The purpose of the course is twofold: 1) to give students a general familiarity with Chinese political history since the fall of the Qing Dynasty, and 2) to consider some of the major challenges confronting the People's Republic of China today. Throughout the course efforts will be made to integrate historical materials with the study of specific political issues and analytical concepts. Topics to be covered include: the 1949 revolution, the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Hundred Flowers Movement, the Great Leap forward, the Cultural Revolution, and post-Mao economic and political reforms. Attention will be devoted to contemporary elite politics (e.g. the role of the military, political succession), mass politics (e.g. rural protest, the causes and outcome of dissent, changing social identities), and certain policies (regarding the environment, birth control, and popular culture) that promise to bedevil the Chinese leadership well into the 21st century.
This course falls within the Comparative Politics subfield.