s perennial quest for cultural centrality resulted in periodic political changes that permitted the Chinese people to retain control over social and economic developments. The study focuses on two and a half million people in three prefectures of northeast Henan, the central province in the heart of the "central plain”--a common synecdoche for China. The author argues that this population may have been more representative of the Chinese people at large than were the residents of more prosperous regions. Many diverse individuals in northeast Henan invoked historical models to deal with the present and shape the future. Though they differed in the lessons they drew, they shared the view that the Han dynasty was particularly relevant to their own time. Han and Ming politics were integral parts of a pattern of Chinese historical development that has lasted to the present.

Scholars from China, Singapore and the U.S. use the opportunity of the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party to explore the issue of leadership change in China, and its impact on institution building and foreign policy there.