Course Description
China is the second largest economy in the world and a growing global power, but it still faces considerable governance challenges. This course provides an in-depth analysis of the political history, institutions, and governance issues facing China. We will explore both the content of 20th and 21st century Chinese political history with an emphasis on the past thirty years of reform. The first part of the course will focus on political history, which will provide a necessary foundation for subsequent topics. It addresses the collapse of imperial China in social and ideological terms, the republican era and the formation of political parties, revolutionary change, the planned economy, and the reform period. The second part of the course will focus on the current political system, the relationship between the state and society, elections, and control of civil society and the media. The final few weeks of class will analyze crucial issues facing China today: the economic conditions, environment, foreign relations, and the theories on the future of China. The students will learn about the historical and modern politics and culture in China. Addressing how Chinese politics fits in to, or diverges from, political science theory. The class will highlight both western and non-western thought on Chinese politics. The class will also allow students to identify different arguments in the literature about past, current, and future Chinese Politics.
Lesson Plan: Teaching Decision Making in the Chinese Political System
Course Materials:
REQUIRED texts on current policy in China:
China’s Political System, Edited by Sebastian Heilmann, 2017
Frank N. Pieke, Knowing China: A Twenty-First Century Guide, 2016
REQUIRED text for Chinese Political History:
Roderick MacFarquhar , The Politics of China: Sixty Years of The People’s Republic of China, Edition 3, 2011
Recommended text on Chinese Foreign Policy:
Thomas J. Christensen, The China Challenge: Shaping the choices of a Rising Power, 2016
