Pol S 365: Chinese Politics
San Diego State University
(Fall 2012)
Monday and Wednesday, 2:00-3:15pm
MCN-111
Dr. Christina Chen
Adams Humanities 4112
christina.chen@mail.sdsu.edu
Office Hours: Thursday 3:30-5pm
Course Description:
Since 1949, China’s political system has experienced dramatic changes, so has China’s
relationship with the rest of the world. Recently, rapid economic growth in China has generated
new dynamics of change that is reshaping the China’s internal and global politics. On one hand,
the Chinese state seems to have gained much power—and certainly visibility—internationally. It
is in a stronger position than ever to withstand pressure from the outside world. On the other, the
state continues to face daunting economic, political and social problems that threaten to bring
about its collapse.
How has the Chinese politics changed over time? How does the political change in China
compare with that in Taiwan, another regime of Chinese rule that recently underwent democratic
transformation? What are some of the salient social, economic and political issues facing China
today? What does the rise of China mean for the US, and for the rest of the world? This course
aims to address these questions through a set of readings, discussions and lectures. In doing so,
it focuses on the role of political leaders and ideologies, the intertwined processes of economic
development and conflict, and the influence of international factors on political changes in China
and Taiwan.
This is an introductory course so you are not expected to have any in-depth knowledge of
China or Taiwan before the class. An active and sustained interest in China and Taiwan is
essential to keep you engaged in the class. Read critically, have an open mind, and be ready to
debate/argue about the shape of Chinese/Taiwanese politics today, in the past and into the future.
Student Learning Outcomes: The course is designed for upper division undergraduate students
who are interested in China and Taiwan. After the course students will:
1. become familiar with the general contours of political history in China and Taiwan.
2. develop a comparative historical understanding of Chinese and Taiwanese politics.
3. know about important political leaders, issues, institutions, ideologies, and events in China
and Taiwan.
4. become aware of the challenges to global politics presented by the rise of China.
5. learn to apply general social science concepts and theories to critically analyzing Chinese
politics.
Required Texts:
Readings for the class will be assigned from the following required books, available for
purchase from the Aztec Shops and KB Books. One copy of each book is also on reserve in the
Love Library for two-hour loan at a time. Additional readings that are not from these books will
be posted on the Blackboard.
1. William Joseph, ed., Politics in China: An Introduction, Oxford, 2010.
2. Jonathan Manthorpe, Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan, Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.
3. Susan Shirk, China, Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its
Peaceful Rise, Oxford, 2008.
IMPORTANT: Please consult the course schedule at the end of this syllabus for each class
session’s reading assignment. You are expected to have completed all the readings for each class
prior to coming to the class. Reading the texts in advance will help you digest the lectures. Pop
quiz questions will be mainly based on the readings.
Some useful links for additional reading about China outside of the class:
1. The China Beat: Blogging how the East is Read: http://thechinabeat.blogspot.com/ China
Beat examines media coverage of China, providing context and criticism from China
scholars and writers.
2. AsiaMedia is a daily electronic publication that delivers news about all aspects of the
media in Asia, including its role in regional and national economies, societies, and
political debate. http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/eastasia.asp.
3. The New York Times with free online subscription is available at www.nytimes.com.
4. The Economist, a British weekly covering the economic and political trends around the
world, at www.economist.com.
5. A list of important China area journals: full-text articles are available via the electronic
database in the SDSU library: China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, Modern
China, and the China Journal.
Attendance and participation (15%):
Attendance is mandatory for this class. If you need to be absent for medical or family
emergency reasons, please be sure to notify the instructor before the class (or as soon as possible)
via email or phone and provide proper documentation (e.g. doctor’s note or supervisor/parental
letter) to the instructor subsequently. Please come to class on time and stay till the end of class
unless you have given me an advance notice.
I encourage regular and active participation in the class. To ensure that each person will
get a chance to speak up in class, I will institute a special period of time (about ten minutes at the
beginning of Tuesday classes) for student participation. In addition, I will ask questions in class.
This not only helps you learn from each other but also helps me gauge my teaching effectiveness.
Tuesday Report Card: Each Tuesday (unless otherwise noted), for the first ten minutes
of the class, I will invite two students to each report on one piece of current news reporting on
anything that relates to China or Taiwan. The reporter may summarize the news report, put the
news story in context, and explain its significance to us. Each student is expected to make at
least four report-card presentations throughout the term.
Try to form the habit of speaking up early in the semester. Please be attentive and
respectful to your classmates when they speak. 15% of your final grade will be based on your
attendance and my assessment of your participation effort in the class.
Quizzes, Exams and Final Paper:
1. Pop quiz on the reading (10%): There will be several pop quizzes on the reading,
usually at the beginning of the class. The quizzes will consist of very simple definition or
objective questions (e.g. multiple choice, T/F, etc.) that cover the readings up to (and including)
the day of the quiz. Please pay attention to the weekly schedule. There will be no make-up for
the quizzes, however each student is allowed to drop one quiz with the lowest score.
2. Mid-term and final exams (25% + 25% = 50%): There will be two in-class exams.
You will be asked to define and explain key terms or concepts and to answer a few essay
questions. The final exam will only include the material covered since the mid-term. Please
remember to bring your own blue books. There will be no make-up exams for any other reason
than medical or family emergency.
3. Final paper (25%): You are required to turn in one short paper on any aspect of
Chinese or Taiwanese politics at the end of the term. More details about the paper topics will be
announced later in the semester, but the paper should include at least three references to class
readings, plus minimally necessary additional research (limited to five outside references).
Ability to incorporate course readings and lectures into your paper is very important in my
evaluation of the paper.
To encourage collaboration, you may find one other student in the class to co-author the
paper, in which case you will also need to attach a statement explaining each person’s
contribution to the paper. The paper should be about 5 - 7 pages in length, typed and doublespaced with standard fonts and margins (Special note: students who take this class to satisfy the
political science capstone requirement will need to submit a single-authored paper of 10-15
pages long).
Please submit a hard copy of the paper on the final exam day, along with an electronic
copy as email attachment to my email address listed on the syllabus. I reserve the right to submit
your paper to “turnitin.com” for textual similarity review for any suspected plagiarism.
Zero tolerance on plagiarism: Plagiarism is about presenting other people’s ideas and
writings as your own work. It may happen intentionally through direct copying of someone
else’s words (e.g. specific phrases, sentences or paragraphs), or inadvertently through one’s
failure to cite the source of information. Regardless, plagiarism is a serious form of cheating
that could result in your failing the course. When in doubt, please ask. I have zero tolerance
for any plagiarism in the class.
Grades: Your grade will be based on your overall class performance, including the quizzes,
exams, short paper and class participation.
Attendance and participation
(Tues. Report card)
15%
Quizzes
10%
Mid-term exam
25%
Final exam
25%
Term paper
25%
COURSE SCHEDULE AND READINGS
I. CHINA AND TAIWAN: INTERTWINED POLITICAL HISTORIES
August
27 (M)
Introduction to the class, Q&A
29 (W)
Wars, revolutions and communism: the CCP’s road to power
William Joseph, chapter 2, pp. 37-61.
September
3(M)
5(W)
Labor Day, no class
China under Mao (I), 1949 - 1965
Land reform, the Great Leap Forward and mass mobilization
William Joseph, chapter 3, pp. 63-83.
10(M)
China under Mao (II), 1966 - 1976
The Cultural Revolution period
Documentary: “Morning Sun” (excerpt)
12 (W)
The Cultural Revolution (continued)
William Joseph, chapter 3, pp. 83-102.
17(M)
China’s reform under Deng, 1978 - 1989
William Joseph, chapter 4, pp. 103-114.
19 (W)
China’s reform after the 1990s
William Joseph, chapter 4, pp. 114-125.
24 (M)
Ideological changes from Mao to the present
William Joseph, chapter 5, pp.129-162.
26 (W)
Formal government institutions in China
William Joseph, chapter 6, pp. 165-190.
October
1(M)
A brief history of Taiwan, in relation to mainland China
Manthorpe, Chapter 2, 12, 13 (pp. 21-34, 157-178)
William Joseph, Chapter 17 (pp.367-371)
3 (W)
Politics in Taiwan under the Chiang’s (1945 - 1986)
Manthorpe, Chapters 15, 17 (pp. 187-194, 201-210)
William Joseph, Chapter 17 (pp. 371-373)
8(M)
Democratization in Taiwan
Manthorpe, Chapters 19-20 and Epilogue (pp. 227-270).
William Joseph, Chapter 17 (pp.373-380)
10 (W)
Formal political institutions in Taiwan
John Copper, “Political System (Taiwan)” (on Blackboard)
15 (M)
The question of democracy: will China follow Taiwan’s lead?
Larry Diamond, “Why China’s democratic transition will differ from Taiwan’s”
(Blackboard)
17 (W)
Mid-term exam
II. CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ECONOMY, POLITICS AND SOCIETY
22(M)
Economic reform in China
William Joseph, chapter 7, pp. 192-218.
Susan Shirk, chapter 2, pp.13-34.
24 (W)
Political protest in the early reform period
Documentary: “The Gate of Heavenly Peace” (excerpt)
29 (M)
Political dissent in China today
TBA.
31(W)
Reform and resistance in rural China
William Joseph, chapter 8, pp. 225-247.
November
5(M)
Social (in)stability in China
Susan Shirk, chapter 3, pp. 35-78.
7 (W)
Population and environment in China
William Joseph, chapter 11 and 13 (pp. 278-287, 298-312).
12(M)
14 (W)
Veteran’s Day, no class
Tibet, Xinjiang and ethnic politics in China
William Joseph, Chapters 14 and 15 (pp.315-355)
III. CHINA ON THE WORLD STAGE
19 (M)
How China views the world: sources of its foreign policy
William Callahan, “China’s grand strategy in a post-Western world” (on
Blackboard)
Susan Shirk, Chapter 1, pp.1-12.
21 (W)
Nationalisms in China
Susan Shirk, chapter 4, pp.79-104.
26 (M)
China and its Asian neighbors
Susan Shirk, chapter 5, pp. 105-139.
28 (W)
China’s Japan complex
Susan Shirk, chapter 6, pp.140-180.
December
3 (M)
China, Taiwan and the United States
Susan Shirk, chapter 7, pp.181-211.
Manthorpe, chapters 16, 18, (pp. 195-200, 211-225)
5 (W)
China’s rise and its challenge to the world
David Shambaugh, “Coping with a conflicted China” (on Blackboard) Susan
Shirk, chapter 9, pp.255-270.
12 (W)
Final Exam,1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Final paper due before the exam. Please bring one hard copy to class, AND send
an e-copy as email attachment to chen422@usc.edu