Mao More Than Ever: Chinese Politics Past and Present

4 Credits.

This is a course for people who (think they) hate history and for those who (justifiably) complain that political science is too much “science” and not enough “politics.” We will be exploring the rough-and-tumble of Chinese politics from the origin of the Chinese Communist Party up to the present day. We will see how much of today’s Chinese elite politics were shaped by the knock down-drag out political battles between larger-than-life titans of history; how the institutions that govern China today were crafted in guerilla base areas and shaped by palace intrigue; and how no matter how strong the state ever became, what it always feared most was the specter of the people. This course will transform and upend what you know about China and will be absolutely essential for understanding Chinese politics at any time from 1921 up through the present and into the future.