Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China

Sowing the Seeds of Democracy in China

Author: Merle Goldman

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9780674830073

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When they found their efforts had produced negligible results, they tried to introduce new institutions such as a free press, a legislature with real power, the rule of law, and truly competitive elections.


China's Intellectuals and the State

China's Intellectuals and the State

Author: Merle Goldman

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-10-26

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1684171091

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"Today’s intellectuals in China inherit a mixed tradition in terms of their relationship to the state. Some follow the Confucian literati watchdog role of criticizing abuses of political power. Marxist intellectuals judge the state’s practices on the basis of Communist ideals. Others prefer the May Fourth spirit, dedicated to the principles of free scholarly and artistic expression. The Chinese government, for its part, has undulated in its treatment of intellectuals, applying restraints when free expression threatened to get “out of control,” relaxing controls when state policies required the cooperation, good will, and expertise of intellectuals. In this stimulating work, twelve China scholars examine that troubled and changing relationship. They focus primarily on the post-Mao years when bitter memories of the Cultural Revolution and China’s renewed quest for modernization have at times allowed intellectuals increased leeway in expression and more influence in policy-making. Specialists examine the situation with respect to economists, lawyers, scientists and technocrats, writers, and humanist scholars in the climate of Deng Xiaoping’s policies, and speculate about future developments. This book will be a valuable source of information for anyone interested in the changing scene in contemporary China and in its relations with the outside world."


China and Democracy

China and Democracy

Author: Suisheng Zhao

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-11

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1317721640

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China's dramatic economic growth in the last two decades of the last century and the prospect of its rise as a great power in this new one have greatly increased its weight and importance in world affairs. Consequently the progress, or lack of progress, of China's transition to democracy has become a central concern of the international community. This timely collection brings together many well-known scholars to systematically explore China's current government and assess that transition toward democracy. The contributors seek to bridge the gap between normative theories of democracy and empirical studies of China's political development by providing a comprehensive overview of China's domestic history, economy, and public political ideologies. Overall the volume contends that Chinese culture and Confucianism are not the obstacles to democratic transition that some scholars have said they are, and that the success of market reforms has eroded authoritarian rule. This weakening does not guarantee a successful transition, however, and the contributors show that there are many reasons to be skeptical about the short-term prospects for democracy in China, including historical failures, the underdevelopment of civil society, political apathy, and competing social values. Though China's political culture is essentially neither anti-democratic not pro-democratic, it must still overcome many obstacles in order to achieve democracy.


Inklings of Democracy in China

Inklings of Democracy in China

Author: Suzanne Ogden

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-05-11

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 168417368X

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"Since 1979 China’s leaders have introduced economic and political reforms that have lessened the state’s hold over the lives of ordinary citizens. By examining the growth in individual rights, the public sphere, democratic processes, and pluralization, the author seeks to answer questions concerning the relevance of liberal democratic ideas for China and the relationship between a democratic political culture and a democratic political system. The author also looks at the contradictory impulses and negative consequences for democracy generated by economic liberalism. Unresolved issues concerning the relationships among culture, democracy, and socioeconomic development are at the heart of the analysis. Nonideological criteria are used to assess the success of the Chinese approach to building a fair, just, and decent society."


China's Compliance in Global Affairs

China's Compliance in Global Affairs

Author: Gerald Chan

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9812700870

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The rise of China has thrown open many important and interesting questions: Will a strong China behave responsibly in world affairs, complying with the rules and norms of the OCyinternational communityOCO? Or will it defy OCyuniversal standardsOCO, and fight instead for its own interests and those of the developing world, thereby challenging the global order dominated by the West?. The first of its kind to gauge in a comprehensive manner ChinaOCOs responsibility in world affairs, this book scrutinizes ChinaOCOs compliance with international rules and norms, embodied in the treaties that it has signed or ratified, especially in the areas of trade, arms control and non-proliferation, protection of the environment, and human rights. The book also examines Sino-US relations, as the US closely monitors ChinaOCOs compliance in world affairs. It is that behavior which is largely determining the relative emphasis put on engagement with or containment of China by the West, and by the US in particular."


China in the 21st Century

China in the 21st Century

Author: Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-05-31

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 0199974985

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The need to understand this global giant has never been more pressing: China is constantly in the news, yet conflicting impressions abound. Within one generation, China has transformed from an impoverished, repressive state into an economic and political powerhouse. In the fully revised and updated second edition of China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know, China expert Jeffrey Wasserstrom provides cogent answers to the most urgent questions regarding the newest superpower, and offers a framework for understanding its meteoric rise. Focusing his answers through the historical legacies--Western and Japanese imperialism, the Mao era, and the massacre near Tiananmen Square--that largely define China's present-day trajectory, Wasserstrom introduces readers to the Chinese Communist Party, the building boom in Shanghai, and the environmental fall-out of rapid Chinese industrialization. He also explains unique aspects of Chinese culture such as the one-child policy, and provides insight into how Chinese view Americans. Wasserstrom reveals that China today shares many traits with other industrialized nations during their periods of development, in particular the United States during its rapid industrialization in the 19th century. He provides guidance on the ways we can expect China to act in the future vis-à-vis the United States, Russia, India, and its East Asian neighbors. The second edition has also been updated to take into account changes China has seen in just the past two years, from the global economic shifts to the recent removal of Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai from power. Concise and insightful, China in the 21st Century provides an excellent introduction to this significant global power.


Civil Resistance and Power Politics

Civil Resistance and Power Politics

Author: Sir Adam Roberts

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2011-09-29

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 0191619175

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This widely-praised book identified peaceful struggle as a key phenomenon in international politics a year before the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt confirmed its central argument. Civil resistance - non-violent action against such challenges as dictatorial rule, racial discrimination and foreign military occupation - is a significant but inadequately understood feature of world politics. Especially through the peaceful revolutions of 1989, and the developments in the Arab world since December 2010, it has helped to shape the world we live in. Civil Resistance and Power Politics covers most of the leading cases, including the actions master-minded by Gandhi, the US civil rights struggle in the 1960s, the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the 'people power' revolt in the Philippines in the 1980s, the campaigns against apartheid in South Africa, the various movements contributing to the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989-91, and, in this century, the 'colour revolutions' in Georgia and Ukraine. The chapters, written by leading experts, are richly descriptive and analytically rigorous. This book addresses the complex interrelationship between civil resistance and other dimensions of power. It explores the question of whether civil resistance should be seen as potentially replacing violence completely, or as a phenomenon that operates in conjunction with, and modification of, power politics. It looks at cases where campaigns were repressed, including China in 1989 and Burma in 2007. It notes that in several instances, including Northern Ireland, Kosovo and, Georgia, civil resistance movements were followed by the outbreak of armed conflict. It also includes a chapter with new material from Russian archives showing how the Soviet leadership responded to civil resistance, and a comprehensive bibliographical essay. Illustrated throughout with a remarkable selection of photographs, this uniquely wide-ranging and path-breaking study is written in an accessible style and is intended for the general reader as well as for students of Modern History, Politics, Sociology, and International Relations.


Making China Strong

Making China Strong

Author: R. Weatherley

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-02-18

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 1137313617

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Robert Weatherley argues that Chinese perceptions of democracy and human rights have been heavily influenced by the pressing issue of how to make China strong in the face of a perceived threat posed by foreign imperialism, be it military imperialism during the previous two centuries and cultural imperialism in more recent decades.


Explaining Chinese Democratization

Explaining Chinese Democratization

Author: Shaohua Hu

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2000-01-30

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 0313001669

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Hu seeks to explain China's failure to establish a democratic system. He demonstrates both continuity and change in China's democratization process. Modern China regards power and wealth as primary goals and treats a strong state as a major means to these ends. Such a preference puts democracy on a back burner. Employing a theoretical framework which consists of five factors—historical legacies, local forces, the world system, socialist values, and economic development—Hu shows that, while all of these factors were at work in all eras, each assumes a special significance in a particular period. Traditional China before the 1911 Revolution attempted to adjust itself to a new, Western-dominated world. In the Republican era, the control of local forces topped the political agenda. Nationalist China sought to survive and develop in the world system, while Maoist China set for itself the task of building a socialist state. And, of course, economic development has been the priority of the Deng era. As Hu shows, these five factors have had determining impacts on the long struggle for democracy in China.