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A Theory of Politics in the People's Republic of China : = Structural Constraints on Political Behavior and Outcomes, 1949-1978 (System, Bandwagon, Balance-of-Power).

Record Type:	Language materials, manuscript : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	A Theory of Politics in the People's Republic of China :/
Reminder of title:	Structural Constraints on Political Behavior and Outcomes, 1949-1978 (System, Bandwagon, Balance-of-Power).
Author:	Goldstein, Avery Mark.
Description:	1 online resource (934 pages)
Notes:	Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 46-07, Section: A.
Contained By:	Dissertations Abstracts International46-07A.
Subject:	Political science. -
Online resource:	click for full text (PQDT)
ISBN:	9798205092944

A Theory of Politics in the People's Republic of China : = Structural Constraints on Political Behavior and Outcomes, 1949-1978 (System, Bandwagon, Balance-of-Power).
Goldstein, Avery Mark.

A Theory of Politics in the People's Republic of China :Structural Constraints on Political Behavior and Outcomes, 1949-1978 (System, Bandwagon, Balance-of-Power). - 1 online resource (934 pages)

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 46-07, Section: A.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1985.

Includes bibliographical references

This dissertation attempts to provide theoretical explanations for certain prominent patterns of political behavior and outcomes in the People's Republic of China between 1949 and 1978. Part One addresses the problems of theoretical research in political science generally and in the case of Chinese political studies in particular. Two fundamental weaknesses in the existing scholarship on Chinese politics are critiqued: (1) the predominance of a narrowly empirical and descriptive orientation; and, (2) the methodological shortcomings of even self-proclaimed theoretical work. While progress in the field over the past three decades is acknowledged, the chief obstacle to providing more satisfactory explanations of politics in the PRC is identified as the adherence to a reductionist methodology evident in even the best attempts at theorizing. As an alternative, this thesis suggests the usefulness of adopting a systemic methodology that focuses on the constraining consequences of structure, an influence essentially omitted in reductionist accounts that focus instead on the attributes of the actors and their processes of interaction. Two systemic theories of politics, balance-of-power and bandwagon theory, are presented whose range of application allegedly extends to the empirical referent of the PRC in the periods examined. Between 1949 and 1966 the Chinese polity had a structure characterized by its hierarchic arrangement, a distribution of capabilities greatly concentrating resources in the hands of superordinate actors, and a low degree of functional differentiation. In such realms, it is suggested, the systemic theory of bandwagon politics explains recurrent patterns of political behavior and outcomes. In 1966 the PRC's political structure was transformed, yielding an anarchically ordered polity. The constraints of life in the anarchic realm within which actors operated between 1966 and 1978, yielded persistent patterns of behavior and outcomes best explained by reference to the systemic theory of balance-of-power of politics. In Parts Two and Three the correspondence between the elements of the theories and the empirical realm of Chinese society is set forth. Hypotheses derived from these two theories are tested against the evidence culled from the PRC's political history for each of the two periods identified. These tests suggest the usefulness of the systemic methodology employed for explaining important features of political life in the PRC unsatisfactorily addressed by existing reductionist analyses.

Electronic reproduction.
Ann Arbor, Mich. :
ProQuest,
2024

Mode of access: World Wide Web

ISBN: 9798205092944Subjects--Topical Terms:

558774
Political science.
Index Terms--Genre/Form:

554714
Electronic books.

A Theory of Politics in the People's Republic of China : = Structural Constraints on Political Behavior and Outcomes, 1949-1978 (System, Bandwagon, Balance-of-Power).
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502 $a Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1985.
504 $a Includes bibliographical references
520 $a This dissertation attempts to provide theoretical explanations for certain prominent patterns of political behavior and outcomes in the People's Republic of China between 1949 and 1978. Part One addresses the problems of theoretical research in political science generally and in the case of Chinese political studies in particular. Two fundamental weaknesses in the existing scholarship on Chinese politics are critiqued: (1) the predominance of a narrowly empirical and descriptive orientation; and, (2) the methodological shortcomings of even self-proclaimed theoretical work. While progress in the field over the past three decades is acknowledged, the chief obstacle to providing more satisfactory explanations of politics in the PRC is identified as the adherence to a reductionist methodology evident in even the best attempts at theorizing. As an alternative, this thesis suggests the usefulness of adopting a systemic methodology that focuses on the constraining consequences of structure, an influence essentially omitted in reductionist accounts that focus instead on the attributes of the actors and their processes of interaction. Two systemic theories of politics, balance-of-power and bandwagon theory, are presented whose range of application allegedly extends to the empirical referent of the PRC in the periods examined. Between 1949 and 1966 the Chinese polity had a structure characterized by its hierarchic arrangement, a distribution of capabilities greatly concentrating resources in the hands of superordinate actors, and a low degree of functional differentiation. In such realms, it is suggested, the systemic theory of bandwagon politics explains recurrent patterns of political behavior and outcomes. In 1966 the PRC's political structure was transformed, yielding an anarchically ordered polity. The constraints of life in the anarchic realm within which actors operated between 1966 and 1978, yielded persistent patterns of behavior and outcomes best explained by reference to the systemic theory of balance-of-power of politics. In Parts Two and Three the correspondence between the elements of the theories and the empirical realm of Chinese society is set forth. Hypotheses derived from these two theories are tested against the evidence culled from the PRC's political history for each of the two periods identified. These tests suggest the usefulness of the systemic methodology employed for explaining important features of political life in the PRC unsatisfactorily addressed by existing reductionist analyses.
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