This course provides an introduction to the political ...



University of Washington

Department of Political Science/Jackson School of International Studies

Autumn 2010

Government and Politics of China

POL S 442/SISEA 449

TTh 1:30am-3:20pm

175 Johnson Hall

Professor Susan Whiting

45 Gowen Hall

543-9163

swhiting@u.washington.edu

Course Description

Is China—now the second largest economy in the world and a growing global power—the newest capitalist wonderland or the next evil empire? Following the U.S. media, it’s easy to get confused. This course will help you get beneath media rhetoric about the Middle Kingdom by taking a closer look at the Chinese polity, society, and economy, informed by social science theory. We will address a number of important issues, including 1) the roots of the revolution that led to the establishment of the People’s Republic, 2) the human and institutional legacies of a planned economy and Leninist political system, 3) the nature of the transition to a more market-oriented economy, 4) the potential for democratization in a more open polity, 5) the impact of the reforms on the environment, labor, and society more broadly, and, last but certainly not least, 6) Chinese nationalism, China-Taiwan relations, and US-China relations at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Throughout the course you will gain familiarity not only with relevant scholarly literature but also with some of the primary sources on which such scholarship is based.

Course Requirements

Course requirements include class attendance and participation, including completion of all readings and class assignments (25%); a midterm exam (25%); a comprehensive final exam (25%); and a term paper not to exceed 10 double-spaced pages in length (25%).

The in-class mid-term exam is Tuesday, October 26; the final exam is Friday, December 17.

A list of term paper topics will be handed out in class on Thursday, November 4. A preliminary bibliography is due in class on Tuesday, November 23. The term paper itself is due in class on Thursday, December 9. Late papers will be marked down 0.1 point per day.

Graduate students enrolled in the course are required to produce longer research papers on topics determined in consultation with the professor. Graduate student papers should not to exceed 15 pages in length.

Course Materials

Required texts:

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China

Rae Yang, Spider Eaters

Course reader.

All course materials are available for purchase at the University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE,

206-634-3400 and on four-hour loan at Odegaard Undergraduate Library Reserve.

Journal articles not in the course reader are marked “full text online.”

Office Hours

Tuesdays 10:00-11:00am and 4:00-5:00pm in 45 Gowen Hall.

Course Website



Schedule of Classes

WEEK ONE

Thursday, September 30, 2010

1. Introduction

Tony Saich, Governance and Politics of China (New York: Palgrave, 2004), Chp. 1, pp. 1-24 (optional).

WEEK TWO

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

2. States and Revolutions: Legacies of Imperial China and the Dawning of the Revolutionary 20th Century

Marc Blecher, China Against the Tides: Restructuring through Revolution, Radicalism, and Reform (London: Pinter, 1997), Chp. 1, pp. 9-42.

Elizabeth J. Perry, Rebels and Revolutionaries in North China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1980), Chp. 1, pp. 1-9. Begin reading Chp. 3, pp. 48-95.

Primary Source Reading:

Mao Zedong, “Report on the Peasant Movement in Hunan,” (March 1927). In reader.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

3. Ideology, Organization, and Peasant Behavior: Struggle between the KMT and the CCP and Consolidation of Political Power

Perry, Rebels and Revolutionaries, Continue reading Chp. 3, pp. 48-95 and read Chp. 6, pp. 208-247. In reader.

Primary Source Reading:

Mao Zedong, “On the People’s Democratic Dictatorship,” (June 30, 1949). In reader.

WEEK THREE

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

4. Political Economy of Development I: Departure from the Soviet Model—The Great Leap Forward

and the Planned Economy in China

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chp. 2, pp. 25-43.

Rae Yang, Spider Eaters (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), Chps.1-12, pp. 1-114.

Primary Source Reading:

“Editorial: Hold High the Red Flag of People’s Communes,” People’s Daily September 3, 1958.

Peng Dehuai, “Letter to Chairman Mao,” July 14, 1959. Both in course reader.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

5. Politics in Authoritarian Regimes: The Cultural Revolution Decade, the Mao-Deng Transition, and the Reform Impulse

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chps. 2 and 8, pp. 43-56 and 213-222.

Yang, Spider Eaters, Chps. 13-18, pp. 115-199.

Primary Source Reading:

“Sixteen Point Decision,” Eleventh Plenum of the Central Committee of the CCP, August 1966. In reader.

WEEK FOUR

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

6. Political Economy of Development II: Agricultural Reform

Yang, Spider Eaters, Chps. 19-24, pp. 200-285.

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chps. 3 and 9, pp. 57-64 and 244-253.

Susan H. Whiting, Power and Wealth in Rural China: The Political Economy of Institutional Change (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001), Chps. 1-2, pp. 1-71 (optional).

Primary Source Reading:

“Decision of the Central Committee of the CCP on Some Problems in Accelerating Agricultural Development,” December 22, 1978. In reader.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

7. The Political Economy of Development III: Industrial Reform

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chp. 9, pp. 233-244; 253-267.

Whiting, Power and Wealth in Rural China, Chp. 4, pp. 121-175. In reader.

Primary Source Reading:

“Editorial: Without Reform There Would Be No Way Out,” People’s Daily, April 25, 1992. In reader.

WEEK FIVE

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

8. MIDTERM EXAM

Thursday, October 28, 2010

9. Institutions of the Party-State I: Central-Local Relations

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chps. 3, and 4-6, pp. 86-90 and 91-179.

Whiting, Power and Wealth in Rural China, Chp. 3, pp. 72-120. In reader.

Primary Source Reading:

“Constitution of the People’s Republic of China.” Full text online (skim):



WEEK SIX

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

10. Institutions of the Party-State II: State and Society

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chp. 7, pp. 180-192.

Minxin Pei, “China’s Governance Crisis,” Foreign Affairs Vol. 81 (September-October 2002), pp. 96-109. Full text online.

Dali Yang, “State Capacity on the Rebound,”Journal of Democracy, 14, no. 1 (January 2003), 43-50. Full text online.

Primary Source Reading:

“Notice on Accomplishing Tasks on Economic and Social Development and Construction of Key Projects in Zhouzhi County in 2006,” Chinese Law and Government, Vol. 41, Nos. 2-3 (March 2008), pp.79ff. Full text online.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

11. TERM PAPER TOPICS DISTRIBUTED

Potential for Democratization I: Tiananmen and the Emergence of Civil Society

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chp. 3, pp. 64-86.

Elizabeth J. Perry, “Casting a Chinese ‘Democracy’ Movement: the Roles of Students, Workers, and Entrepreneurs,” in Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom and Elizabeth J. Perry, eds., Popular Protest and Political Culture in Modern China (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994), pp. 74-92. In reader.

Carma Hinton, “Gate of Heavenly Peace,” Documentary film.

Primary Source Reading:

Preparatory Committee of Beijing University Students, “Letter of Petition,” April 21, 1989.

Ren Wanding, “Speech in Tiananmen Square,” April 21, 1989.

“A Worker’s Letter to the Students,” April 28, 1989. All in course reader.

WEEK SEVEN

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

12. Potential for Democratization II: More on Civil Society and Local Elections

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chps. 7 and 8, pp. 192-212 and 222-232.

Shui-Yan Tang and Xueyong Zhan, “Civic Environmental NGOs, Civil Society, and Democratisation in China,” Journal of Development Studies Vol. 44, No. 3 (March 2008), pp. 425-448. Full text online.

Melanie Manion, “Democracy Community, Trust: The Impact of Elections in Rural China,” Comparative Political Studies Vol. 39, No. 3 (April 2006), pp. 301-324. Full text online.

Primary Source Reading:

“Law Protects Rights of Elected Village Head,” People’s Daily, April 19, 2002.

“Farmer Campaigns to Win VC Election,” People’s Daily, January 29, 2003. Both in course reader.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

VETERANS’ DAY HOLIDAY

WEEK EIGHT

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

13. Media Politics

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chp. 12, pp. 329-347.

Xiao Qiang, “The Rise of Online Public Opinion and Its Political Impact,” Sixth Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference, University of Hong Kong, June 13-14, 2008. Full text online.

He Qinglian, “Media Control in China,” China Human Rights Forum, No. 4 (2004), pp. 11-28. Full text online.

Primary Source Reading:

Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao, 中国农民调查 (The Life of China’s Peasants: Will the Boat Sink the Water) transl. Zhu Hong (New York: Perseus Books, 2006), Chp. 2 “The Village Tyrant,” Skim pp. 29-62, esp. pp. 49-57. In reader.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

14. Global Commodity Chains, Labor, and Labor Disputes

Gary Gereffi, “The Organization of Buyer-Drive Global Commodity Chains: How U.S. Retailers Shape Overseas Production Networks,” in Gary Gereffi and Miguel Korzeniewicz, eds., Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994), pp. 95-122. In reader.

Cal Clark, “Growing Cross-Strait Economic Integration,” Orbis Vol. 46, No. 4 (Autumn 2002), pp. 753-766. Full text online.

Ching Kwan Lee, Against the Law: Labor Protests in China’s Rustbelt and Sunbelt (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007), Chp.5, pp. 157-203. In reader.

Primary Source Reading:

Visit: or

Distinguish primary from secondary source information.

WEEK NINE

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

15. PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

Policy Responses to Domestic Challenges: Environment

Elizabeth Economy, The River Runs Black: The Evironmental Challenge to China’s Futrure (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004), Chp. 3: “The Economic Explosion and Its Environmental Cost,” pp. 59-90. In reader.

Arthur P. J. Mol and Neil T. Carter, “China’s Environmental Governance in Transition,” Environmental Politics Vol. 15, No. 2 (April 2006), pp. 149-170. Full text online.

Primary Source Reading:

State Council Information Office White Paper Environmental Protection in China. . Full text online. Skim.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

WEEK TEN

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

16. Policy Responses to Domestic Challenges: Inequality

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chp. 10, pp. 268-304.

Martin King Whyte, Myth of the Social Volcano: Perceptions of Inequality and Distributive Injustice in Contemporary China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2010), Chp. 3: “What Do Chinese Citizens See as Fair and Unfair About Current Inequalities?” pp. 43-67. In reader.

Vivienne Shue and Christine Wong, eds., “Is China Moving Toward a More Equitable Development Strategy?” in idem, eds., Paying for Progress (New York: Routledge, 2007), pp. 1-11. In reader.

Jane Duckett, “Local Governance, Health Financing, and Changing Patterns of Inequality in Access to Health Care,” in Paying for Progress, pp. 46-68. In reader.

Primary Source Reading:

Ren Xianliang, “China’s Registration Taboo,” Chinese Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 29, No. 1 (1996). In reader.

Theil Index Dataset:

Thursday, December 2, 2010

17. China’s Rise and US-China Relations

Saich, Governance and Politics of China, Chp. 11, pp. 305-328.

David Zweig and Bi Jianhai, “China’s Global Hunt for Energy,” Foreign Affairs Vol. 84, No. 5 (Sep-Oct 2005), pp. 25-38. Full text online.

Bijian Zheng, “China’s ‘Peaceful Rise’ to Great-Power Status,” Foreign Affairs Vol. 84, No. 5 (Sep-Oct 2005), pp. 18-24. Full text online.

Suisheng Zhao, “China’s Pragmatic Nationalism: Is It Manageable?” Washington Quarterly Vol. 29, No. 1 (Winter 2005-06), pp. 131-144. Full text online.

Primary Source Reading:

“The Joint U.S.-China Shanghai Communique,” February 27, 1972. Full text online:

or



WEEK ELEVEN

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

18. China and Taiwan

Yun-han Chu and Jih-wen Lin, “Political Development in 20th-Century Taiwan: State-Building, Regime Transformation and the Construction of National Identity,” China Quarterly No. 165 (March 2001), pp. 102-129. Full text online.

Cheng Tun-jen, “Transforming Taiwan’s Economic Structure in the 20th Century,” China Quarterly No. 165 (March 2001), pp. 19-36. Full text online.

Xin Qiang, “Beyond Power Politics: Institution Building and Mainland China’s Taiwan Policy Transition,” Journal of Contemporary China (June 2010) Vol. 19 No. 65, pp. 525-539. Full text online.

Primary Source Reading:

“Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 (first two sections).” Full text online:

or



Thursday, December 9, 2010

19. TERM PAPER DUE

Conclusion and Final Exam Review

Friday, December 17, 2010, 2:30pm

FINAL EXAM

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