China's Political Development: Chinese and American Perspectives

Introduction: Toward Good Governance in China: Perspectives of Chinese and American Scholars

ix Preface kenneth฀lieberthal฀and฀cheng฀li฀ Political science is a relatively new discipline in China. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, this nascent discipline was first criticized as a pseudoscience, then reorganized along Soviet lines, and ultimately entirely abolished. Only in the wake of the Cultural Revolution was it established anew as one of the consequences of Deng Xiaoping’s policy of reform and opening up. Since the 1980s, political science in China has evolved substantially: from a discipline whose sole emphasis revolved around pedagogy to one promoting both education and research, from being limited to the theories of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Zedong to employing a wide array of conceptual approaches and foreign methodologies, and from basic ideological discourse to indigenously based empirical research. The field of political science has now become firmly established, and prominent Chinese political scientists enjoy broad readership, frequently appear as commentators in the media, sometimes brief top leaders, and actively participate in international forums and dialogues. The twelve Chinese authors who have contributed to this volume are leading scholars who specialize in analysis of the Chinese political system. Most hold their master’s or doctoral degrees in political science from Chinese universities and have years of experience in international academic exchanges and visiting scholar programs. They are both very much a part of the Chinese academy and serious analysts of China’s system. Many have perspectives that reflect the critical thinking found among the liberal-minded intellectuals within the Chinese Communist Party itself. 00-2535-0 fm.indd 9 3/28/14 10:18 AM x Preface Unique Features of This Volume Past efforts at publishing collections of papers by Chinese and international political scientists have tended to draw together work on different subjects by different authors and thus have lacked a focused, in-depth discussion among the authors. This book is unique in that it combines the research of Chinese scholars with extensive, substantive comments on each by a counterpart American scholar. The topics include issues involving every part of the political system from the national level to the grass roots, and the chapters explore concerns regarding state structures, norms, and processes as well as those focused on the interaction of the state with its rapidly changing environment. Most of the papers by Chinese authors trace the evolution of the issue under scrutiny over time, identify key contemporary concerns, and, in many instances, provide recommendations for future policies and approaches. For the twelve participating American scholars, this project presented an important learning opportunity and a chance to discuss their views with influential Chinese academic counterparts. The American commentators are professors at leading U.S. universities and senior fellows at important think tanks; eleven of the twelve have for many years focused their research on Chinese politics and society.1 This project has encouraged both the Chinese and American political scientists to speak their minds freely. It began with an October 2010 Beijing seminar that brought together all the Chinese and American authors for a thorough discussion of their papers. A follow-up May 2011 Brookings forum on China’s governance was attended by a subset of these authors. The original papers and commentaries were revised and published in China in early 2013.2 The present English-language volume closely hews to this original Chinese publication, but it is not a direct translation of it. Chinese style encourages scholars to present detailed overviews of all progress made to date, including copious citations of pertinent policies and related comments of top leaders, before providing in-depth explication of existing shortcomings, analysis of key challenges, and recommendations for future actions. This English edition has used editorial discretion to maintain the flavor and core substance of the original Chinese papers while making these papers more accessible to an American audience . Our goal has been to convey both the basic style of analysis employed by each author and the substantive points the author is making. In its totality, this volume contains an enormously rich set of details on almost every significant aspect of governance in China. Careful reading of the chapters will yield important rewards in terms of details of particular issues and also, especially, insights into the ways these issues are framed and understood in 00-2535-0 fm.indd 10 3/28/14 10:18 AM Preface xi China. Chinese assumptions about the requisites of...