Home>Course>[CHES5143] Comparative Politics and China>CHES5143

This course will introduce fundamental issues and approaches in comparative politics and systematically map out the political system of China in these perspectives. Specifically, we will discuss the characteristics of different political systems in the world, investigate the key elements in governance, examine various political and policy processes, and explore the role of societal actors in different political systems. In each section, we will understand China by comparing it with other systems in the world. Students will be asked to reflect on the status of Chinese political system in the world from each of these particular perspectives.

1. Introduction

How to Comprehend Chinese Politics? Political Science, Comparative Politics, and China: What is the study of comparative politics? How to approach China in a comparative framework? Is China comparable to other countries or is China an outlier?

2. History Matters

Political History of the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Political Model; how much the PRC has embraced and moved away from the Leninist Model.

3. History Matters

The Transformation of China’s political system after Mao Zedong’s death. Political System/Regimes: How to define political system/regimes in the world? How to find China along the autocracy-democracy, totalitarian-authoritarian-hybrid-democratic regimes lines, etc.?

4. Political Structure I

Party system: What is a political party? Why political parties? How to describe a political system using the party system? How about China? The Chinese Communist Party’s ideology and organization.

5. Political Structure II

The Chinese Communist Party membership and cadres; the Party and the State; the Party and the Army.

6. Political Structure III

The State and the Government, the Executive Branch. The Legislature: What is a legislature? How to understand the relationship between the Executive Branch and the Parliament? What are the functions of the National People’s Congress of China? How different the NPC is from other legislative branches in the world? The role of the CCPPC and the “democratic parties” in China.

7. Political Structure IV

Executive/administrators: What are the responsibilities of the Executive Branch? How to understand leadership? The relationship between the central and local in different systems? And in China? Technocrats? Bureaucrats? The Judicial/legal system: How important is the independence of judicial branch and check and balance?

8. Political Participation I

Development and Democracy: What is the relationship between economic development and political participation? What is democratization? How to understand and evaluate the economic and social development, and political situations in China?

9. Political Participation II

Political Participation and civil society; the role of the NGOs and the Internet. Globalisation and political change. What is the civil society and pressure groups? What can the civil society do? What is the relationship between the state and society indifferent regime types? And in China?

10. Political Hot Issues

Corruption and nationalism; anti-corruption campaigns in China; the role of nationalism in Chinese politics.

11. Political Actors I

Individuals & Political culture: What is political culture? What is citizenship? How can individuals do to affect the political process?

12. Political Actors II

Taiwan’s democratization and the Chinese Mainland; Taiwan’s political transformation since the late 1987; its impact on Chinese politics.