East Asian Politics
Code: 101527 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2500244 East Asian Studies | OB | 2 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Joaquín Beltran Antolin
- Email:
- joaquin.beltran@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- spanish (spa)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- Yes
Teachers
- Joaquín Beltran Antolin
- Gustavo Pita Céspedes
- Kei Matsushima
Prerequisites
In order to better keep up with the course pace, it is necessary to have studied the Introduction to Political Science and International Relations course and to have assimilated the tools from Political Science taught in that subject.
Students must be able to read and understand academic texts in English.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The Politics of East Asia course analyses East Asian political realities from an international, regional and national perspective. Any specialist in East Asian Studies should know the main political systems in the region—especially, its main two powers, China and Japan. Besides providing a general outlook of these political systems, the students will be familiarized with all the elements of each system: actors (political parties, factions, civil society), institutions, and the Constitution. It will be analyzed from a dynamic and historically situated point of view, what is the nature of these actors, their relations and the nature of these processes. The main goal is to realize that no study of a society is complete if it neglects the political dimension.
Competences
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
- Following the characteristic code of ethics of the professional practice.
- Having interpersonal skills.
- Know and understand politics and international relations in East Asia.
- Knowing and using the information and communication technology resources (ICT) in order to collect, produce, analyse and present information related to the East Asian Studies.
- Knowing the history, values, beliefs and ideologies of East Asia in order to understand and critically assess social issues, phenomena, and processes related with that region.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Solving conflict situations.
- Working in teams in an international, multilingual and multicultural context.
Learning Outcomes
- Assessing the obtained results in the search information process in order to update the knowledge about political sciences, economy and sociology.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Developing self-learning strategies.
- Ensuring the quality of one's own work.
- Following the characteristic code of ethics of the professional practice.
- Having interpersonal skills.
- Know and understand politics and international relations in East Asia.
- Knowing the history, values, beliefs and ideologies of East Asia in order to understand and critically assess social issues, phenomena, and processes related with that region.
- Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
- Solving conflict situations.
- Using different tools for specific purposes in the fields of political sciences, economy and sociology.
- Using the specific terminology of political sciences, economy and sociology.
- Working in teams in an international, multilingual and multicultural context.
Content
PART I. CHINESE POLITICS
UNIT 1. The foundations of the Chinese politics and perspectives of analysis.
UNIT 2. The imperial political system and the Nationalist Republic.
UNIT 3. Ideology and legitimization of the Popular Republic of China. From Maoism to nowadays.
UNIT 4. Power structure and organization: Constitution; Chinese Communist Party; Central and Local Government; Popular Liberation Army.
UNIT 5. Political participation and social movements.
UNIT 6. “One country, two systems”: Politics in Taiwan and in Hong Kong.
PART II. JAPANESE POLITICS
UNIT 1. Approaches to the study of the Japanese political system. The fundamentals of Japanese politics.
UNIT 2. The new post-war political system.
UNIT 3. Institutional organization.
UNIT 4. Actors in political system.
UNIT 5. Case studies: deepening certain topics from the course content.
Methodology
Throughout the term, the professor will offer lectures on East Asian Politics. In addition to the contents explained during class, the prorefessor will offer a series of compulsory and additional readings, which will constitute the bulk of the course’s materials. The students will also be compelled to use academic and scholarly sources, such as journals, books, especialized essays, and different reference tools and data repositories. Along with lecture classes, the professor will propose practical activities such as watching documentaries and/or fiction films which the students will analyse and discuss in classs. Resources will be made available at Campus Virtual in order to complement and update the course’s contents, especially regarding current political issues at East Asia. Ongoing political developments will be discussed and debated in class.
The proposed methodology may undergo some modification depending on the restrictions on attendance imposed by the health authorities.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Directed activities: Lectures, debates, analysis of texts | 50 | 2 | 5, 1, 7, 8, 3, 2, 10, 9, 6, 13, 11, 12, 4 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Autonomous activities: Written assignments | 49.34 | 1.97 | 5, 1, 7, 8, 3, 2, 11, 12, 4 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Autonomous activities: Reading assignments, Documentation searches | 49 | 1.96 | 5, 1, 7, 8, 3, 2, 10, 9, 6, 13, 11, 12, 4 |
Assessment
Assessment is continuous. Students must provide evidence of their progress by completing tasks and tests. Task deadlines will be indicated in the course schedule on the first day of class
The course includes three assessment activities:
1. Assessment test on Japanese politics (35% of the final mark of the course)
2. Assessment test on Chinese politics (35% of the final mark of the subject)
3. Individual written assignment on Japanese or Chinese politics (30% of the final mark of the subject)
Related matters
The above information on assessment, assessment activities and their weighting is merely a guide. The subject's lecturer will provide full information when teaching begins.
Review
When publishing final marks prior to recording them on students' transcripts, the lecturer will provide written notification of a date and time for reviewing assessment activities. Students must arrange reviews in agreement with the lecturer.
Missed/failed assessment activities
Students may retake assessment activities they have failed or compensate for any they have missed, provided that those they have actually performed account for a minimum of 66.6% (two thirds) of the subject's final mark and that they have a weighted average mark of at least 3.5. Under no circumstances may an assessment activity worth 100% of the final mark be retaken or compensated for.
The lecturer will inform students of the procedure involved, in writing, when publishing final marks prior to recording them on transcripts. The lecturer may set one assignment per failed or missed assessment activity or a single assignment to cover a number of such activities.
Classification as "not assessable"
In the event of the assessment activities a student has performed accounting for just 25% or less of the subject's final mark, their work will be classified as "not assessable" on their transcript.
Misconduct in assessment activities
Students who engage in misconduct (plagiarism, copying, personation, etc.) in an assessment activity will receive a mark of “0” for the activity in question. In thecase of misconduct in more than one assessment activity, the students involved willbe given a final mark of “0” for the subject.
Students may not retake assessment activities in which they are found to have engaged in misconduct. Plagiarism is considered to mean presenting all or part of an author's work, whether published in print or in digital format, as one's own, i.e. without citing it. Copying is considered to mean reproducing all or a substantial part of another student's work. In cases of copying in which it is impossible to determine which of two students has copied the work of the other, both will be penalised.
More information: http://www.uab.cat/web/study-abroad/undergraduate/academic-information/evaluation/what-is-it-about-1345670077352.html
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment test on Chinese politics | 35% | 0.58 | 0.02 | 5, 7, 8, 3, 2, 12, 4 |
| Assessment test on Japanese politics | 35% | 0.58 | 0.02 | 5, 7, 8, 3, 2, 12, 4 |
| Individual written assignment on Japanese or Chinese politics | 30% | 0.5 | 0.02 | 5, 1, 7, 8, 3, 2, 10, 9, 6, 13, 11, 12, 4 |
Bibliography
References: Chinese politics
CARLSON, Allen, Contemporary Chinese Politics: New Sources, Methods, and Field Strategies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010 (e-book, via Servei Biblioteques UAB)
DITTMER, Lowell, ed., Taiwan and China. Fitful Embrace. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31093
DREYER, June Treufel, China's Political System. Modernization and Tradition. Nueva York: Routledge, 10th ed., 2019 (e-book,via Servei Biblioteques UAB)
FEWSMITH, Joseph, China since Tiananmen. The Politics of Transition. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 200. Llibre en línia (via Servei Biblioteques UAB)
GOLLEY, Jane; JAIVIN, Linda; HILLMAN, Ben; STRANGE, Sharon, eds. China Dreams. China Story Yearbook. Acton: ANU Press, 2020. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/37595
GUO, Sujian, Chinese Politics and Government. Power, ideology, and organization. Routledge, New York,2012. (e-book, via Servei Biblioteques UAB)
JOSEPH, W. A., Politics in China: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010, 3rd ed, 2019. (e-book, via Servei Biblioteques UAB)
KUAH-PEARCE, Khun Eng; GUIHEUX, Gilles, eds., Social Movements in China and Hong Kong. The Expansion of Protest Space. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2009. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/35311
LU, Yu-Ting, Taiwan. Historia, política e identidad. Barcelona, Edicions Bellaterra, 2010.
MA Ngok, Political Development in Hong Kong, State, Political Society and Civil Society. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2007 (Chapter One: Political Development in Hong Kong; Chapter Nine: An Institutionalist’s Conclusion) https://hkupress.hku.hk/pro/con/784.pdf
PEOPLE'S DAILY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMENTARY, Narrating China's Governance. Stories in Xi Jinping's Speeches. Singapore: Springer Nature, 2020. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/23173
SORACE, Christian; FRANCESCHINI, Ivan; LOUBERE, Nicholas, eds. Afterlives of Chinese Communism, Political Concepts from Mao to Xi. ANU Press, 2019 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/24972
U, Eddy, Creating the Intellectual. Chinese Communism and the Rise of a Classification. Oakland: University of California Press, 2019. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/25146
UNGER, Jonathan, ed., The Nature of Chinese Politics. From Mao to Jiang. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. (e-book, via Servei Biblioteques UAB)
WRIGHT, Teresa, Party and State in post-Mao China. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2015.
References: Japanese politics
Andrews,W. (2016). Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture, from 1945 to Fukushima. London: Hurst & Company.
Ehrhardt, G.; Klein, A.; McLaughlin, L.; Reed, S. R. (2014). Kōmeitō: Politics and religion in Japan. Berkeley, CA: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.
Gaunder, A. (2011). The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Politics. London: Routledge. <http://cataleg.uab.cat/record=b1938882~S1*cat>.
George Mulgan, Aurelia (2006). Power and Pork: A Japanese Political Life. Canberra:ANU Press. <http://cataleg.uab.cat/record=b1714329~S1*cat>.
Hayes, L. D. (2009). Introduction to Japanese politics (5th ed.). Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. <cataleg.uab.cat/record=b1892653~S1*cat>. 6th ed.: <https://www.amazon.es/Introduction-Japanese-Politics-Louis-Hayes/dp/1138244155/>.
Kingston, J. (ed.) (2013). Critical Readings on Contemporary Japanese Politics. Leiden: Brill. <http://cataleg.uab.cat/record=b1892632~S1*cat>.
Maruyama, M., & Morris, I. (1969). Thought and Behaviour in Modern Japanese Politics. London : Oxford University Press. <http://cataleg.uab.cat/record=b1806003~S1*cat>.
Oda, H. (2012). Japanese Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schoppa, L. J. (2014). The Evolution of Japan's Party System: Politics and Policy in an Era of Institutional Change. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Stockwin, J.A.A (1975, 2008). Governing Japan. Divided Politics in a Resurgent Economy. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 4th ed. <http://cataleg.uab.cat/record=b1805670~S1*cat>.
____ (2003). Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Japan. London: Routledge. <http://cataleg.uab.cat/record=b1723839~S1*cat>.
____ (2012). Japanese Foreign Policy and Understanding Japanese Politics: The Writings of J.A.A. Stockwin. Leiden: Global Oriental.
Vosse, W.; Drifte, R.; Blechinger-Talcott, V. (2016). Governing Insecurity in Japan: The Domestic Discourse and Policy Response. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis.
Wan, Ming (2016). Understanding Japan–China Relations: Theories and Issues. New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing Company.
Woodall, B. (2014). Growing Democracy in Japan: The Parliamentary Cabinet System since 1868. Lexington, Ky: Univ. Press of Kentucky.
Software
Non used.