China’s Century as a Republic (1911-2011): the Nature and Future of its Political System

Schedule:
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
3744, Jean-Brillant Street, room 580-32 (5th floor)

Summary:
This seminar begins with an examination of the history of the Republic of China since its founding 100 years ago and a discussion of key moments in the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in October 1949. A detailed presentation will follow on the characteristics of China’s institutions, the functioning of the Communist Party (including an analysis of the way its officers are selected), the state and its legislative process and the contemporary relationship between the CPC and the state. An assessment will then be made of the future of the PRC through an examination of the quality of its present and future leaders and of the system’s capacity to be reformed from within and to modernize at the same pace as occurred under the Empire. We conclude by reflecting on the major political events to watch for in 2012 and 2013 in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taipei, with an examination of what is at stake in each case.

Lecturer:
Stéphanie Balme is a visiting professor at Tsinghua University School of Law (Beijing), China delegate for the Civil Law Initiative and an instructor at the China-EU School of Law. In Beijing, she is developing an international research program entitled "Justice, Law and Society in China," which is part of a general and comparative examination of the evolution of the rule of law, constitutionalism and judicial systems of emerging countries in the context of the globalization of law. She is also in charge of the China office of the Foundation for Continental Law, vice-president of the Franco-Chinese Legal Study and Research Association at the University of Paris V and a consultant for many international organizations.

Guest speaker:
Zhiming Chen has studied in Beijing University, Tokyo University, and Yale University. He is now Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Montreal. His interests include Chinese politics and foreign policy, Asian and global security, theories of international relations, grand strategy, game theory and quantitative methods, etc. He was trained in Chinese fine arts and has a passion for languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, French, and is now studying German. He appears regularly in major media.

Mandatory readings:
 HURST, William. "Cases, Questions, and Comparison in Research on Contemporary Chinese Politics". In Contemporary Chinese politics: new sources, methods, and field strategies, Allen Carlson, Mary E. Gallagher, Kenneth Lieberthal, and Melanie Manion (eds.), pp. 162-177. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
 DICKSON, Bruce J. "Surveying Prospects for Political Change: Capturing Political and Economic Variation in Empirical Research in China". In Contemporary Chinese politics: new sources, methods, and field strategies, Allen Carlson, Mary E. Gallagher, Kenneth Lieberthal, and Melanie Manion (eds.), pp. 200-218. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
 FAIRBANK, John King. The Great Chinese Revolution, 1800-1985. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. (Chapter 3, pp. 39-45; Chapter 8, pp. 125-140; Chapter 15, pp. 273-295)
 LIEBERTHAL, Kenneth. Governing China: From Revolution to Reform, 2nd edition. New York; London: W. W. Norton, 2004. (Preface, pp. xv-xix; Chapter 1, pp. 3-26)

Suggested readings:
 BALME, Stéphanie. Entre soi, l’élite du pouvoir dans la Chine contemporaine (coll. L’espace du politique). Paris : Fayard, 2004. (First part)
 FAIRBANK, John King et Merle GOLDMAN. China: A New History. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.
 GRIES, Peter Hays et Stanley ROSEN. Chinese Politics: State, Society and the Market. London; New York: Routledge, 2010.
 PUEL, Caroline. Les trente ans qui ont changé la Chine: 1980-2010. Paris : Buchet-Chastel, 2011.
 VERMANDER, Benoît. Chine brune ou Chine verte? Les dilemmes de l’État-parti. Paris: Presses de la fondation nationale des sciences politiques, 2007.