Sujian Guo - Chinese Politics and Government: Power, Ideology and Organization

Over the last two decades, China has gained prominence in the world economy and regional and global affairs. Chinas economic reforms, open-door policy, dramatic economic growth, and more assertive foreign policy have all had an unprecedented impact on the region and around the world, particularly on relations between China and the United States and other major world powers. Recent reactions to the rise of China by the U.S. Congress, the media, and the general public attest to a compelling need to enhance our understanding of what has happened and what is likely to happen in the years to come as well as to foster mutual understanding and goodwill between the two nations.

First, Chinas rising is beyond dispute, and it has enhanced its economic and military power tremendously in the past three decades. China is one of the largest countries, with a total land area of about 3.7 million square miles, slightly larger than that of the United States, and over 1.3 billion people, about 10 times more than that of the United States, one-fifth of the world population. The size itself proves its significance in world affairs. Moreover, after three decades of spectacular economic growth, with average growth rate of 10 percent for the past 30 years,

Second, China is increasingly Americas major trading nation, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, ranking number two, slightly behind Canada, with total trade of $456.8 billion, 14.3 percent of the total trade of the United States.).

Third, China is a UN security council member and a major power in the world. Americans have been heavily involved in Asia at all levels: security, economic, political cultural, and even ideological. Americans were involved in the three wars in three decades in Asia, all of which confronted the Chinese communist military (Chinese civil war, Korean war, and Vietnam war), and In order to understand Chinese foreign policy behavior, we must understand the domestic politics and the context in which foreign policy and decisions are made.

This textbook is designed to provide a basic understanding of government and politics in China. The text will begin with a historical and cultural perspective in understanding the origins of Chinas politics and government, such as geographical and climate conditions as shaping forces of Chinese state making, political tradition, and political culture, and then focus on major dimensions of Chinese politics and government, such as ideology, politics, law, society, economy, and foreign policy. The basic themes, methodologies, and theoretical models for the study of Chinese politics will also be introduced at the beginning of the text. This text will help students develop their conceptual ability to analyze and explain the following general questions: What are the political implications of the relationship between the land and its people and how did the physical and climate conditions (the geographical context) influence the making of the state and the political culture in China? What factors have contributed to the rise of communism in China? What are the nature and characteristics of Chinese politics and government? What is the foundation that has continued to support and sustain the political regime? How has politics affected different spheres of Chinese society, economy, and law? Why has China opened itself to the outside world and embarked on reforms? What changes have taken place in the last decades? What has changed and what has not? What is the nature of the changes? In degree or in kind? What impact do these changes have on Chinese society? What are the dynamics and prospects for these changes? What is Chinas position and changing role in world affairs? Is China a strategic partner or potential threat to the United States? What foreign policy and strategy should the United States take toward a rising China in the twenty-first century? Is it the end or a continuation of Chinese communism? These are just some examples of the major questions students should learn to answer. More questions will be provided for discussion at the end of each chapter.

By examining contending theoretical models in the study of Chinese politics, this book combines an essentialist approach that keeps focus on the fundamental, unique, and defining features of Chinese politics and government that distinguishes it from others with theoretical approaches or analytical models wherever they fit in the analysis of major aspects of Chinese politics and government. This hybrid approach allows us to reveal and examine the complexity of political reality and context, adaptive, developmental, and institutional changes, operative features, and action means by the Chinese political leadership to maintain the fundamental and essential features of Chinese communist politics and government. This approach provides a conceptual framework in defining the Chinese political system and examining the essential characteristics, structures, processes, functions, and changes of the Chinese government and politics, and thus providing answers to some fundamental, basic, and general questions.