Monday March 9

Today we started off with Direct Socialization.

Direct Socialization

• primary factor is families
• only one party, so political ideals aren't exactly too varied
• Commies try to instill their party values in citizens
• the family, not the individual is seen as the basic unit of Chinese society
• Since Commies in '49, three phases of policy regarding families have happened: 1. increased liberty in personal marriage decisions 2. '50's-'80, family power declines 3. since 80's, family importance is on the rise
• divorces are now easier to obtain, but still hard
• 1 child per family in cities, 2 in rural
• parents who are only children and ethnic minorities are granted exceptions to this rule
• Jan. '07, fine for violation of 1-child law to be reduced, this suggests a growing awareness of the rich/poor gap in society
• edu. policies have been a success, emphasis has been put on the quality of an education, and not just the expansion of education programs, to do this, the Commies had no problem with sending smart people to foreign universities to improve learning potential
• China has a heavy emphasis on the oversight of media, there is no private sector of the mass media
• the government controls the press, but criticism of past leaders and policy failures is allowed, just not criticism of current leaders or policies
• this system is designed to increase support for the Commies
• Indirect Socialization-socialization through individual experiences

Political Culture

• focus on nationalism, national unification, and social/economic reform
• authoritarian political system; the legitimacy of this system was threatened with such events as the Cultural Revolution, Tienanmen Square, the Falun Gong stuff, etc.
• supports a mixed economy with partial government ownership and some free enterprise
• Single Party System
• Ethnic cleavage-primarily Han Chinese, minority groups total to only about 8% and live in autonomous areas (i.e. Tibet, etc.), these areas, however constitute about 60% of China's territory, these groups are historically resistant to the central Chinese government
• in total, there are 55 minority groups
• generally in these areas, the Chinese government encourages economic development and suppresses contradictory thinking in the minority areas
• there is a growing urban/rural cleavage

Citizen Participation

• historically, China had mass mobilized participation in political activities which was encouraged by the government
• other forms are Mao's Little Red Book, which everyone had and knew
• there are three methods of participation for the average citizen: 1. voting in local elections; usu. with a 90% turnout 2. get involved in mass campaigns set up by the government 3. be an activist in one's community (not necessarily government oriented)
• for the elite folks, they can do these three methods: 1. be an activist (not a full-time thing, just to show support) 2. cadre-who hold leadership positions in government organizations as an occupation; cadre are appointed to their positions 3. Commie party member-entrance into political careers, to obtain this position, leaders would like to see good commies, but have settled for those who are more productive than loyal
• because businessmen are less likely to be interested in political positions due to the success they can easily find, a fourth position was added in '01 that allowed capitalists to become Commie party members

Political Agenda

• Mao used the mass line which took the ideas of the people, processed them through the government, and then regurgitated them back to the people for approval or something; the basic idea behind this was to keep a constant contact between the people and the government
• there is a suppression of the formation of independent groups, instead, mass organizations in which people express their opinions in a limited environment are preferred
• workers aren't allowed to form independent unions
• women are represented by the All China Women's Federation
• young people are represented by the Communist Youth League
• Danwei-social units based on a person's place of work, designed to keep people happy to stop them from forming interest groups
• contrary to what the government would like, at least 300,000 NGO's exist in China, these still have only a small impact on policy making
• reflects state corporatism, most are approved by the state and run by government employees
• patron/client networks are important
• uses Nomenklatura, leaders communicate through Guanzi (similar to Britain's "good 'ol boy" network)
• though the government sets the agenda, events like Tienanmen Square, the 1-dog policy protests, and other uprisings are proving to have some impact on the overall legitimacy of the Communist regime

The Internet

• frustrates government
• proliferation of small websites keeps the news flowing even with government resistance
• young people are banned from internet cafes, there are internet addiction clinics, limit of 5 hours of consecutive use before internet shuts off
• use of cell phones also frustrating government because of the instant updates they provide, esp. multi-function phones with internet that allows for blogging and whatnot on the go