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ID:
083868
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2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper examines changes in the membership structure of the Communist Party of China during the 1990s. It concentrates on urban China to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics of the region (city) and the age, educational, and occupational structures of the regional party. The major findings are as follows. First, the development of marketization has widened opportunities for the younger generation to achieve socioeconomic success outside party membership. Second, the younger generation's incentives for joining the party have consequently been increasingly important determinants of the party's membership structure. Third, the subsequent technocratic reorganization of the urban party seems to have progressed through the conventional bureaucratic-elite path in the government and publicly owned sectors rather than through the newly emerging qualified professional-elite path
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| 2 |
ID:
083870
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| Publication |
2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Globalization is an inescapable fact that conditions daily life in China today. To squarely confront this fact, two mythologies regarding globalization and China must be avoided. The first is the romanticization of globalization, which turns the trend into an all-purpose solution to China's problems that will introduce 'universal' values to the Chinese people. In fact, Chinese people should maintain a critical distance from the phenomenon and realize that so-called 'universal' values often turn out to be self-serving 'Western' values. On the other hand, there is also the mythology that globalization is not happening in China at all, but is rather a process occurring elsewhere that does not affect the daily life of the Chinese people. Various examples from contemporary fiction and film prove this observation to be wrong. Moreover, they point the way to a possible response to the challenges of globalization: a community ethic that keeps the Chinese people grounded in their local environment and dependent upon each other to face and overcome the difficulties of globalization together
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| 3 |
ID:
083869
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2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The focus of this article is the discourse of democracy among a group of senior retired officials and academics within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1989. The post-totalitarian regime prevents them from forming a formal faction, but does not stop them from establishing a visible network and effectively arguing for the case of democratization. They want nothing less than Western style democracy as a system involving effective competition between political parties for positions of power through regular and fair elections, in which all members of the population enjoy the freedom of expression and the freedom to form and join political groups or associations. They publish chiefly on the Internet, but also through printing media home and abroad, including some high profile journals under their control or influence in China. By taking advantage of their profound thinking, rich experience and particularly their seniority within the communist hierarchy, democrats within the CCP are making increasing impacts on democratization in China, effectively keeping the debate on China's democratic future alive in the state media and among the CCP leadership. The response of the top CCP leadership to the proposals by their democrat colleagues is not entirely negative, especially on reaching a consensus of accepting democracy and human rights as universal values. The process of the conversion of Chinese communists to liberals is well under way, and sufficient intellectual resources have been accumulated for a democratic transition or a historical breakthrough of democratization in China.
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| 4 |
ID:
083867
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| Publication |
2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article looks at the Chinese state's community/shequ building effort to govern a more heterogeneous and mobile population in urban China so that a 'harmonious society' (hexie shehui) can be achieved. Shequ building initiatives move away from the governance model based on direct government and administrative control, and toward a new model of structured community self-governance. Within some communities, this new model has faced challenges that appear to arise from the new diversity of interests that characterize Chinese cities today. The article acknowledges that social complexity often begets organizational challenges for emerging shequ organizations; but it also suggests that the social simplification of individual shequ is a tendency that has wider negative social implications and needs itself to be resisted
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| 5 |
ID:
083866
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| Publication |
2008.
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This article examines ethnographically the implementation of the Organic Law and practice of 'villagers' self-rule' in a North China village from 2003 to 2004. Based on in-depth interviews and participant observation, it recounts the election of a villagers' committee and the functioning of a 'democratic supervisory small group'. It shows that critical disparities exist between what Chinese policymakers and many scholars argue for on the one hand (for instance, enhancing cadre accountability, empowering ordinary villagers, and promoting grassroots democracy), and how most villagers view the actual practices on the other. It concludes that the locals' negative views are not idiosyncratic, the vision of 'rule by the people' remains difficult to take root, and that local metaphors are resourcefully used to make sense of newly-introduced practices.
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| 6 |
ID:
083865
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| Publication |
2008.
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| Summary/Abstract |
China and the United States have been talking past each other on a variety of issues ever since the normalization process began. To some extent, this enables each side to avoid repercussions from domestic critics and facilitate correct diplomatic relations. But on matters that broadly concern trade, the military, and Taiwan, it can cause considerable friction. Many of the more unpleasant episodes between the two nations have arisen as a result of unexpected and unpredictable events. The United States should address what of the trade imbalance is due to internal shortcomings before pressing the Chinese government to make changes in its economic system. While Washington should be mindful of the security dilemma, it would be unwise to ignore the implications of the PRC's continuing military buildup. Statements of peaceful intentions do not necessarily mean that peace is assured. Iterations of unambiguous commitment to the peaceful resolution of the status of Taiwan are important to the maintenance of peace. The United States and China are linked by market forces that Washington encouraged the creation of. America and China can get along without being enamored of each other's social system.
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