Key Issues in Chinese Politics

(Course is available only to students participating in Stanford's SCPKU study abroad program in Beijing, which is operated by the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).) A broad overview of China's politics and the role of the state in the economy. It will cover party and government organization, including central-local relations, and the challenges of governance that have emerged as China has moved from a central-planned Leninist system to a market economy. What institutions have allowed China to thrive while other communist states in the world have disappeared? How has the Chinese Communist Party managed to develop markets and yet keep itself in power? What avenues are there for political participation? What is the role of the internet? What are the prospects for political change? How resilient is the party in the face of technological and economic change?