Politics in China: An IntroductionWilliam A. Joseph Sixty years ago, China was one of the poorest countries in the world, populated mostly by rural peasants, and still suffering from more than a century of internal turmoil and international humiliation. Today, China is a rapidly modernizing economic dynamo with growing global influence. Politics in China is an authoritative introduction to how this transformation occurred, and how China is governed today. Written by an international team of highly-regarded China scholars, each chapter offers an accessible overview of a key topic in Chinese politics. The opening section provides readers with a firm grounding in China's modern political history, from the fall of the last imperial dynasty through era of communist rule under Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and their successors. The next section covers the political system, with chapters on Communist Party ideology, the structure of the political system, and the policies behind the country's spectacular economic performance. The book then focuses on several major issues in China today: politics in the countryside and the cities; the arts; the environment; public health; and population policy. The final chapters cover politics in four important areas located on China's geographic periphery: Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Comprehensive and fully up to date in its coverage, Politics in China is essential not only for students studying contemporary China, but for any reader interested in learning how this rising power has evolved in recent times and the workings of its current political system. |
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administrative agricultural areas authority became began Beijing cadres campaign CCP's Central Committee central government Chairman chapter Chen Chinese Communist Party Chinese politics cities communism countryside Cultural Revolution decades democracy democratic Deng Xiaoping economic reforms elections elite environmental factions forces foreign global groups growth Hong Kong Hu Jintao ideology important industrial institutions Jiang Zemin land leading Lin Biao major Mao Zedong Thought Mao's Maoist Marxism Marxism-Leninism ment military million movement officials one-child policy organization party secretary party-state party's peasants People's Congress People's Republic percent Politburo population Premier protests province Qing dynasty radical Red Guards region Republic of China revolutionary role rural China SARS sector Shanghai social socialist society Soviet struggle Taiwan Taiwanese Tiananmen Tibet Tibetan tion town United University Press urban Uyghurs workers Xinjiang York Zhou Zhou Enlai