Instructor
Office
Office Hours
Email
: Jungmin Seo (Department of Political Science and International Studies,
Yonsei University)
: YHH116
: TBA
: jmseo@yonsei.ac.kr
Understanding Chinese Politics
Summer 2013
(This syllabus is subject to change)
Course description:
This course covers the politics of the People’s Republic of China, including background
information on pre-1949 revolution process, the era of Mao (49-76) and the reform period
since 1978. The lectures offer a historical and thematic survey of Chinese politics, with
an emphasis on the patterns and dynamics of political development in twentieth century
China. Special attention will be given to the post-Mao reforms, state-society relations, the
prospects for democracy, the relationship between Beijing and the provinces, the
interactions between ideology and policies, as well as the issues of Hong Kong and
Taiwan.
Requirements:
All students are required to come to class, complete assigned readings, and actively
participate in all classes and blackboard discussions. Attendance and participation will
greatly influence instructor’s discretion regarding borderline grades. No late assignment
or exam will be allowed unless permission is granted by the instructor prior to the
due/exam date.
Grading:
Participation
2 quizzes
Short Paper
Mid-term
Final
15 %
10 %
10 %
30 %
35 %
*Plagiarism will not be tolerated in any circumstance. The consequence of plagiarism
will be very serious: course failure and instructor’s report to the dean’s office for further
administrative punishment.
Required readings
Roderick MacFarquahr. The Politics of China: Sixty Years of the People’s Republic of
China (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
Schedule
Week 1
Introduction ; Documentary Film – China, a Century of Revolution
http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/republican.html
http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/republican2.html
http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/republican3.html
Week2
Mao Zedong
Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China, selections on Mao available at
http://maoism.org/msw/mtt_bio.htm
Mao’s writings available at:
http://maoism.org/msw/vol1/mswv1_13.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol1/mswv1_15.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol2/mswv2_3.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol2/mswv2_4.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol2/mswv2_10.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol2/mswv2_26.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol3/mswv3_25.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol4/mswv4_65.htm
Week 3
New China
“The Establishment and Consolidation of the New Regime,” in
MacFarquahar
Mao’s writings:
http://maoism.org/msw/vol5/mswv5_45.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol5/mswv5_61.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol5/mswv5_66.htm
Great Leap Forward
“The Great Leap Forward and the Split of the Yan’an Leadership, 19581965
http://maoism.org/msw/vol8/mswv8_03.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol8/mswv8_16.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol8/mswv8_33.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol8/mswv8_63.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol8/mswv8_62.htm
The Cultural Revolution
“The Chinese State in Crisis,” in MacFarquhar
2
Mao’s writings:
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_56.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_58.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_67.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_70.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_79.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_81.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_82.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv8_83.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_84.htm
http://maoism.org/msw/vol9/mswv9_85.htm
Virtual museum of the Cultural Revolution
http://www.cnd.org:8011/CR/
Midterm
Week 4
The End of Mao Era and Deng Xiaoping
“The Succession to Mao and the end of Maoism, 1969-1982” & “The
Road to Tiananmen: Chinese Politics in the 1980s” in MacFarquhar
Documentary film, the Gate of Heavenly Peace
The 1989 protest movement and its aftermath
Saich, Governance, chap. 2, 59-69; Chap. 7 “Participation and Protest,”
Chap. 8 “The Chinese State and Society”
Merle Goldman, “The Emergence of Politically Independent
Intellectuals,” in Paradox, Chap. 13.
Week 5
Chinese Politics until today (1990-2012)
“Reaction, resurgence, and succession: Chinese Politics since Tiananmen,”
& “Dilemmas of globalization and governance” in MacFarquhar
Saich, Governance, chap. 4 “The Chinese Communist Party,”
Barry Naughton, “China’s Transition in Economic Perspective,” in
Paradox chap. 2.
Problems of Governance 2
Dorothy J. Solinger, “China’s Floating Population,” Paradox Chap. 10
Elizabeth Perry, “Crime, Corruption and Contention,” in Paradox Chap.
14
Thomas Bernstein, “Farmer Discontent and Regime Response,” Paradox
Chap. 9
Week 6
China and the World
TBA
3