Domestic constraints and international competitiveness: A research note on the China case

This article examines China toward the end of the twentieth century through the perspectives of both the theory of relative political capacity and the geopolitical theory. While the latter theory explains a country's development as a consequence of international events, the former theory emphasizes the efficiency and competency of a government as the cause of the nation's political and economic status. We believe that the two theories should be connected in analyzing a nation's political and economic behavior; international and domestic factors reinforce each other in shaping a government's policies, strategies, and priorities. A synthetic analysis of the two scenarios shows that China is likely to continue to move toward a market economy and political democracy.