Party and State in Post-Mao China (China Today), by Teresa Wright
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Party and State in Post-Mao China (China Today), by Teresa Wright
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In recent decades, China has become a quasi-capitalist economic powerhouse. Yet it continues to be ruled by the same Communist Party-dominated government that has been in power since 1949. But how has China’s political system achieved such longevity? And what does its stability tell us about the future of authoritarian versus liberal democratic governance? In this detailed analysis of the deeply intertwined relationship between the ruling Communist Party and governing state, noted China expert Teresa Wright provides insightful answers to these important questions. Though many believe that the Chinese party-state has maintained its power despite its communist and authoritarian features, Wright argues that the key to its sustained success lies in its careful safeguarding of some key communist and authoritarian characteristics, while simultaneously becoming more open and responsive to public participation. She contends that China’s post-Mao party-state compares well to different forms of political rule, including liberal democratic government. It has fulfilled the necessary functions of a stable governing regime: satisfying key demographic groups and responding to public grievances; maintaining economic stability and growth; and delivering public services - without any real reduction in CCP power and influence. Questioning current understandings of the nature, strengths, and weaknesses of democracy and authoritarianism, this thought-provoking book will be essential reading for all students and scholars of Chinese politics and international relations.
Party and State in Post-Mao China (China Today), by Teresa Wright - Amazon Sales Rank: #1245885 in Books
- Published on: 2015-05-04
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.22" h x .75" w x 5.85" l, .59 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 200 pages
Party and State in Post-Mao China (China Today), by Teresa Wright Review
"Much more than a textbook, this study is a sustained treatment of governance and political stability in China. In it, Teresa Wright provocatively suggests that the current regime, despite the many challenges it faces, may last longer than we think, not least because it has already carried out reforms that make it more "democratic," or at least accountable to the populace in ways that do not require free and fair elections." Kevin J. O'Brien, University of California, Berkeley
"Teresa Wright is one of the most eloquent writers on contemporary China, and this book shows her at her best. By describing how political power is organized, obtained, and used in China, she is able to explain a key paradox of China today: how a regime can be authoritarian, lacking the rights and freedoms that many in the West take for granted, and at the same time legitimate in the eyes of many Chinese. Whereas many outside observers consider repression to be the main source of the Communist Party?s staying power, Wright shows how producing economic growth and political order, providing necessary goods and services, and addressing the changing wants and needs of an evolving society are also part of the solution to the puzzle of stable authoritarianism in China." Bruce Dickson, George Washington University
About the Author Teresa Wright is Professor and Chair in the Department of Political Science at California State University, Long Beach
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. How Authoritarianism & Democracy Shape Domestic Policies in China. By mirasreviews In "Party and State in Post-Mao China", Teresa Wright, Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at California State University at Long Beach, undertakes to answer two questions: "How well does China's Party-state satisfy the basic functions of government?" And "how have the Chinese government's democratic and authoritarian features influenced its ability to fulfill these functions?" Wright lays out the structure of the Party in China, who can participate and through what means, and how the Chinese state in the post-Mao era has succeeded or failed in three basic functions of government: ameliorating public grievances and satisfying key demographic groups, ensuring economic growth and stability, and enabling access to necessary goods and services. This makes the book an excellent primer on the modern Chinese state and most helpful in understanding China's actions and perspective in the domestic sphere when it makes news in the West.As the post-Mao political system is increasingly democratic at the level of villages and urban neighborhoods, not always in the sense of elections, but in the sense of being responsive to public needs and complaints, while it is steadfastly authoritarian at its high levels of leadership, the reasons for its success on many fronts tend to be found in its communist traditions as well as its experimentation and improved flexibility and responsiveness since Chairman Mao died in 1976. Wright begins by explaining the structure and composition of the Party and the state, and why the Party governs, and indeed created, the modern state. She then explains who can participate and how in the Party and in the more democratic Village Councils and residents' committees. Selection of officials and Party members has become a good deal more meritocratic and less class-based than under Mao's government, whose ideological obsession undermined its agenda.There is a lot about where and the extent to which elections are free in China in the chapter on "Who Serves the Party-state?", but the meat of the book is in the three chapters on how the Chinese state has fulfilled, or not, its basic functions in the post-Mao era: "Maintaining Public Relations" (responding to the complaints and needs of the citizenry), "Managing the Economy", and "Providing Goods and Services." Each chapter begins with a brief summary of how these functions worked in the Maoist era, for comparison and so that we may understand the chronology of developments. For each topic, Wright draws attention to what works well and what doesn't, and how both democratic and authoritarian features of governance shape the result. Since China has been 40 years in the post-Mao era, there are a lot of government programs and policies to cover, and the system continues to change. She avoids discussing minutiae, but she brings us up to date.I don't think I'll be spoiling anything by saying that Wright gives China a satisfactory rating on addressing citizen grievances, an impressive rating on managing the economy, and a mixed, tepid rating on providing goods and services. But the interesting part is to what extent authoritarianism facilitated China's success and, on the other hand, the areas where democracy and elections have best served China's goals. Wright is making the point that authoritarian states are not necessarily unstable or unpopular among their citizenry, so long as they are more pragmatic than ideological. One thing she does not mention, and a reason I wanted to read this book, is that authoritarianism in China is not so much ideological anymore as it is innate in all civilizations that are geographically isolated. Other examples are Japan, Russia, and Nordic nations. Chinese citizens generally support authoritarian state structure. It is not being imposed on them in any conventional sense.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. How China works -- and doesn't By Divascribe China has always been a bit mysterious, and often more than a little threatening, to the West. For centuries, it was isolated from the rest of the world. Then, it became a communist empire -- witness the term "Red China" that many of us grew up with during the Cold War. Today, it is seen as an economic powerhouse of cheap labor that threatens the economies of the West. But what do we really know about how China operates?Teresa Wright, an expert on China, gives a straightforward explanation of how the country's government and economy work. The subject is complex -- Wright includes a page and a half glossary of acronyms relating to governmental agencies and Communist Party groups. The bureaucracy is convoluted.The picture I got from this book is of a nation that appears to have made some strides toward full democracy, but much of it is "for show." For example, the "letters and visits" method is touted as a way for the public to obtain redress for grievances. This method consists of a system of bureaus and offices, at the county level and above, where people can pursue a claim. In reality, however, the system is usually ineffective, and complainants can be seriously harassed by officials in an effort to get them to drop their cases.One acronym not listed in the glossary -- but one which is very important in China -- is PR, public relations. This book devotes a chapter to that effort. In the wake of the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989, increasing emphasis has been placed on polishing the nation's image. I noticed this when I visited China in 2011. A stop on our city tour was Tiananmen Square -- not because of the demonstration, but because it is a central square with government buildings, one featuring a massive portrait of Chairman Mao. We were driven past dazzling skyscrapers and the Olympic Village from 2008. Our guide was careful in what she told us, but gave us a fairly good idea of what life is like in China now, including the "one-child rule" that she and her husband -- the parents of a daughter -- were following.Wright's portrait is of a country struggling toward a freer society, but with the government still tightly holding the reins and keeping a sharp eye out for trouble. This book provides a detailed look at what China is like now. It's written in a textbook style -- dry, but with a lot of information crammed into its 200 or so pages. It's great information if you want to better understand our competitor to the east.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Both more cynical and more hopeful upon reading and considering By Knits in Tardis This one was dense and full of arcane/scholarly details beyond my own frame of reference, but worthwhile to me if only for the aspect of it which discussed how Chinese officials "manage" dissent and discontent in an authoritarian system, while giving more of a democratic/responsive feel at the community level. There's a certain amount of "managing" also done even in what we consider to be liberal (small "l") democracies, to the point of cynicism in the U.S., for example, where the less advantaged and the disenfranchised truly feel - and not without some very good cause - that their voices are blunted and their agency non-existent. Who is to say that China's way is crueler or "worse", or that we are truly more democratic? In fact, I suspect that if China's per capita were to come to rival the U.S., they might serve their people better across the economic classes.I wish that I could have gotten more "into" this book, or that the examination of history and issues had been made a little more personal/anecdotal, but expect that scholars of the far east will be well-pleased.
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