AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS: CHINA CHAPTER 8 ASSIGNMENT SHEET
ONILINE ASSIGNMENT SHEET, 2007 edition text.
Thoroughly readIntroduction to Comparative Politics, Chapter 8, pages 359-416 NOTE: be prepared for a quiz.
IN YOUR NOTEBOOK, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING GUIDED NOTES QUESTIONS:
READ Text Section 1, pp. 359-374.
1. Describe the significance of, and controversy surrounding, the choice of Beijing as the site of the 2008 summer Olympics.
2. Describe the geographic setting of China, and explain its significance.
3. Define and describe each of the following: communist-party state, Marxism-Leninism, PRC, autonomous regions, population density, CCP, “Middle Kingdom”, natural resources, Hong Kong, main rivers, imperial period 221 B.C.-1911 A.D., “Mandate of Heaven”, traditional social structure in China, Confucian values, Taiping Rebellion, Opium War 1839-1842, western imperialism, Sun Yat-Sen, Nationalist Party, Chang Kai-shek, Mao Zedong, warlords, Republican Period 1912-1949, Chinese Civil War 1927-1949, Sino-Japanese War 1937-1945, CCP victory 1949, Mao’s policies and their results: 1950s, Chinese collectivization of agriculture, socialism in China, Hundred Flowers movement, Anti-Rightist Campaign 1957, Great Leap Forward, Mao’s policies and their results: 1960s, causes and effects of the Cultural Revolution, Red Guard, Gang of Four, Deng Xiaoping, reforms and modernizations of Deng, Central Military Commission, Chinese foreign policy under Moa, Chinese foreign policy since Mao, China in the “World of States”, the democratic idea in China, collective identity in China, China in comparative perspective.
3. Describe the history and significance of the Republic of China on Taiwan.
4. Explain the message of the Boston Globe political cartoon of Deng Xiaoping, found on page 370.
READ Section 2: pp. 374-385
1. PRC economic policy overview. Identify and explain the significance: command economy, socialist market economy, people’s communes, household responsibility system, township and village enterprises, decentralization, iron rice bowl, guanxi, newly industrialized countries, xiaokang, CNOOC
2. Describe three economic policies carried out under the communist dictatorship of Mao Zedong.
3. Describe Mao’s policy toward global trade.
4. How successful were Mao’s economic policies? Explain.
5. Describe the economic reform program of Deng Xiaoping.
6. Study Figure 1 on page 376. In your opinion, what are the three most important conclusions that should be drawn from the charts?
7. Describe and explain the significance of China’s “One child per family” policy.
8. Have more recent leaders continue Deng’s economic reform policies? Give examples.
9. Describe the social and political impacts of economic reform.
10. Briefly describe the history and current significance of Hong Kong.
11. In your opinion, what are the 3 most important facts regarding China’s role in the global economy? Explain.
12. How has joining the WTO affected China?
13. How is China simultaneously an emerging world superpower AND a poor LDC?
READ Section 3: pp. 385-397
1. Describe three reasons why China is called a communist one-party dictatorship today.
2. Briefly:A). Describe the structure and powers of the executive branch of the Chinese government.
B). Describe the structure and powers of the legislative branch of the Chinese government.
C). Describe the structure and powers of the judicial branch of the Chinese government.
3. Why are all branches of the Chinese government considered to be symbolic by independent political observers?
4. Describe the CCP.
5. Does China have a unitary, federal, or confederate system of government in practice? Explain.
6. Providing evidence to support your position, agree or disagree with the following statement: “Compared with the bureaucracies of the other countries we have studied, the Chinese bureaucracy is relatively small and unimportant.”
7. Define and explain the significance of the PLA and the Central Military Commission.
8. Providing evidence to support your position, agree or disagree with the following statement:
“The policy making process in China reflects its status as a one party state.”
9. Identify: General Secretary, Standing Committee, Politburo, Central Committee, cadres, nomenklatura, Jiang Zemin, Hu Juntao
READ Section 4 pp. 397-408
1. a). How does the CCP claim that China has a superior form of democracy than countries like the UK and US?
b). Compare the CCP’s vision of a “socialist democracy” with Vladimir Lenin’s idea on democratic centralism.
c). Contrast the CCP’s “socialist democracy” with social democracy as understood in Europe.
2. Why are legislatures in communist countries often called “rubber stamp” bodies?
3. What are the powers and limitations of the National People’s Congress?
4. Based on the electoral system and the scope and frequency of elections, explain the following statement: “Democracy in China is at both absolute and absent.”
5. Describe how individuals can rise through the ranks within the communist party.
6. Explain the following statement: “China is a one-party state with 8 extra parties”.
7. Are the people of China typically communists or consumerists? Explain.
8. How do nationalism and collective identity affect Chinese political culture?
9. a). Describe the status of citizens of the PRC who are ethnically non-Chinese.
b). Describe the status of women in China.
10. Briefly describe the history and current significance of Tibet.
11. Explain one example that supports, and one example that contradicts, the following statement: “The CCP has loosened its grip on society in recent years.”
12. Identify and explain the significance: Four Cardinal Principles, patron-client politics in China, danwei, Falon Gong, People’s Daily.
READ Section 5: pp. 408- 416
1. Referring to “Scenes from the Chinese Countryside”, describe one example of each of the following:
A). the central role played by China’s rural areas in the country’s future, B). prosperity, C). poverty, D). mass protest, E). peaceful politics.
2. How do the issues of AIDS and age challenge Chinese policymakers?
In your opinion, is China more likely or less likely to embrace significant democratic reforms soon? Explain.
Describe the status of civil society in China.
3. Should China today be described as a totalitarian or authoritarian dictatorship? Explain.
4. a). Why do social scientists call China called a developmental state?
b). Describe three examples why China is still considered in many ways an LDC or Third World state.