Time Schedule:
David M Bachman
POL S 442
Seattle Campus
Post-1949 government and politics, with emphasis on problems of political change in modern China. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 408.
Class description
Description: Chinese Government and Politics provides an introduction to the political history of the People's Republic of China and the fundamental political, social, and economic processes of the PRC. About equal time in the course will be devoted to each part (political history, political processes and institutions). Within the second half of the course, two fundamental issues will be addressed -- the nature of China's economic reforms and the changing nature of state-society relations in China (and whether China's future will follow the path of the Soviet Union). The course assumes no prior knowledge of China, though it is not recommended for freshmen.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Texts: Some of the books to be read in all or in part include: Yue Daiyun, To the Storm; Chan, Madsen and Unger, Chen Village Under Mao and Deng; Shen Tong, Almost A Revolution; Rosenbaum, State and Society in China; Lieberthal and Oksenberg, Policy Making in China; and Wasserstrom and Perry, Political Culture and Popular Protests in China.
Class assignments and grading
Assignments: Course will be graded on the basis of midterm, final, and paper. Also readings will be about 200 pages a week, and there will be weekly one-page papers on the weekly readings. Midterm in-class, final probably take-home. Paper will be an assigned research paper using primary materials in translation. Because of research paper, class will not meet for one week in the quarter. Class may only be taken on a graded basis.
