Reform Legitimacy And Dilemmas

How has China's post-Deng leadership governed the country? How have the changing social and political environments shifted the bases of political legitimacy? What strategies has Jiang Zemin adopted to cope with new circumstances in order to strengthen his leadership? What are the challenges these new reform measures have generated for the leadership? And how have domestic concerns constrained the leadership's intention in China's foreign relations? These are some of the questions which this volume attempts to address.The authors agree that Jiang Zemin is not a man without any political initiative. He has struggled to establish his own style of leadership, and to strengthen the legitimacy of his leadership by setting forth new rules and institutions for political games and by finding new measures to cope with new challenges. This collection of articles shows the success Jiang and his colleagues have had in strengthening their leadership; how the different reform measures have strengthened Jiang's rule; and how the ongoing reform has created new challenges for his regime.

The process used to select judges of the Supreme Court of Canada has provoked criticism from the start. Some observers argue the process - where the prime minister has unfettered discretion - suffers from a democratic deficit, but there is also disagreement regarding alternative methods of selection. The Democratic Dilemma: Reforming Canada's Supreme Court explores the institutional features of the Court, whether the existing process used to select judges ought to be reformed, the overall legitimacy of the Court, as well as the selection and appointment processes of Supreme Court justices in other liberal democracies. This book will be of special interest to students and scholars of Canadian federalism, the judiciary, and comparative supreme courts. The Democratic Dilemma: Reforming Canada's Supreme Court is the second volume in the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations' Democratic Dilemma series. The first, The Democratic Dilemma: Reforming the Canadian Senate is edited by Jennifer Smith. Contributors include Arthur Benz (Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany), Jorge O. Bercholc (Institute of Social and Legal Research Ambrosio L. Gioja), Eugénie Brouillet (Université Laval), Erin Crandall (McGill University), Neil Cruickshank (Algoma University), F.C. DeCoste (University of Alberta), Yonatan Fessha (University of the Western Cape, South Africa), Peter W. Hogg (Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP), Eike-Christian Hornig (Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany), Allan C. Hutchinson York University), Achim Hurrelmann (Carleton University), Andrée Lajoie (Université de Montréal), Martin Manolov (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada), Aman McLeod (Rutgers University), Peter McCormick (University of Lethbridge), Peter Oliver (University of Ottawa), Yves Tanguay (CRIDAQ), Alan Trench (solicitor, England and Wales), and Nadia Verrelli (Algoma University and Queen's University).

The process used to select judges of the Supreme Court of Canada has provoked criticism from the start. Some observers argue the process - where the prime minister has unfettered discretion - suffers from a democratic deficit, but there is also disagreement regarding alternative methods of selection. The Democratic Dilemma: Reforming Canada's Supreme Court explores the institutional features of the Court, whether the existing process used to select judges ought to be reformed, the overall legitimacy of the Court, as well as the selection and appointment processes of Supreme Court justices in other liberal democracies. This book will be of special interest to students and scholars of Canadian federalism, the judiciary, and comparative supreme courts. The Democratic Dilemma: Reforming Canada's Supreme Court is the second volume in the Institute of Intergovernmental Relations' Democratic Dilemma series. The first, The Democratic Dilemma: Reforming the Canadian Senate is edited by Jennifer Smith. Contributors include Arthur Benz (Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany), Jorge O. Bercholc (Institute of Social and Legal Research Ambrosio L. Gioja), Eugénie Brouillet (Université Laval), Erin Crandall (McGill University), Neil Cruickshank (Algoma University), F.C. DeCoste (University of Alberta), Yonatan Fessha (University of the Western Cape, South Africa), Peter W. Hogg (Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP), Eike-Christian Hornig (Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany), Allan C. Hutchinson York University), Achim Hurrelmann (Carleton University), Andrée Lajoie (Université de Montréal), Martin Manolov (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada), Aman McLeod (Rutgers University), Peter McCormick (University of Lethbridge), Peter Oliver (University of Ottawa), Yves Tanguay (CRIDAQ), Alan Trench (solicitor, England and Wales), and Nadia Verrelli (Algoma University and Queen's University).

Has the current political system in the People's Republic of China lost its legitimacy in the eyes of the Chinese public? On the basis of three carefully drawn surveys of Beijing residents between 1995 and 1999, the author finds that diffuse support for the current political system—based on attitudes toward institutions and values—remains strong, at least among city-dwellers, though it is gradually declining. Specific support for current political authorities, as measured by evaluations of their performance in major policy domains, is much weaker, with many citizens evaluating the authorities' performance as mediocre. In analyzing the longitudinal data presented here, the author finds that the same set of key sociodemographic attributes and sociopolitical orientations variably influence citizens' attitudes toward the political system and their evaluations of leaders' performance. Further, the study shows that citizens' attitudes toward the system, on the one hand, and their evaluation of incumbents' performance on the other, have different impacts on forms of political participation, such as voting and contacting authorities.

This book discusses one of the most noticeable and significant transformations in China over the past three decades is the rapid and massive urbanization of the country, which has brought shifts in political culture of Chinese urbanites. This book is a systematic and empirical study of political culture in urban China. The book covers various aspects of political culture such as political regime support, political interest, democratic values, political trust, and environmental attitudes and sub-political culture of Chinese urban Christians. This book will be of immense value to urban scholars, sinologists, and those wishing to get a closer look at the issues that affect the political future of a rising world power.

The dominant view concerning the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is that it is simply a matter of time before it comes to an end. This view has been dominant since the pro-democracy protests in 1989 and has only been strengthened by the increasing number of protests in recent years. However, the Chinese Communist Party has continued to remain in power throughout this period and its rule appears to be secure in the short-to medium-term. As the twentieth anniversary of the military suppression of the pro-democracy demonstrations approaches, this book explains how the Chinese Communist Party has maintained its authority since 1989. It provides a detailed analysis of the Party’s discourse emphasising stability in the post-Tiananmen period, analysing the government’s propaganda in order to show how this discourse has been used by the Party to legitimate its authority. The interdisciplinary nature of this book makes it relevant to a number of different academic disciplines including Asian studies, China studies, international relations, politics and sociology.

State legitimacy matters because it transforms power into authority and provides the basis for rule by consent, rather than by coercion. In fragile situations, a lack of legitimacy undermines constructive relations between the state and society, and ...

China’s recent rapid economic growth has drawn global attention to its foreign policy, which increasingly has had an impact on world politics. In contrast with China’s long-standing preference for bilateralism or unilateralism in foreign policy, recent decades have seen changes in the PRC’s attitude and in its declaratory and operational policies, with a trend toward the accepting and advocating of multilateralism in international affairs. Whilst China’s involvement has been primarily in the economic arena, for example, participation in the World Trade Organization and ASEAN Plus Three, it has more recently expanded into international security institutions, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This book records, analyzes, and attempts to conceptualize, this phenomenal development in Chinese foreign policy and its impact on international relations, with the emphasis on China’s active participation in multilaterally-oriented regional security regimes. Written by an impressive team of international scholars, this book is the first collective effort in the field of China studies and international relations to look at China’s recent turn to multilateralism in foreign affairs. It will appeal to students and scholars of Chinese politics and foreign policy, security studies and international relations.