Politics of China
Political Science 35623 – Fall 2011
Dr. Carrie Liu Currier
Office: 2007G Scharbauer Hall
Phone: 817-257-6853
Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 10-11am, and other times available by appointment
E-Mail: c.currier@tcu.edu
OVERVIEW:
This course will examine the social, economic and institutional elements that shape the politics of the People’s
Republic of China. Some of the issues we will cover include: political culture, civil society, political elites,
democracy, development, and environmental politics. Although a basic knowledge of Chinese history is helpful,
it is not a prerequisite for the course.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Exams: There will be two short answer/essay exams. These are closed-book, closed-note examinations and will
be given on the following dates: Exam #1 Oct 4, Exam #2 Dec 13 (11:30-2pm). In the exams you must
integrate lecture, discussions, current events, and the readings to formulate a comprehensive view of the main
theories, issues, and themes of the course. If you have a conflict with the final exam (such as three finals in the
same day) you must submit your request to change the exam time in writing as soon as possible, but no later than
Nov 29 (one week before our last class). The exams are each worth 30% of your grade.
Literature Review: A literature review is essentially an overview and examination of the key pieces of
scholarly literature that have been published on a particular topic. It is also generally one of the first stages of a
larger research project – to survey what has already been written about your topic of interest, ensuring you learn
from what others have done and do not end up repeating research that is already well documented. The review
needs to focus on a particular question or topic and provide analysis of strengths, holes or weaknesses, biases,
and then synthesize the literature to determine where work still needs to be done. In essence it gives you a sense
of the “state of the field” and helps you assess a problem (your research interest) by looking at how it has
evolved in academic debates over time.
Your literature review must: include a minimum of EIGHT academic sources (not from our syllabus)
dated between 2000-2011, be 8-10 double spaced pages (1-inch margins, a normal 12 point font), use the APA
citation format, and have a clear/developed thesis related to a research question involving the politics of
contemporary China. The review will be graded on both content and writing (i.e. clarity, organization, argument
development, grammar, and spelling). A few points on sources: 1) eight is the minimum required to obtain a
passing grade and the sources must be both academic and dated 2000-2011 to count (less than eight acceptable
sources means you will receive an F on the paper); 2) ALL sources used in the paper must be academic sources
(books and journal articles) and you may not use any newspapers, op-ed pieces, magazine articles, or Internet
sources (with the exception of journal articles obtained via the library website); 3) you can include readings from
our syllabus as additional sources; 4) you can/should include relevant sources published before 2000 to capture
the full depth of the literature, these will count as additional sources. Note that I am more than happy to assist
you in determining what an academic source is, so you should feel free to ask questions about specific sources.
There is a detailed set of writing guidelines, hints on determining academic sources, and other criteria on
ecollege (www.tcuglobal.edu) and you should read them carefully to maximize your grade!
In choosing a topic for the review you want to find a manageable question or area to examine. After
narrowing down your topic, you may still find that the literature is overwhelming with hundreds of “key” works
that would be relevant. I do not expect you to exhaust the literature and cover all books and articles ever
produced on a topic, but you should try to determine which ones are important for understanding your area of
interest. Again, I will assist you in this task should you need help.
Prior to beginning your project you must meet with me to discuss/approve your topic (this should take 5 min
depending on how organized you are). I will not give approval by email and you should not wait until the last
minute to schedule a meeting since it may take a while to coordinate our schedules. Remember you need topic
approval before you can begin working on the summary, which means meeting with me no later than Oct 6th.
Once you receive topic approval, you must submit a 2-page typed summary of your topic, outlining the
basic issues you plan to examine. With this summary you must also attach a tentative bibliography of the
literature you plan to include. The summary and bibliography are due no later than 11AM Oct 18th. Late
summaries will not be graded (you will receive a zero) but they are still required before you can turn in the
literature review. The final literature review must be turned in to www.turnitin.com AND submitted to me in
either hard copy (paper) or MS Word format (by email) by 11AM Nov 17th. The breakdown for the review is:
topic summary (5%) and completed review (25%) – a total of 30% of your grade.
Participation/Attendance/Quizzes: The final 10% of your grade will come from participation, attendance,
and quizzes. Throughout the semester we will devote time to discussing relevant current events (which is why
you should be reading a daily newspaper). In addition, I encourage you to ask questions and to participate in our
discussions. This interaction will enable you to learn from your peers and hopefully encourage you to more
critically assess the information presented. Your participation will be graded on the quality and not necessarily
the quantity of your contributions, but you do need to make a regular effort to participate. Disruptive or
annoying behavior (i.e. facebooking, texting, sleeping, or chatting with your neighbors) will negatively affect
your participation grade and will be treated as the equivalent of a full absence.
Remember you cannot discuss unless you are here, so at the very least you need to show up! I take
attendance in class seriously, and poor attendance will be penalized. Late arrivals and early departures will be
considered half-absences (two halves make a whole absence). After your second unexcused absence I will
deduct 2% from your overall grade for each additional absence (excused absences never count against you),
therefore you can be penalized more than just 10% of your grade for excessive absences. The only absences
that TCU considers “excused” are university related absences for official university sponsored events, and those
notifications come to me directly from the university. Otherwise illnesses or other absences can be considered
“excused,” but they are at my discretion. TCU and Campus Life do not give “excused absences” for anything
other than university related business. Illnesses, deaths in the family, etc. may be considered excused by me if
the appropriate documentation is provided, however that documentation must be submitted within one week of
returning to class after the said incident. In other words, you cannot wait until the end of the semester to provide
documentation if you want your absence to be considered “excused.” Keep in mind I may still deny your request
for an excused absence, depending on the circumstances. If you miss class, excused or not, you should get the
lecture notes from another student.
Finally, if it becomes apparent you are not doing the weekly readings, or if there is an overall lack of
participation in class I will administer pop quizzes. Any quizzes you take will be incorporated into this portion
of the grade. I seriously do NOT want to give quizzes, and I am fairly certain you would prefer not to have pop
quizzes, so come to class prepared and we can avoid them entirely.
GRADES
30% Exam #1 (Oct 4th)
30% Exam #2 (Dec 13th)
30% Literature Review (Oct 6th topic, Oct 18th summary, Nov 17th paper)
10% Attendance/Participation/Quizzes
Grades are determined on the following scale:
A 93-100
B 83-86
A- 90-92
B- 80-82
B+ 87-89
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
2
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F 0-59
MISC. POLICIES:
Late Penalties – The exams or paper due dates can only be changed under exceptional circumstances requests will be entertained on an individual basis. In the rare event you decide to turn in a paper late, you
will be penalized one full letter grade on it for each day until it is turned in (including weekends/holidays)
with late penalties beginning each day at 11:15AM starting the day it is due. For example, for a paper due on
Thursday, it is penalized one letter grade starting at 11:15AM on Thursday, 2 letter grades as of 11:15AM
Friday, 3 letter grades as of 11:15AM Saturday, etc. After five days have passed it will simply become a zero.
Turnitin.com – You are required to submit your paper to turnitin.com to be checked by the database. You
will need to register yourself with our course ID #4094034, and our course password is hegemon. It is your
responsibility to upload the papers to this website. Papers must be BOTH uploaded to turnitin.com and
submitted to the professor by the paper deadline date/time or it is considered late.
Blue/greenbooks: You are required to turn in two blue/greenbooks at the beginning of the semester, one for
each of your exams. You must turn in SMALL sized blue/greenbooks WITHOUT your names on them,
PRIOR to the first exam. At the exam the blue/greenbooks will be redistributed at random and will have a
specific stamp on it unique to that specific exam. This is to ensure the books do not have notes written in
them. Only stamped books (with the specific color/type of stamp designated on the question sheet) will be
accepted. Any answers written in a book without the appropriate stamp will not be graded.
Academic integrity: TCU has a code of academic integrity that I expect you all to follow. In particular, I
think it is important to stress the penalties that will be inflicted on students who plagiarize or cheat in this
course. Plagiarism is when you take someone else's words, without using quotations or proper citation, and
attempt to use them as your own. If any portion of your written work is plagiarized or you are found cheating
on assignments or exams, you will receive a zero on the assignment/exam and will be subjected to further
academic discipline according to the University's policies. Collaboration with other students on any
assignments or exams in this class is strictly prohibited. To review the student code of conduct you should
visit the following: http://www.studentaffairs.tcu.edu/handbook/code.htm
Statement on Disability Services – Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities
Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students
seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Student Disabilities Services in the Center for
Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students
should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.
Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth,
TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.
REQUIRED READINGS & COURSE SCHEDULE
1) Currier, Carrie Liu and Manochehr Dorraj, eds. 2011. China’s Energy Relations with the
Developing World. NY: Continuum.
2) Gries, Peter Hays and Stanley Rosen. 2010. Chinese Politics: State, Society and the Market. NY:
Routledge.
3) Lieberthal, Kenneth. 2004. Governing China: From Revolution Through Reform. NY: Norton
Publishing.
4) Individual articles posted on eCollege – these readings are marked with an asterisk (*) when
they appear in the syllabus.
5) A daily newspaper to keep up with current events. I recommend the New York Times,
Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, or the People’s Daily (China).
3
Aug 23 & 25: Imperial China – A Dynastic Overview
Lieberthal Ch 1
Aug 30: The Republican Era
Lieberthal Ch 2
Sept 1 & 6: The Rise of Communism & Mao
Lieberthal Chs 3 & 4
Sept 8 & 13 & 15: Succession, Institutions, and Political Elites
Lieberthal Chs 6 & 7
Sept 20 & 22: Reform & Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Lieberthal Chs 5 & 8
Sept 27 & 29: the CCP’s Adaptation to the Modern World
GR: Ch 1 (Dickson) & Ch 2 (Shue)
Oct 4: Exam #1
Oct 6 & 13: Challenges to the System
Oct 6: Paper Topic deadline
Oct 11: No class, Mid-semester break
Gries & Rosen (GR): Ch 3 (Mertha) & Ch 5 (Wright)
Oct 18 & 20: Voices of Dissent
Oct 18: Paper Summary Due
GR: Ch 10 (Mackerras)
* Hurst, William and Kevin O’Brien. 2002. “China’s Contentious Pensioners” China Quarterly
(170): 345-360.
* Vala, Carsten and Kevin O’Brien. 2008. “Recruitment to Protestant House Churches,” in Kevin J.
O’Brien, ed. Popular Protest in China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 108125.
Oct 25 & 27: The Great Firewall
GR: Ch 8 (Thornton)
* Hardy, Tim. 2011. The Hundred Flowers Campaign, Version 2.0: The State of Internet
Politics in China,” Hinckley Journal of Politics 12: 21-28.
*MacKinnon, Rebecca. 2008. “Flatter world and thicker walls? Blogs, censorship and civic
discourse in China,” Public Choice 134:31-46.
Nov 1 & 3: Olympics & the Environment
Lieberthal Ch 9
* Beyer, Stefanie. 2006. “The Green Olympic Movement: Beijing 2008” Chinese Journal of
International Law 5(2): 423-40.
* Economy, Elizabeth and Adam Segal. 2008. “China’s Olympic Nightmare,” Foreign Affairs
87(4): 47-56.
Nov 8 & 10: Dam Politics
4
* Heggelund, Gorild. 2006. “Resettlement Programmes and Environmental Capacity in the
Three Gorges Dam Project” Development and Change 37(1): 179-199.
* Qing, Dai and Lawrence Sullivan. 1999. “The Three Gorges Dam and China’s Energy
Dilemma” The Journal of International Affairs 53(1): 53-71.
Nov 15 & 17: Energy Policy
Nov 17: Final Paper Due
Currier & Dorraj (CD): Ch 1 (Currier), Ch 3 (Garrison) & Ch 9 (Erickson/ Collins)
Nov 22 & 29: Oil as Foreign Policy
CD: Ch 2 (Lui), Ch 4 (Dorraj/Currier) & Ch 6 (Zhao)
Nov 24: No class, Thanksgiving Break
Dec 1 & 6: The China Forecast
Lieberthal Ch 11
GR: Ch 7 (Rosen)
CD: Ch 10 (Ziegler)
Dec 13: Exam #2 (11:30-2:00PM)
5