Read Chinese Democracy - Books Library

Chinese Democracy

Andrew J. Nathan

4.9/5 (13831 ratings)

Description:What do the Chinese mean by the word "democracy"? When they say that their political system is "democratic," does this mean that they share our ideas about liberty, civil rights, and self government? With the recent improvement in relations between China and the West, such questions are no longer merely academic. They are basic to an understanding of the Chinese people and their state, both now and in the future. In "Chinese Democracy," Andrew J. Nathan tackles these in issues in depth, drawing upon much fresh and unfamiliar material. He begins with a vivid history of the short-lived democracy movement of 1978-81, where groups of young people in a number of Chinese cities started issuing outspoken publications and putting up posters detailing their complaints and opinions. Apparently condoned at first by the post-Mao regime, the movement flourished; then it was crushed, its leaders tried and jailed. With quotes from many of the participants and their works, Nathan constructs--for the first time--a poignant picture of the burst of liberal activity, at the same time showing how distinctly Chinese it was and how the roots of its failure lay as much in history as in current political necessity. To demonstrate this, Nathan investigates the nature of the democratic tradition in China, tracing it back to the close of the imperial era at the end of the nineteenth century and the works of Liang Qichao, the country's most brilliant journalist and most influential modern political thinker. We see how Liang deeply influenced Mao Zedong, and how conflicts between party dictatorship and popular participation, between bureaucratic authority and individual rights, between Mao's harsh version of democracy and Deng Xiaoping's more liberal one, remain to this day unresolved and potentially dangerous. For example, as Nathan shows, there was apparently a serious move toward liberalization projected on the highest government levels in the years after Mao's death, yet the move failed. In a tour de force of scholarship, Nathan shows through an extended study of the many Chinese constitutions put force since the 1911 Revolution that individual rights have always been forced to give away to the needs and ambitions of the state. Democracy in China has traditionally been admired mainly for what it can help accomplish, not for any human rights it may embody. Finally, making use of scores of interviews with emigres from the mainland, the author analyzes the extraordinary role played by the press in forming public attitudes in China, and then goes on to show what happened in 1980 when the authorities for the first time conducted direct elections to the county-level people's congresses. It was a splendid shambles. Much of this story has never been told before."Chinese Democracy" is a highly original and convincing book on a subject of immediate concern, a rich combination of reportage and research by one of our best-informed China specialists. No one can read it without gaining an entirely new perspective on the nature of democracy as the Chinese practice it--and, incidentally, as we practice it too.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Chinese Democracy. To get started finding Chinese Democracy, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: —

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: —

Release: —

ISBN: 0307828123

Description: What do the Chinese mean by the word "democracy"? When they say that their political system is "democratic," does this mean that they share our ideas about liberty, civil rights, and self government? With the recent improvement in relations between China and the West, such questions are no longer merely academic. They are basic to an understanding of the Chinese people and their state, both now and in the future. In "Chinese Democracy," Andrew J. Nathan tackles these in issues in depth, drawing upon much fresh and unfamiliar material. He begins with a vivid history of the short-lived democracy movement of 1978-81, where groups of young people in a number of Chinese cities started issuing outspoken publications and putting up posters detailing their complaints and opinions. Apparently condoned at first by the post-Mao regime, the movement flourished; then it was crushed, its leaders tried and jailed. With quotes from many of the participants and their works, Nathan constructs--for the first time--a poignant picture of the burst of liberal activity, at the same time showing how distinctly Chinese it was and how the roots of its failure lay as much in history as in current political necessity. To demonstrate this, Nathan investigates the nature of the democratic tradition in China, tracing it back to the close of the imperial era at the end of the nineteenth century and the works of Liang Qichao, the country's most brilliant journalist and most influential modern political thinker. We see how Liang deeply influenced Mao Zedong, and how conflicts between party dictatorship and popular participation, between bureaucratic authority and individual rights, between Mao's harsh version of democracy and Deng Xiaoping's more liberal one, remain to this day unresolved and potentially dangerous. For example, as Nathan shows, there was apparently a serious move toward liberalization projected on the highest government levels in the years after Mao's death, yet the move failed. In a tour de force of scholarship, Nathan shows through an extended study of the many Chinese constitutions put force since the 1911 Revolution that individual rights have always been forced to give away to the needs and ambitions of the state. Democracy in China has traditionally been admired mainly for what it can help accomplish, not for any human rights it may embody. Finally, making use of scores of interviews with emigres from the mainland, the author analyzes the extraordinary role played by the press in forming public attitudes in China, and then goes on to show what happened in 1980 when the authorities for the first time conducted direct elections to the county-level people's congresses. It was a splendid shambles. Much of this story has never been told before."Chinese Democracy" is a highly original and convincing book on a subject of immediate concern, a rich combination of reportage and research by one of our best-informed China specialists. No one can read it without gaining an entirely new perspective on the nature of democracy as the Chinese practice it--and, incidentally, as we practice it too.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Chinese Democracy. To get started finding Chinese Democracy, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Special Offer | $0.00

Special Offer! | $0.00

Chinese Democracy

Chinese Democracy

More Books

黎安友论中国: Andrew J. Nathan On China

黎安友论中国: Andrew J. Nathan On China

The Tiananmen Papers: The Chinese Leadership's Decision to Use Force Against Their Own People – In Their Own Words

The Tiananmen Papers: The Chinese Leadership's Decision to Use Force Against Their Own People – In Their Own Words

China’s Search for Security

China’s Search for Security

Peking Politics 1918-1923: Factionalism and the Failure of Constitutionalism (Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies) by Andrew J. Nathan (1998-06-30)

Peking Politics 1918-1923: Factionalism and the Failure of Constitutionalism (Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies) by Andrew J. Nathan (1998-06-30)

China's Search for Security by Andrew J. Nathan (2014-11-28)

China's Search for Security by Andrew J. Nathan (2014-11-28)

Chinese Democracy by Andrew J. Nathan (1985-09-26)

Chinese Democracy by Andrew J. Nathan (1985-09-26)

The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress: China's Search for Security [Paperback] [2nd] (Author) Andrew J. Nathan, Robert S. Ross

The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress: China's Search for Security [Paperback] [2nd] (Author) Andrew J. Nathan, Robert S. Ross

By Andrew J. Nathan China's Search for Security (Reprint) [Paperback]

By Andrew J. Nathan China's Search for Security (Reprint) [Paperback]

The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress: China's Search for Security

The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress: China's Search for Security