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This lecture starts with a short historical overview of Chinese politics (1949 – present) including a basic introduction to reference tools and online data bases. It outlines key theories and methods for the analysis of Chinese politics. The second part deals with China’s political system(s) – including Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan – and the organizational structure of the Chinese party-state. Furthermore, it discusses the interplay between legitimacy, efficiency and different modes of participation in the context of Chinese politics. The third part discusses key features of China’s political economy on three levels (national, regional, global) and summarizes selected scenarios of China’s past and future development (moving beyond the black-and-white typology of transformation theories). The fourth part focuses on traditional and non-traditional security in China’s domestic and external affairs. This includes the role of the military in Chinese politics, social unrest and contestation in China, party-military relations, regional security (and the island disputes), energy security as well as China’s position vis-à-vis R2P interventions. All materials and additional readings for this lecture are available on the Moodle platform (please register for “Politics in China” on the UDE’s elearning system)

REQUIREMENTS: blended learning: active participation (via Zoom) + preparation of the reading materials; short presentation (via Zoom); final exam