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Overview
With more than one billion people, China represents both an ocean of economic opportunity and a frustrating backwater of continuing brutal political repression. What are the prospects for democratic evolution in a nation with one of the world's poorest human rights records? How have other nations responded to China since the recent, dramatic opening of its economic system-and how should they respond in the future? These are some of the most important questions confronting both the United States and the international community.
On democracy, human rights, and the move to integrate China into the international economy; on Mao Zedong's regime and the reform since his death; and on the Taiwan experiment and Hong Kong's reintegration with China, Nathan offers an accessible introduction to the intricate web of contemporary Chinese politics and China's changing place in the global system.
Columbia University Press
Synopsis
One of America's preeminent authorities on modern China explores the central issues facing the worlds most populous country. On democracy, human rights, and the move to integrate China into the international economy; on Mao Zedong's regime and the reform since his death; and on the Taiwan experiment and Hong Kong's reintegration with China, Nathan offers an accessible introduction to the intricate web of contemporary Chinese politics and China's changing place in the global system.
New York Review of Books
[A] deeply perceptive and eloquent collection of essays. . . . What distinguishes Nathan´s approach is that he takes up the political question of how to negotiate with Beijing about human rights.
Editorials
Philosophy East & West -
Reading this excellent work by Andrew Nathan on the potential for a Chinese transition to democracy compels one to probe one's own unexamined presuppositions and unconscious cultural prejudices.
Political Science Quarterly -
Such rich, thoughtful, and rigorous analysis makes China's Transition an important book in the study of contemporary Chinese politics. It represents a remarkable methodological achievement that should be the envy of all students of Chinese politics.
Reading this excellent work by Andrew Nathan on the potential for a Chinese transition to democracy compels one to probe one's own unexamined presuppositions and unconscious cultural prejudices.
— Edward Friedman, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Such rich, thoughtful, and rigorous analysis makes China's Transition an important book in the study of contemporary Chinese politics. It represents a remarkable methodological achievement that should be the envy of all students of Chinese politics.
— Minxin Pei, Princeton University
[A] deeply perceptive and eloquent collection of essays.... What distinguishes Nathan's approach is that he takes up the political question of how to negotiate with Beijing about human rights.
Glitters with refreshing analyses on a wide range of literary, political, and ideological issues in recent PRC history... Packed with great insights and excellent analyses, it should be considered indispensable reading for any serious student of contemporary Chinese politics.
Nathan has provided us with a fascinating lens through which to view China´s evolving political future.
Glitters with refreshing analyses on a wide range of literary, political, and ideological issues in recent PRC history. . . Packed with great insights and excellent analyses, it should be considered indispensable reading for any serious student of contemporary Chinese politics.
[A] deeply perceptive and eloquent collection of essays. . . . What distinguishes Nathan´s approach is that he takes up the political question of how to negotiate with Beijing about human rights.
A remarkable contribution to scholarship on China by a very distinguished China-watcher whose analyses of Chinese politics have stood the test of time.
Such rich, thoughtful, and rigorous analysis makes China´s Transition an important book in the study of contemporary Chinese politics. It represents a remarkable methodological achievement that should be the envy of all students of Chinese politics.
Reading this excellent work by Andrew Nathan on the potential for a Chinese transition to democracy compels one to probe one's own unexamined presuppositions and unconscious cultural prejudices.
In this collection of 16 essays, Nathan East Asian Inst., Columbia Univ. provides several different approaches to analyzing present-day Chinese politics and political culture. Written for an academic audience, the essays contain abstract concepts such as "cultural relativism," "conservative modernization," and "hermeneutic versus positivistic approaches to distinctiveness"; provide detailed data on, for example, Taiwan's legislature and political party system; and present the results of groundbreaking survey research on political efficacy in China. This is in sharp contrast to Andrew J. Nathan and Robert S. Ross's The Great Wall and the Empty Fortress LJ 7/97, in which the authors addressed the broader spectrum of informed readers. On the other hand, Nathan's main points should interest informed readers as well as academicsthat absolute power allowed Mao to be corrupt; that nothing inherent in Chinese culture renders it incapable of evolving into a democracy; and that the United States should not apologize for addressing human rights issues in China and should respond appropriately to abuses.Peggy Spitzer Christoff, Oak Park, Ill.
Acknowledging China's poor human rights record and legacy of authoritarian rule, Nathan (Columbia U.) argues that China is culturally capable of democracy. He cites Taiwan's transition as an indication of what could be, finding that the origins of today's repressive political system is political idealism gone awry, not a culture predisposed to violence. Essays include an examination of Mao Zedong's regime and the human catastrophe it created, and a consideration of the problems faced by the post-Deng Xiaoping regime. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
A writer on modern China for the last 25 years, Nathan studies prospects for democratization from a standard, Western Liberal point of view. After virulent criticism of the "cruelty" of Chinese history, especially Maoism, he uses recent sociological surveys to assess Chinese cultural and political attitudes that he sees as relevant to the development of democracy. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)
[The book] represents a remarkable methodological achievement that should be the envy of all students of Chinese politics.
— Political Science Quarterly