Chinese Politics Part 1 – China and Political Science

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FREE,
Add a Verified Certificate for $49

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Coursera online courses
Coursera's online classes are designed to help students achieve mastery over course material. Some of the best professors in the world - like neurobiology professor and author Peggy Mason from the University of Chicago, and computer science professor and Folding@Home director Vijay Pande - will supplement your knowledge through video lectures. They will also provide challenging assessments, interactive exercises during each lesson, and the opportunity to use a mobile app to keep up with yo...
Coursera's online classes are designed to help students achieve mastery over course material. Some of the best professors in the world - like neurobiology professor and author Peggy Mason from the University of Chicago, and computer science professor and Folding@Home director Vijay Pande - will supplement your knowledge through video lectures. They will also provide challenging assessments, interactive exercises during each lesson, and the opportunity to use a mobile app to keep up with your coursework. Coursera also partners with the US State Department to create “learning hubs” around the world. Students can get internet access, take courses, and participate in weekly in-person study groups to make learning even more collaborative. Begin your journey into the mysteries of the human brain by taking courses in neuroscience. Learn how to navigate the data infrastructures that multinational corporations use when you discover the world of data analysis. Follow one of Coursera’s “Skill Tracks”. Or try any one of its more than 560 available courses to help you achieve your academic and professional goals.

Provider Subject Specialization
Humanities
Sciences & Technology
4907 reviews

Course Description

This course offers a conceptual framework for understanding China that highlights the intersection of politics and economics. It shows that rather than develop into a full blown market economy, state and party officials at all levels of the political system maintain significant influence in economic development. Such a “political” economy has had both positive and negative outcomes, which we will assess in detail. We also look at the origins, views, backgrounds and relations among leaders, and how those leaders make decisions about public policy and try to get those decisions implemented down through the system. China has few formal institutions through which citizens can participate in politics, but we will study the strategies Chinese people use to try to influence their leaders’ decisions. Finally, we assess China’s future and whether rapid economic development and the emergence of a vibrant middle class will push China towards gr... This course offers a conceptual framework for understanding China that highlights the intersection of politics and economics. It shows that rather than develop into a full blown market economy, state and party officials at all levels of the political system maintain significant influence in economic development. Such a “political” economy has had both positive and negative outcomes, which we will assess in detail. We also look at the origins, views, backgrounds and relations among leaders, and how those leaders make decisions about public policy and try to get those decisions implemented down through the system. China has few formal institutions through which citizens can participate in politics, but we will study the strategies Chinese people use to try to influence their leaders’ decisions. Finally, we assess China’s future and whether rapid economic development and the emergence of a vibrant middle class will push China towards greater democracy or whether the single party system is likely to survive into the future. The course is a quite useful background for Chinese Politics Part 2 – China and the World. Course Overview video: https://youtu.be/7FpNL67EbE4
Chinese Politics Part 1 – China and Political Science course image
Reviews 10/10 stars
25 Reviews for Chinese Politics Part 1 – China and Political Science

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Rankings are based on a provider's overall CourseTalk score, which takes into account both average rating and number of ratings. Stars round to the nearest half.

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Russil Wvong profile image
Russil Wvong profile image

Russil Wvong

10/10 starsCompleted
1 month, 1 week ago
Provides a clear picture of all aspects of politics in China, as of 2015: its political structure (including the dominance and pervasiveness of the Party), the struggle to become leader and to consolidate power, policy implementation, societal engagement (including protests and passive resistance), political aspects of the economy (including the major waves of reform), and finally future developments. The instructor, Dr. David Zweig, is excellent: he presents the material clearly, and he has long experience in the field. I also found the readings quite helpful, although I should warn that you may need to use Google and archive.org to track them down.
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student

8/10 starsCompleted
1 month, 3 weeks ago
This course provided an insight to Chinese politics under the CCP. There are a lot of interesting arguments and a lot of researches are referred, as long as some of the researches of the instructor. At the same time, the instructor himself had done a lot of field works in China since 1970s, so that his own experiences are also contained in this course. Not only about China, the course also provides some basic knowledge about different themes in political science, as long as comparing with other countries. It can also help learning about other countries or fields in political science. The only flaw of this course is that it is taped in 2015, that Chinese politics, as long as world politics has changed a lot since 2015. And some of the articles (URLs) provided in the course cannot be used now.
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Pavithran Rajan profile image
Pavithran Rajan profile image

Pavithran Rajan

10/10 starsCompleted
2 months, 1 week ago
A good course that gives insight into modern China and the factors that go into its political economy. The lectures were interesting and professionally structured. Strongly recommended for students of contemporary China.
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Shannon Arthur profile image
Shannon Arthur profile image

Shannon Arthur

8/10 starsCompleted
2 months, 3 weeks ago
This is good course in that it provides a lot of insight into Chinese politics up to 2015. The lectures were interesting. The exams were tough, requiring synthesis of the material. I complained and will continue to do so about the broken links for the readings. The mentors were quite helpful and in a timely manner, although not everything got sorted. There was little class discussion, but that is common in Coursera classes.
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Evgeniya Katkova profile image
Evgeniya Katkova profile image

Evgeniya Katkova

10/10 starsCompleted
2 months, 3 weeks ago
A very good course for students and researchers studying China. I am studying China's foreign policy and it was very helpful for me to learn Chinese domestic policy. I would like to listen to Prof. Zweig's lectures on events after 2015.
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Arusyak Hovhannisyan profile image
Arusyak Hovhannisyan profile image

Arusyak Hovhannisyan

10/10 starsCompleted
3 months ago
I've taken this course as I'm doing my research in Chinese foreign policy and I needed more insight on Chinese domestic and international politics. Prof. Zweig's lectures were interested, backed with surveys, facts, theoretical frameworks and his own experience as a researcher and a former student in China. I really enjoyed the course and I'm going to take Part 2 now!
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Valenin Martinez profile image
Valenin Martinez profile image

Valenin Martinez

10/10 starsCompleted
3 months, 1 week ago
The course was amazing, the content was pertinent to understand deeply about Chinese politics going beyond western media information. I would completely recommend this course to anyone interested in China.
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Gabriel Guaida profile image
Gabriel Guaida profile image

Gabriel Guaida

10/10 starsCompleted
3 months, 2 weeks ago
The information was valuable and well explained, besides, the peer reviewed assignments let me deepen my understanding and organize my thoughts, as well as learning other people's views.
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Eric Z profile image
Eric Z profile image

Eric Z

8/10 starsCompleted
3 months, 3 weeks ago
Though I disagree with some views in this course, I must say Professor David Zweig is an inspiring lecturer and he really has a deep understanding of China.
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Gopalakrishnan Jaishankar profile image
Gopalakrishnan Jaishankar profile image

Gopalakrishnan Jaishankar

10/10 starsCompleted
4 months ago
The Course is excellently conducted with easy to understand content. Professor David Zweig is clear and measured in his delivery. The content is not too heavy with facts and figures, being a basic level course. However the material is dated by quite a few years and needs updation. The political changes and re emergence of cult of personality in Xi’s China are important contemporary issues. While foreign relations are not the main thrust of this course, that The Peaceful Rise theory has been abandoned by China should also figure prominently, in my view. Professor David should consider inclusion of videos and more graphical tables to illustrate his points more forcefully. While I appreciate that the length of each video is between 5-12 minutes only, this need not be a very restrictive factor. Just a few minutes of interesting videos interspersed in between will add variety and interest to the course content.
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10/10 starsCompleted
  • 0 reviews
  • 0 completed
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Excellent! I am really grateful to meet Coursera! What a great website! This course gives me an interesting perspective of Chinese politics which lets me feel conducive.
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Susan Diane Jane profile image
Susan Diane Jane profile image

Susan Diane Jane

10/10 starsCompleted
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Interesting and great instructor with a wealth of experience, and very easy to follow. The course was a great introduction to how China works, past, present and future. Well presented videos with helpful Tables and charts. Good to be able to save notes directly and study again at a later date. Loved reading peer assignments and interacting on discussion points
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SK Lye profile image
SK Lye profile image

SK Lye

8/10 starsCompleted
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Excellent instructor co-relating life exposures and experiences to support his theory. Interesting story teller too. Very good insight provided by instructor over the future of China.
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Peter Bradford profile image
Peter Bradford profile image

Peter Bradford

10/10 starsCompleted
4 months, 3 weeks ago
Interesting content, well presented and complete! I would recommend for anyone interested in China's political system/history. China's role in the world is changing, our understanding of their culture and politics should be growing with that change!
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student

10/10 starsTaking Now
5 months, 4 weeks ago
Great course! The course does not require much background information and was both engaging and informative. I can really recommend this course to everyone who is interested in China.
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shree Jain profile image
shree Jain profile image

shree Jain

10/10 starsTaking Now
7 months, 4 weeks ago
It was a very good experience learning online from Howard professor. it enhanced my knowledge about china and Chinese politics further. thank you so much.
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Student

10/10 starsTaking Now
8 months ago
This is course is based on political science and specialized in China's present circumstances. The course is college level, but quite an alternative to Mainland's political course. Very interesting!
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10/10 starsCompleted
  • 0 reviews
  • 0 completed
8 months ago
I like the content of this course. The instructor is excellent. The provider is excellent too. I hope to take a course in Chinese Politics Part 2 : China and the World. Thank you.
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student

10/10 stars
8 months, 4 weeks ago
A really informative course that I'll recommend to others who want to learn about China! I went faster than I anticipated due to the subject matter being so interesting.
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sriram Devatha profile image
sriram Devatha profile image

sriram Devatha

10/10 starsCompleted
1 year, 1 month ago
A good primer to China and its unique economic and policy system. I am excited to move onto the second part of this course.A must for anyone who is interested in china and its rise.
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student

10/10 starsCompleted
1 year, 2 months ago
Really informative and helpful! Some insider knowledge of China! It is a great experience to take such a wonderful course! I will recommend it to anyone who wants to know today's China.
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Geordie Klein profile image
Geordie Klein profile image

Geordie Klein

8/10 starsCompleted
1 year, 4 months ago
Helpful course to get more knowledge about the Chinese political system. Especially the explanation of the CCP system and the linkage with the internal economy was helpful.
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Henry Harlow profile image
Henry Harlow profile image

Henry Harlow

10/10 starsCompleted
1 year, 10 months ago
This is a really great course. The videos with the slides are super. The professor is really good at teaching. Never boring. I took the course out of personal interest and I found it fascinating. I have a really good understanding now of how Chinese politics works which I did not before the course as well as what the Chinese people think about politics.
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Wayne Li profile image
Wayne Li profile image
10/10 starsCompleted
  • 1 review
  • 1 completed
2 years, 1 month ago
This course has been very well designed and organized with valuable contents related to the subject. I've leant what I expected. Meanwhile, the only 3 suggestions I have are: 1) More involvement of the course professor or mentor to organize and propel the discussion in the modules or forums; 2) Better design for the weekly quizzes -- Weekly quizzes are relatively pretty carefully designed compared to the MOOCs I previously taken, but still some minor mistakes to recorrect; 3) I'm looking forward to more suggested readings/materials related to the subject.
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10/10 starsTaking Now
  • 1 review
  • 0 completed
2 years, 7 months ago
I wanted to learn about China and chose this course out of personal interest. I have really enjoyed it and found it very interesting. The delivery method has been great for me because the lectures were broken up into chunks of between 5 and 15 minutes and I sometimes can only get that much time being a stay at home dad a couple of days a week. Also, I've been considering going back to university and doing this course has helped me get a sense of what that might look like for me and also helped me build my confidence in being able to study something.
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