The History And Logic Of Modern Chinese Politics

This book explores the history and development of modern Chinese politics. Written by Dr. Mingsheng Wang, a renowned Chinese political scientist, it presents a truly groundbreaking and thought-provoking study of the sociopolitical forces behind China’s gradual emergence as a new global power in the 20th century and its rapid rise as the world’s second-largest economy over the past 40 years. The author’s argument, illuminated by comparative theoretical analyses based on meticulously detailed empirical research, functions as a lens through which readers can better understand China’s remarkable accomplishments as well as consider broader issues that have perplexed many: Is there a China Path to sociopolitical progress? What is “socialism with Chinese characteristics”? Can China redefine its niche and maintain its growing momentum in an increasingly multilateral world? And finally, what lessons can we draw from China’s continuing progress in the post-COVID era? As the author argues eloquently and with persuasive evidence, China’s ongoing progress has followed neither the mode of Russian-style socialism nor that of Western prototypical capitalism. Rather, it represents a distinctively different model of progress and a continuous search for a viable alternative route to modernity that is permeated with Chinese realities. By identifying an alternative system described as the “China Path,” the author demonstrates convincingly that there exist ample options for different types of modernity and that economic growth means not only industrialization, but also the development of political democratization and the realization of the rule of law. In this sense, this book significantly enriches our understanding of modern China. The 33 carefully selected essays in the anthology provide a much-needed opportunity for scholars, policy makers and all interested readers to obtain an insider’s view of the history and prospect of China’s political development.

Europe and China have a long intermingled history reaching back to the earliest phases of the shift to the modern world. In the twenty-first century Europe and China are rediscovering their interlinked histories and reestablishing relationships. One aspect of this process involves cutting through received images of China and this book presents a clear, concise, scholarly review of the logic of Chinese politics.

This book puts forward a new perspective, the historical dynamics of Chinese politics, for better understanding China’s politics, which is from the vertical history of China and the dimension of horizontal world politics, combining the historical analysis of how Chinese politics has come along the way and the comparative analysis of China's governance achievements in world politics. Based on this premise, this book attempts to explain the democratic discourse of contemporary Chinese political logic. The historical dynamics of Chinese politics comes from long-term communication between the author and Western scholars, which may help the global audience to understand China’s politics from all angles.

In the 1990s China embarked on a series of political reforms intended to increase, however modestly, political participation to reduce the abuse of power by local officials. Although there was initial progress, these reforms have largely stalled and, in many cases, gone backward. If there were sufficient incentives to inaugurate reform, why wasn't there enough momentum to continue and deepen them? This book approaches this question by looking at a number of promising reforms, understanding the incentives of officials at different levels, and the way the Chinese Communist Party operates at the local level. The short answer is that the sort of reforms necessary to make local officials more responsible to the citizens they govern cut too deeply into the organizational structure of the party.

China's growth as a major international superpower means that it is now more important than ever to understand how its politics work. Rejecting familiar discussions of China cast in terms of traditional culture, contemporary economic power or shifting official ideologies, this forward thinking work instead analyses the historically contingent mix of agents, ideas and institutions that make up the country's political life. This approach allows Sabrina Ching Yuen Luk and Peter W. Preston to pragmatically unpack the logic of contemporary politics in China. They trace the construction of the party-state system, note some of its major re-orientations and consider its present condition. The book also covers a range of hot policy topics including: internet sovereignty; the One Belt, One Road initiative; the South China Sea issue and the problems of the elderly empty nesters and left-behind children. Offering a detailed yet concise treatment of key social policy areas and other complex issues, this book will serve a broad audience of students, researchers and professionals, irrespective of discipline, along with all those with an interest in China or Chinese politics.

We have witnessed the substantial transformation of China studies, particularly Chinese political studies, in the past 30 years due to changes in China and its rising status in the world as well as changes in our ways of conducting research. As area studies specialists, we are no longer “isolated” from the larger disciplines of Political Science and International Relations (IR) but an integral part of them. This book contains theoretically innovative contributions by distinguished political scientists from inside and outside China, who together offer up-to-date overviews of the state of the field of Chinese political studies, combines empirical and normative researches as well as theoretical exploration and case studies, explore the relationship between Western political science scholarship and contemporary Chinese political studies, examine the logic and methods of political science and their scholarly application and most recent developments in the study of Chinese politics, and discuss the hotly-contested and debated issues in Chinese political studies, such as universality and particularity, regularity and diversity, scientification and indigenization, main problems, challenges, opportunities and directions for the disciplinary and intellectual development of Chinese political studies in the context of rising China.

Eight distinguished China specialists provide broad-gauged, original essays that attempt to explain the dynamics of contemporary Chinese politics by analyzing the preceding patterns of development.

Westerners seem united in the belief that China has emerged as a major economic power and that this success will most likely continue indefinitely. But they are less certain about the future of China's political system. China's steps toward free market capitalism have led many outsiders to expect increased democratization and a more Western political system. The Chinese, however, have developed their own version of capitalism. Westerners view Chinese politics through the lens of their own ideologies, preventing them from understanding Chinese goals and policies. In Contemporary Chinese Political Thought: Debates and Perspectives, Fred Dallmayr and Zhao Tingyang bring together leading Chinese intellectuals to debate the main political ideas shaping the rapidly changing nation. Investigating such topics as the popular "China Model", the resurgence of Chinese Confucianism and its applications to the modern world, and liberal socialism, the contributors move beyond usual analytical frameworks toward what Dallmayr and Zhao call "a dismantling of ideological straitjackets." Comprising a broad range of opinions and perspectives, Contemporary Chinese Political Thought is the most up-to-date examination in English of modern Chinese political attitudes and discourse. Features contributions from Ji Wenshun, Zhou Lian, Zhao Tingyang, Zhang Feng, Liu Shuxian, Chen Ming, He Baogang, Ni Peimin, Ci Jiwei, Cui Zhiyuan, Frank Fang, Wang Shaoguang, and Cheng Guangyun.