Sixty years of the People's Republic: local perspectives on the evolution of the state in China

Although the People's Republic of China turns 60 in 2009, popular and to some extent academic perceptions of its political system remain over-determined by the experience of its first 30 years. The socio-economic impact of the policies of the last three decades is well recognised but not the context in which these have occurred. In particular, there is a tendency to differentiate sharply between dramatic economic growth and its consequences and the lack of political change. While it is clearly the case that the Chinese Communist Party remains in power it is equally as obvious that economic reform has had and been accompanied by major political change. Studies on the state in transition at local levels certainly suggest that change has been significant. Moreover, these local studies also indicate the need to further conceptualise understanding of the state in China. The state idea is rather too general a concept and too blunt an instrument for analysis compared to research that considers the state's values and ideology, the social base of political power, the structures and processes of the political system, the authoritative decision-makers, bureaucracy and administration, and the state's international interactions. Keywords: Chinastatelocalsocial and political change Acknowledgments David S. G. Goodman is Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Sydney, Where he is also Director of the Institute of Social Sciences. He was educated at the University of Manchester (Politics and Modern History), Peking University (Economics) and the London School of Oriental and African Studies (Chinese and Chinese Politics.) His research has concentrated on China's provincial politics; the history of the Chinese Communist Party; and social and political change in China since 1900, especially at the local level. He is currently undertaking research on the formation of local elites in contemporary China (with Dr Beatriz Carrillo and Dr Minglu Chen); and on German colonial adventurers in China 1870–1937 (with Dr Yixu Lu). His most recent publication is The New Rich in China: Future Rulers, Present Lives (2008)