Expand+POL20260 Introduction to Chinese Politics
Academic Year 2021/2022
This course aims to introduce students to the political system of the People’s Republic of China and the politics of its ruling entity, the Communist Party of China (CPC). The cour...

Hide-POL20260 Introduction to Chinese Politics
Academic Year 2021/2022
This course aims to introduce students to the political system of the People’s Republic of China and the politics of its ruling entity, the Communist Party of China (CPC). The course first critically engages the CPC’s historiography, positioning it firmly within the 20th century. From this foundation, it then examines several of the core concepts through which the CPC s rule over the country is to be understood in the present. Such an understanding allows us, finally, to interrogate how the CPC governs China and how we can interrogate these policies moving forward.

Learning Outcomes:
This course intends to provide students with a critical outlook on the common narrative surrounding the CPC and its rule over China. On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: understand how to approach the CPC; explain the origins and historical development of China’s contemporary political system; to describe the inner workings of the CPC and how it relates to the Chinese state; to assess both the sustained basis of legitimacy and future challenges to the CPC’s rule over China.

Indicative Module Content:
Content will include: the history of the CPC since 1949, with consideration of the decades that went before; key concepts through which to understand Chinese politics; the organisational make-up of party-state-military relations in China, as well as those between the party-state and society; ideology and policymaking within China; key issues within Chinese politics at present, as well as future challenges to the CPC’s rule.