Western Political Science Theories and the Development of Political Theories in China

This article outlines the recent development of Chinese political studies spawned by the transformation of Chinese politics in the post-Mao era, with its focus mainly on contributions from the Chinese scholarship. After a close examination of the applicability of the western theories on the transforming politics in China, it reviews the indigenous methodologies, the theorizations on the Chinese Communist Party, the state-society relationship analysis, and research on the central-local relationship. Referring to the original works in different periods, the article generally portrays the indigenous contributions of the Chinese academia, and illustrates the essential connections between real politics and theoretical progress.

Guangbin YangEmail:

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Yang Guangbin   PhD, Professor in the Department of Political Science at Renmin University of China. Professor Yang’s research areas include comparative institutional analysis, the political economy of China, institutions of governance, regulatory state, democratic politics, political development, Chinese domestic political economy and foreign relations. Li Miao   a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Renmin University of China. His research interests include political development, state-society relationship, and religion & politics, with a particular emphasis on the Church-State relations in contemporary China.