Chinese Politics Illustrated: The Cultural, Social, and Historical Context

This unique book offers the readers a ring-side seat to watch the drama of Chinese politics as it is experienced by the players themselves. It provides an opportunity for non-Chinese readers to get a feel of the intricacies of contemporary Chinese politics as they are played out in real-life situations. The vivid stories contained in this book offers the students of Chinese politics from the English-speaking world a rare glimpse that is unfiltered by the cultural and ideological assumptions as well as by the conceptual framework developed in Western political science, and how these create systematic biases and blind spots in understanding politics in a very different cultural and historical context.

In between the collection of short stories and the author's highlights, this book illustrates key areas of Chinese politics and society: elite politics, political structure and power distribution, political culture and social networks ( guanxi ), state-society relations, policy and decision making, political participation, contentious politics, political economy of development etc. It provides a succinct description of the Chinese political system, the patterns of politics arising from it, as well as the cultural, social and historical legacies that continue to drive Chinese politics. As such, this book is not only suitable for students of politics but also for Western business people and policy makers trying to understand and navigate the unfamiliar and treacherous waters of the Chinese politics.

Contents:

• The Stories:
  • Computer Assimilation of Finance Bureau Chief (Guo Zhenghai)
  • Son of Yellow Earth (Xi Jinping)
  • Integrity at Retirement (Tian Dongzhao)
  • Administrative Achievement (Xiang Dong)
  • An Endless Street (Liu Zhengquan)
  • The Disadvantaged among the Privileged (Pu Yang)
  • The Tao of Careerism in the World of Officialdom (Zhong Daoxin)
• The Study Units:
  • The Cultural and Historical Context
  • The Context of “The Great Chinese Revolution”
  • The Structural Context (The Political System)
  • The Chinese Communist Party
  • The Mao Era
  • Post-Mao Reform and Development
  • Social Transformation and State–Society Relations
  • Popular Protests
  • Elite Politics
  • Corruption
  • China's Unresolved Issues
• Topical Essays:
  • The Genesis of the Post-Mao Market Economy
  • The Political Impact of the Market
  • Industrial Relations Management as the Development of the Developmental State in China
  • China in Search of New Development Models
  • Status Quo Interests Stall China's Reform

Readership: Undergraduates, graduates, academics, political science majors, sociology, cultural anthropology and business majors, and professionals who are interested in Chinese politics and society.