Democracy in China

Democracy in China
Author: Jiwei Ci
Publisher:
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0674238184

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Four decades of reform fostered a democratic mentality in China. Now citizens are waiting for the government to catch up. Jiwei Ci argues that the tensions between a largely democratic society and an undemocratic political system will trigger a crisis of legitimacy, compelling the Communist Party to become agents of democratic change--or collapse.

China and Democracy

China and Democracy
Author: Suisheng Zhao
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2014-06-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317721632

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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: Harvard Univ Asia Center
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780674008793

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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.

Toward a Democratic China

Toward a Democratic China
Author: Jiaqi Yan
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1992-01-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780824815011

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During the 1980s, as director of the Political Science Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Science - China's most prestigious think-tank - Yan Jiaqi proposed many of the political reforms undertaken by the Chinese government, including term limitations for high-level officials, separation of party and state, and creation of a civil service system. In this book, Yan summarizes the thinking behind these and other reforms yet to be adopted on China's difficult path to democracy. Originally published in 1989, Yan's account of his early training in science, the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Incident of 1976, and the Democracy Wall Movement of 1978-79 gives a frank appraisal of the formative events in the intellectual development of one of China's preeminent political scientists. In new chapters written for this edition, he also describes the momentous events of the spring of 1989, culminating in his escape from China following the June 4 massacre and his subsequent life in exile. Supplementing Yan's narrative is a selection of essays representing different facets of this exceptionally cosmopolitan Chinese thinker, including several pieces written since June 1989 which reflect on recent Chinese history and give Yan's view of China's prospects for the 1990s.

Muddling Toward Democracy

Muddling Toward Democracy
Author: Anne F. Thurston
Publisher:
Total Pages: 72
Release: 1998
Genre: China
ISBN:

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The reader is sure to find this report an important contribution to the ongoing debate in the United States about U.S.-Sino relations.

Chinese Democracy after Tiananmen

Chinese Democracy after Tiananmen
Author: Yijiang Ding
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 185
Release: 2011-11-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0774842105

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In 1989, most observers believed that China's political reform process had been violently short-circuited, but few would now dispute that China is in a very important transition. Central to this transition has been an extraordinary change in the formal intellectual conception of 'democracy.' In this book, Yijiang Ding presents a multi-dimensional picture of China at the political crossroads. Chinese Democracy looks at the significant change in the state-society relationship in contemporary China in three interrelated areas: intellectual, social, and cultural. Drawing heavily on recent Chinese scholarship, Ding shows that the emergent theory on the dualism of state and society is contemporaneous with a new cognitive and cultural appreciation of the people's independence from state authority. Is China moving toward liberal democracy? Does Western engagement with China contribute economically and politically to this shift? These are the questions at the heart of the book. Which are especially timely, given the recent reconstruction of political regimes worldwide.

Democracy Is a Good Thing

Democracy Is a Good Thing
Author: Yu Keping
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2009-11-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0815701675

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"Democracy is a good thing. This is true not only for individuals or certain officials but also for the entire nation and for all the people of China."–Yu Keping So begins "Democracy Is a Good Thing," an essay of great influence that has commanded attention and provoked discussion throughout the world. It is the touchstone of this important volume of the same name. As one of China's foremost political thinkers and a leading proponent of democratizing the People's Republic, Yu Keping is a major figure not only in his native land, but also in the international community. This book brings together much of his most important work and makes it readily accessible to readers in the West for the first time. "Democracy Is a Good Thing" created a stir internationally. Perhaps more important, however, is the heated debate it spurred within China on the desirability of democratic reform. That important essay appears here, along with several of Yu Keping's other influential works on politics, culture, and civil society. His topics include China's economic modernization, its institutional environment, and the cultural changes that have accompanied the nation's reforms. Democracy Is a Good Thing pulls back the curtain to reveal ongoing discourse in Chinese political and intellectual circles, discussions that will go a long way toward determining the future of the world's most populous nation.

Will China Democratize?

Will China Democratize?
Author: Andrew J. Nathan
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM
Total Pages: 528
Release: 2013-09-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1421412446

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Leading experts on China offer their enlightening analysis on one of the most crucial and complex questions facing the future of international politics. Moving toward open markets and international trade has brought extraordinary economic success to China, yet its leadership still maintains an authoritarian grip over its massive population. From repressing political movements to controlling internet traffic, China’s undemocratic policies present an attractive model for other authoritarian regimes. But can China continue its growth without political reform? In Will China Democratize?, Andrew J. Nathan, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner present valuable analysis for anyone wondering if, when or how China might evolve politically. Since the Journal of Democracy’s very first issue in January 1990, which featured articles reflecting on the then-recent Tiananmen Square massacre, the Journal has regularly published articles about China and its politics. By bringing together the wide spectrum of views that have appeared in the Journal’s pages—from contributors including Fang Lizhi, Perry Link, Michel Oksenberg, Minxin Pei, Henry S. Rowen, and Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo— Will China Democratize? provides a clear view of the complex forces driving change in China’s regime and society.

China and Democracy

China and Democracy
Author: Suisheng Zhao
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2000
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780415926935

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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.

Democracy in China

Democracy in China
Author: Jiwei Ci
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2020
Genre: POLITICAL SCIENCE
ISBN: 9780674242142

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A respected Chinese political philosopher calls for the Communist Party to take the lead in moving China along the path to democracy before it is too late. With Xi Jinping potentially set as president for life, China's move toward political democracy may appear stalled. But Jiwei Ci argues that four decades of reform have created a mentality in the Chinese people that is just waiting for the political system to catch up, resulting in a disjunction between popular expectations and political realities. The inherent tensions in a largely democratic society without a democratic political system will trigger an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy, forcing the Communist Party to act or die. Two crises loom for the government. First is the waning of the Communist Party's revolutionary legacy, which the party itself sees as a grave threat. Second is the fragility of the next leadership transition. No amount of economic success will compensate for the party's legitimacy deficit when the time comes. The only effective response, Ci argues, will be an orderly transition to democracy. To that end, the Chinese government needs to start priming its citizens for democracy, preparing them for new civil rights and civic responsibilities. Embracing this pragmatic role offers the Communist Party a chance to survive. Its leaders therefore have good reason to initiate democratic change. Sure to challenge the Communist Party and stir debate, Democracy in China brings an original and important voice to an issue with far-reaching consequences for China and the world.--