Chinese Politics Study

Running themes of Modern Chinese History

Nationalism (defense from imperial powers), Revolution (changes in values and belief systems), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vs. CCP

The Republic Era 1912-1916

includes the Warlord Era (First United Front and Founding of CCP) and the first civil war, then the 2nd united front, then second civil war (KMT defeated)

KMT and CCP Commonalities

\-modernizers w goal of national salvation

\-Ideas from Russian Rev

-cooperated in unifying country, some leaders were in both

KMT three principles of the people

minzu- nationalism
minquan- democracy
minsheng- people's welfare

KMT strategies

relying on urban classes, tutelage democracy

CCP Strategies

mass mobilization, peasant and rural bases

The May 4th Movement 1919

students protested, led to ideological and cultural transformation, radicalism prevailed, first national congress of CCP in 1921

The Communist Party

overwhelmingly rural membership
survived hardship
linkage w the masses
mobilization and organizational strengths

Why did the CCP continue the Revolution after defeating KMT?

-needed to mobilize mass support
-suppress regime opponents
-socialist transformation

Mao

Great Leader, Great Teacher, Great Supreme Commander, Great Helmsman

mass line

economic policy of Mao Zedong inaugurated in 1955; led to formation of agricultural cooperatives that then became farming collectives in 1956; peasants lost land gained a few years earlier

sources of Mao's vision and thought

Marxism, Leninism, and Chinese History

Features of Maoism

-Prominence of Ideology
-Voluntarism
-Solving contradictions through struggle
-Class struggle (political attitude determined class status)
-mass line and anti-intellectualism
-self reliance

Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

Mao Zedong's great effort 1966-1976 out capitalist tendencies that he believed had developed in China.

Great Leap Forward (1958-1961)

aimed at transforming china from agrarian to modern communist society thru collectivization and industrialization
-people's communes
-small factories and backyard furnaces

consequences of GLF

-economic disaster
-Great Famine
-Mao criticized

Liu Shaoqi

Moderate CCP politician and designated successor to Mao Zedong; died during the Cultural Revolution, elected president 1959 although Mao was de facto leader succession crisis, traitor

Central Cultural Revolution Group

may 1966, powerful committee of Mao’s radical supporters (Gang of Four)

Red Guards

the Radical youth of the Cultural Revolution in China starting in 1966. Often wore red armbands and carried Mao's Little Red Book.

3 Anti Campaign

1951, anti corruption, anti waste, anti bureaucracy

Hundred Flowers Campaign

Period from 1956 to 1957 in which Mao encouraged intellectuals to offer criticism of national policy, followed crackdown on critics

Anti-Rightist Campaign

1957-59 persecution of intellectuals, artists, and officials and dissidents labeled rightists

Four Clean-Ups

economy, organization, politics, ideology

\
intellectuals sent to countryside to be reeducated failed, led to CR

Deng Xiaoping follows Mao

pragmatic philosophy, open to new ways to get economy going

\
localities have more power, fiscal contracting, TVEs

household responsibility system

-creating incentives for production
-increased ag productivity
-dissolution of communes
-freed peasants from ag

Township and Village Enterprises

\-growth, employment, export

\-created new jobs

\-primarily light industries

three tiers of local governments

county, township, village

SOEs (state-owned enterprises)

economically inefficient, harder to reform, lifetime employment and welfare

\-reform by allowing more autonomy, provided incentives to workers

Important Reforms 18th CCP Congress

Leadership by party strengthened at SOEs
Transform state ownership from "asset management" to "capital management"

Price and Fiscal Reform

* price: state set price vs market set price (smooth transition but caused corruption)
* fiscal: taxing profits, fiscal contracting w provinces, taxation reform and division of tax-collection system

People's Bank of China

reformed to function a the central bank but not independent

Sources of Privatization

-TVEs
-Small private business
-Partial privatization of the state sector
-foreign investments

3 types of TVEs

-small-scale private enterprises
-red-hat TVEs
-collective ownership

Problems Insider Privatization

-state assets transferred to private buyers was dubious and created problems
-organized labor resistance (worker's participation was excluded in the privatization process)

Private Sector political impact

-allowed to join the party
-depend on party state rather than act against it

Six SEZs

Shenzhen, Shantou, Xiamen and Zhuhai, Hainan Provinces, Kashgar

FDI

since 1978, separated from domestic economy

WTO membership

-expanded trade and foreign investment
-weed out inefficient SOEs
-curtail monopolies
-get rid of local protectionism
-reduce unemployment
-enlarge regional difference

Reforming State Owned Enterprises

property rights reform: devolution of responsibility, contract system, corporatization, management buy-out

Banks

People's Bank of China as "central bank" and four large State-owned banks
Policy banks like China Development

"Emancipation of the Mind"

Deng Xiaoping "Emancipation of the Mind" Post-1989 emphasis on patriotic education and social stability

"Three Represents"

Jiang Zemin ideology of inclusion, made way for opinions of majority of Chinese

Hu Jintao (2002-2012)

"harmonious society" and "scientific development"

Xi Jinping

Chinese Dream

Gradualism (Naughton)

\-experimentation first, promotion second

\-starting with easy ones, then tackling difficult

\-pragmatism

Chinese Style Federalism (Montinola et al.)

\-democratization does not encompass all aspects of political reform -Political Decentralization, ideological adaptation, and opening up economy as communist country, new political system called Chinese style federalism

Chinese Style federalism

\-provides political protection for China's reforms, limits on central gov

\-created “market-preserving” federalism

E-school (Experimentalism) vs. C-school (Convergence) (Woo)

E school: china is the result of successful Econ experiments, “lessons from china”, new non-capitalist methods

C school: disputing claims from e school, attributes growth to increased liberalization and privatization

Challenges to Neoclassical Explanations (all failed according to Ma)

Oi (1999): Local state corporatism
Duckett (1998) "entrepreneurial state"
Gore (1998) Cadres as bureaucratic entrepreneurs
Steinfeld (1998) hard budget constraints explain performance

Oi

local state corporatism: local Govs function like a large corporation w diversified business, empowered China

Duckett

ES: basic actors are individual state bureaus and their subordinate agencies, are directly involved in business and take risks

\
\-state adaptive to market reforms

Gore

agrees with oi but focuses on behavior of individual cadres

Steinfeld

hard budget constraints should be the prime goal of transitional reform

Explaining revolts

-structural: socio-economic conditions
-loss of legitimacy
-contingencies
-dissemination of info

Background for Tiananmen

high inflation, more freedom and participation, waning ideology, death of reformer, information from media

Main actors Tiananmen

-students and student leaders anti-corruption and democracy
-Zhao sympathizes
-elders chose to support conservatives

Impact of Tiananmen

-social and political trauma
-isolation of China in intl
-political refugees outside china
-halt of political reforms

Modernization Theory

progressive accumulation of socio-economic changes will finally lead to democratization

Marxism

power struggle between capitalists and the working class leads to democracy

Private entrepreneurs in china

do not have desire or ability to confront state

private entrepreneurs have to \____ before becoming a democratizing force

1. form a class
2. take collective action

FDI in China did not democratize it because

China's pattern of ownership diversification, China’s mode of integration into global economy

PRC organizational principles

democratic centralism, collective leadership, mass line

Admin Hierarchy

Rural: county, township, village

Urban: urban, residence committees

National People's Congress

China's top legislative body and highest organ of state power in theory
-meet every 5 years to elect gov leaders
-Standing Committee in charge of everyday running
-state council is an executive branch

The Party Congress

large number of delegates, symbolic function of unity and power, elects and approves Central Committee, approves drafts of major policy reports

CCP Central Committee

normally 5 year term, 205 members, elected by NPC reps

The Politburo

currently 25 members -Politburo Standing Committee is most powerful organ in Chinese Politics (7 members), have a division of labor controlling different aspects of Chinese politics

Military

has influence over China's foreign policy
important role in Cultural Rev and Tiananmen
Budget cut in early reform period but then has seen steady increase since Tiananmen

Four Cardinal Principles

Uphold the socialist road, the people’s democratic dictatorship, leadership of the Communist Part and Mao Thought Marxism-Leninism

Four cardinal principles (reaffirmed after 1989)

upholding the socialist path
the people's democratic dictatorship
leadership of the ccp
mão Zedong thought and marxism-leninism

experimenting with grassroots democracy

village elections since 1989
township direct elections experimented then stopped
urban/neighborhood community elections
cha'e elections more common (more candidates than seats)

Part elder's support (grassroots democracy)

Peng Zhen (1983-1987) pushed Organic Law through NPC
-boosted democratic consciousness
-improve cadre-mass relations

Rule of Law

No person is above the law, and no one can be punished by the government except for a breach of the law. Rule of law stands in contrast to the idea that the ruler is above the law.

\-China still regarded as “rule by law” regime, no independent judicial system

Administrative Litigation Law 1989

citizens bring local gov agencies and officials to court, modest effect

controlled interest group systems

-single group for each social sector
-hierarchically organized
-groups controlled by gov agents to mobilize support for gov policy

Interest articulation in china

\-most citizens do not have interest aggregation, this is mostly monopolized by party

\-but, party’s role being diluted

"Satellite Parties"

8, legacy of pre-1949 communist cooperation with democratic parties

\-no real role in policymaking, represented at Political Consultative Conference

Mass Organizations

\-nearly 200, led by party officials, funded by party

\-propagate party policy into relevant groups (transmission belts)

\-based on mass line

GONGOs and NGOs

\-hard to get funding and registration w gov

-two basic missions: philanthropic (thriving), rights promotion (not thriving)

\-have some degree of autonomy

mass line

emphasizes direct contact between cadres and masses as the surest means of eliciting popular participation and keeping political leaders in touch with popular demand

participation in post-may china

\-appeals thru state-sanctioned channels

\-cronyism: use connections, gifts to bureaucrats

\-everyday resistance: slowdown on the job

\-mass protests: strikes, demonstrations, petitions

sanctioned participation

-elections (village and resident committees)
-mass orgs
-gongos and ngos
-petitioning
-admin litigation

non-sanctioned participation

-protests that disturb social stability
-internet activism
-mobilization that threatens regime legitimacy

worker protests

Two Stages: -laid off workers (late 1990s): breaking up of SOEs, nationwide

\-worker protests in 21st century: lots of migrant workers involved

new forms of protests

-environmental
-homeowners
-feminist movement
-local and outsiders
-new marxist movement
-media and internet activism

popular contention

-grievances
-political opportunity structure
-mobilization resources

Rightful Resistance

-exploit central-local divide
-making claims endorsed by state law
-using boundary-spanning protesting tactics

sources of state power

\-coercive power (repression using police), reward power (buy protestors off), legitimate power (persuasion)

hard forms of suppression (priority since Tiananmen)

-thugs for hire
-local authorities pressure system
-local authorities discourage petitioning

thugs for hire

\-land expropriation, collective rural taxes and fees, maintaining social stability, intercepting petitioners

relational repression

demobilizing protest through social ties -may work when local authorities motivate work team, when work team have strong bonds w protesters

new and softer forms of suppression

-legal bureaucratic absorption
-patron clientelism (relational repression)
-protest bargaining (buy protesters off)

reasons for media transitions

-economic and political reform
-expanding funding sources
-new roles of media supervision
-state maintains control

Types of Newspapers

-party papers and "political organ papers"
-evening and metro papers

investigative journalism

\-institutionalization of IJ, important financial tool for news

\-professionalization of IJ, ideology of media prof

\-strategies of media profs to cope w challenges

propoganda as signaling

\-not used for indoctrination, but to signal Govs strength

china first connected to internet in

1987

989 mil internet users

70.4% of pop

e-government

providing services