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Contemporary China as a Problem for Political Science*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

A. M. Halpern
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Extract

This article attempts to set forth, in as nearly comprehensive and organized a manner as possible, a range of problems referring to the political development of Communist China whose investigation would not only advance our understanding of contemporary Chinese politics but would also produce results of value for the general study of politics. Our focus is particularly, but not exclusively, on events since the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Our procedure is to move from the general to the specific: that is, to inquire, first, what are the most general classes of political phenomena with which the Chinese political system has affinities; second, what are the most general developmental trends which can be observed in the Chinese revolution; and third, what are the particular aspects of the dynamics of the Chinese political system which offer rewarding opportunities for research.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , April 1963 , pp. 361 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1963

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References

1 In a personal communication, Professor Tsou has suggested, for example, that in the Chinese Communist case, “It is not very fruitful to try to understand politics or ‘political culture’ as a function of the general culture or a mere subsystem of the culture. Instead, one must see the general culture as a function of politics.”

2 As Professor Tsou has put it, “Attention must be focused on significant problems rather than on novel research techniques. For many of our novel techniques would be difficult to apply, while our theoretical insight would enable us to see deep significance in seemingly stereotyped materials and trivial events.”