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China

AP Comparative Politics. China. How many people live in China?. *This presentation is adapted from Ethel Wood “AP Comparative Government Study Guide”*. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT. Four influences: Geographical Influences Historical Influences before 1949 Historical Influences of the PRC

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China

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  1. AP Comparative Politics China How many people live in China? *This presentation is adapted from Ethel Wood “AP Comparative Government Study Guide”*

  2. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT • Four influences: • Geographical Influences • Historical Influences before 1949 • Historical Influences of the PRC • The Political Culture

  3. GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA

  4. Largest population by far of any country on earth, and its land surface is the third largest, after Russia and Canada.  • Zhongguo, means "Middle Kingdom“ Some of its important geographical features include • access to oceans/ice free ports • many large navigable rivers • major geographical/climate splits between north and south • geographic isolation of the western part of the country • mountain ranges, deserts, and oceans that separate China from other countries • These geographic features have shaped Chinese political development for centuries. 

  5. Differences between Mandarin and Cantonese • Where They Are Spoken • Mandarin is the official language in Mainland China and Taiwan • Mandarin is one of the five official languages in the United Nations. • Cantonese is mainly spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces • The Differences in the Languages Themselves • Same written characters with a few exceptions. • The pronunciation of the two are totally different. • Mandarin has four tones and Cantonese has more than six. • The two are both tonal languages and they also have different vowels and consonants too.

  6. HISTORICAL INFLUENCES BEFORE 1949 • Dynastic rule • Control by imperialistic nations • Revolutionary upheavals

  7. Dynastic Rule • Some major influences from the dynastic era include these principles: • The mandate of heaven • A strong merit-based bureaucracy • Confucianism

  8. Control by Imperialistic Nations • Imperialistic nations • "spheres of influence" • Resentment of the "foreign devils" that they eventually rebelled against.

  9. Revolutionary upheavals • Major revolutions occurred in China in 1911 and 1949, with many chaotic times in between.  • Three themes dominated this revolutionary era: • Nationalism • Establishing a new political community • Socioeconomic Development

  10. The Legend of the Long March • The Long March - the 1934-36 pursuit of Mao's army across China by Chiang and his supporters.  • Opposite effect.  • Mao emerged as a hero of the people, and many of his loyal friends on the March lived on to be prominent leaders of the People's Republic of China after its founding in 1949

  11. The Japanese occupied China during World War II, but after the war ended, the forces of Chiang and Mao met in Civil War, and Mao prevailed.  In 1949 Chiang fled to Taiwan, and Mao established the People's Republic of China under Communist rule.

  12. THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA - 1949 TO THE PRESENT • The People's Republic of China was born from a civil war between the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists under Mao Zedong.  • Mao named his new China the "People's Republican of China," and Chiang claimed that his headquarters in Taiwan formed the true government.  • "Two Chinas”

  13. Mao in 1949

  14. The political development of the PRC • Phases: • The Soviet Model (1949-1957) • Land Reform. • Civil Reform • Five-Year Plans • nationalize • collectivize • socialism.

  15. The Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) • The Great Leap Forward was a utopian effort to transform China into a radical egalitarian society.   It's emphasis was mainly economic, and it was based on four principles: • All-around development • Mass mobilization • Political unanimity and zeal • Decentralization • The Great Leap Forward was a big flop. 

  16. Mao during the cultural revolution

  17. The Cultural Revolution (1966-1978) • Political, social and economic change: • Mao’s main goal was the purify the party and the country through radical transformation. • Remove all vestiges of the old China and its hierarchical bureaucracy and emphasis on inequality.  • Mao died in 1976, leaving his followers divided into factions: • Radicals • The Military • The Moderates

  18. Deng Xiaoping's Modernizations (1978-Present) • The Gang of Four • Zhou's death • 1978, the new leader emerged - Deng Xiaping.  • New policies • "Open door" trade policy • Reforms in education • Institutionalization of the Revolution

  19. Political Culture China's political culture is shaped by the many eras of history: • dynastic rule • control by imperialist nations and its aftermath • communist rule.

  20. Dynastic rule • The political culture inherited from centuries of dynastic rule centers around: • Confucian values, such as order, harmony, and a strong sense of hierarchy - "superior" and "subservient" positions.  • China has traditionally valued scholarship as a way to establish superiority • Strong sense of cultural identity and a relatively high degree of cultural omogeneity.  • Ethnocentrism

  21. Resistance to imperialism • Nationalism • This nationalism was secured by the Revolution of 1911, and the hatred of the "foreign devils" has led China to be cautious and suspicious in her dealings with capitalist countries today.

  22. Maoism • Mao Zedong was strongly influenced by Karl Marx and Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), but his version of communism is distinctly suited for China.  • He believed in the strength of the peasant, and centered his philosophy around these central values: • collectivism • struggle and activism • mass line • egalitarianism • self-reliance

  23. Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping

  24. Deng Xiaoping Theory • - "It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice."  • The result of his leadership was a dramatic turnaround of the Chinese economy through a combination of socialist planning and the capitalist free market.  • True to Communist Party

  25. Participation • Citizens are subjects of government, not participants in a political system.  • The communist state redefined political participation by creating a relationship between the Communist party and citizenship, and by defining the economic relationship between citizens and the government.  • In recent years popular social movements that support democracy, religious beliefs, and community ties over nationalism have influenced Chinese politics and helped to define China's relationships with other countries.

  26. Political Party • The CCP is the largest political party in the world in terms of total formal membership, with about 58 million members at the turn of the century. • Only about 8 percent of those over eighteen (the minimum age for joining the party) are members of the CCP.  • Party membership is growing, with new members recruited largely from the CCP's Youth League.  About 68 million Chinese youths belonged to the Youth League by the late 1990s.

  27. BACKGROUNDS OF PARTY MEMBERS • Transition in the backgrounds of party members.  • Cadres were peasants or factory workers, and few were intellectuals or professionals.  • Increasingly "technocratic" • Today less than 40 percent of party members come from the peasantry, although peasants  still make up the largest single group within the CCP.  • The fastest growing membership category consists of officials, intellectuals, technicians, and other professionals.  • Women make up only about 20 percent of the membership and only about 4 percent of the Central Committee.

  28. A party-sponsored poster showing peasants listening to Mao's red book as read by a party member.

  29. ELECTIONS • PRC elections • Party controls • Direct elections are held at the local level • 1980s • Direct, secret-ballot elections at local level.

  30. NONCOMMUNIST PARTIES • CCP allows the existence of eight "democratic" parties.  • Membership • Important advisory role to the party leaders.  • No independent democratic parties

  31. GUANXI AND FACTIONS The picture above commemorates the legendary Long March of 1934-36 that sealed Mao's place in Chinese history as a charismatic leader who brought about great change.  His compatriots that made the journey with him became known as the "Old Guard," a group of friends that networked with one another for many years through guanxi, or personal connections. 

  32. Nomenclature • System of choosing cadres from lower levels of the party hierarchy for advancement based on their loyalty and contributions to the well-being of the party.  • Patron-client network called guanxi. • based on ideology • the source of factions within the party.  • pervasive at the local level

  33. Factionalism • Splits among the radicals and the reformers and the military • In general, the factions have split in at least three ways: • conservatives • reformers/open door • Liberals • Process offang-shou

  34. Corruption • The combination of guanxi and the economic boom of the past twenty years has brought about rampant corruption within the Chinese economic and political system.  • Bribes are common • corruption is widely regarded as a major problem. 

  35. JIANG ZEMIN and ZHU RONGJI

  36. INTERESTS, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, AND PROTESTS

  37. Control Mechanisms of the Party • Interest groups and social movements are not permitted to influence the political process unless they are under the party-state authority.  • Mass organizations formed around occupations or social categories • All-China Federation of Trade Unions, • All-China Women's Federation.  • Danwei

  38. Protest • Difficult for the party-state to monitor citizens. • Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 • Major protests have been staged by religious groups • Village protests • Labor strikes • Stability issues

  39. Political Institutions CCP CHINESE GOVERNMENTPLA PARALLEL HIERARCHY • Three parallel hierarchies • Principle of dual role • PRC's structure • China's policy making is governed more directly by factions and personal relationships.

  40. Organization of the CCP • Organized hierarchically by levels •  The party has a separate constitution from the government's constitution of 1982, and its central bodies are: • National Party Congress • Central Committee • Politburo/Standing Committee

  41. Government • Three branches - a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. • People's National Congress • The National People's Congress choose the President and Vice President of China, but there is only one party-sponsored candidate for each position Executive/Bureaucracy • The President and Vice President • The Premier • Bureaucracy

  42. Judiciary • China has a 4-tiered "people's court" system • “People's Procuratorate" • Criminal justice system campaigns.  • Human Rights organizations criticize China

  43. THE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.“ - Mao • The People's Liberation Army encompasses all of the country's ground, air, and naval armed services.  • Important influence on politics and policy.  The second half of Mao's famous quote above is less often quoted: "Our principle is that the party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the party."   This propaganda poster represents life in the "Red Army" - the military under Mao before the People's Republic of China was formed in 1949.

  44. Policies and Issues • Economic reforms • Demand political power and civil liberties? • Will contact through trade mean that China will become more like their trading partners? 

  45. Economic Policy • Agricultural Policies • The People's Communes • Household Responsibility System •  "PRIVATE BUSINESS“ • Township and village enterprises (TVEs),

  46. International Trade • Hong Kong • Special Economic Zones (SEZs). 

  47. Foreign Policy • FOREIGN POLICY UNDER MAO • US/CHINESE RELATIONS • INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND BUSINESS TODAY

  48. Democracy and Conservatism in China • FANG-SHOU • Three types of actions/policies: • economic reform • democratic movements (letting go) • tightening-up by the CCP. 

  49. Political Change Today Democratic reforms can be seen in these ways: • Some input from the National People's Congress is accepted by the Politburo • More emphasis is placed on laws and legal procedures • Village elections are now semi-competitive, with choices of candidates and some freedom from the party's control

  50. "A good leader should encouragedemocracy and also be capable of taking resolute action at criticalmoments." -CCP Chairman Hu Jintao

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