Paradigms of Chinese Politics: kicking society back out

More than three decades of research since reforms were launched has significantly expanded our understanding of China's changing political landscape. In that period, new paradigmatic assumptions have been brought to bear on the study of China to challenge the traditional state-centered approach. Among these have been state–society, society-centered, historical, and globalized models. While such works have enriched our understanding of this dynamic polity, a close reading of them shows that the state-centered paradigm remains the most appropriate one for the study of China's politics. Brief consideration is given to the reasons for this and to how it might change.     

Weihaiwei

Japan is an international giant in economic and industrial terms but remains an insular nation in some other respects, perhaps as a result of a tendency towards requiring its politicians to build a high level of consensus on issues where attitudes and opinions are strongly polarised. The Liberal Democratic Party returned to power in the December 2012 general election, committed to kick-starting the economy with more aggressive spending and monetary policies; there is also speculation that it may prove a more nationalistic government at a time of greater tension in the Japan/China relationship, although so far it is pursuing pragmatism rather than confrontation