Since the beginning of the period of “reform and opening,” in 1978, China has experienced an economic and social great transformation the scale and speed of which are unprecedented in the modern era. In the political realm, by contrast, change has taken a much more halting and gradual course. The Communist Party of China (CCP) retains a monopoly hold on political power, but new challenges to the CCP’s system of one-party rule emerge almost daily. In some instances, China’s political system has shown itself to be enormously adaptable and effective in facing up to such challenges. At the same time, governance bottlenecks and failures in key policy areas suggest an “atrophying” system (Shambaugh, 2008). This course explores this puzzling dual nature of Chinese governance under Communist Party rule. The class will be divided into two parts. Part One provides a big picture look at current debate among scholars concerning how China’s distinctive governance system has shaped its approach to reform and opening. We also reverse the causal arrow and explore how these momentous changes have themselves engendered change in Chinese politics, above all within the Communist Party itself. Part Two pursues these issues in greater depth by looking at particular case studies of governance reform. We explore how the Communist Party has responded to the challenges of both “authoritarian power-sharing” and “authoritarian control” of society (Svolik, 2012). We also look at changing patterns of governance in two key policy areas, environmental protection and maritime territorial disputes. Classes will combine lectures, debates, and group discussions. Schließen