Course content

The People’s Republic of China is a crucial player in the global economy and international politics. Future developments in peace and conflict, climate change, global production chains and division of labour, technology innovation, and logistics across the world largely depend on China. In addition, a lack of knowledge and ill-informed prejudgements about countries and peoples may hold the potential for misunderstanding and conflict. Therefore, a basic understanding of what is going on in China can help make informed assessments of current developments in China and international politics constellations with China. It can also help to make better policy and business decisions where the most populous country is involved. On those grounds, this course aims to provide a solid basis of knowledge on China’s politics, society, and economy. We will study and discuss the fundamentals of China’s political and legal system, social policies and current social challenges, and basic structures, developments, and trends of the country’s economy. The course takes a comparative politics approach, and participants will have the opportunity to appreciate and test the theories and methods of this sub-discipline of political science.

Learning outcome

Knowledge - the student shall:

• have knowledge of how policy is formulated and implemented in China
• have knowledge of the basic political institutions of China
• have knowledge of the current political, social, and economic challenges that the Chinese leadership is facing
• have knowledge about important concepts of comparative politics
• have knowledge about the methods of comparative politics

Skills - the student shall demonstrate the ability to:

• learn how to apply the methods of comparative political analysis
• treat one of the themes which was discussed in instruction in an independent empirical analytical manner which fulfils the requirements for scientific writing.
• orally discuss and reflect over one's own written work and the themes which were taken up during teaching.

Learning methods and activities

Teaching methods and activities: 2 hours of lectures per week and supervison of project work. The language of instruction is English.

Compulsory assignments

• Presentation of term paper

Recommended previous knowledge

None.

Required previous knowledge

None.

Course materials

Given at the start of the semester.