POL8303 Political Culture and Public Opinion in Contemporary China

2020/10/9 10:10:07

2credits

Since the reform and opening up, China has experienced tremendous transformations and ordinary citizens are playing more and more important roles in the country’s political life. Public opinion and political culture research concerns about how ordinary people situate themselves in politics, evaluate public policies and government performance, and how their attitudes, values, and believes affect real politics. This course explores the structure and dynamics of Chinese public opinion, providing a broad-based introduction to the forces that shape people’s political attitudes in the contemporary Chinese society. Three major areas will be surveyed: theories of political culture and factors that influence public opinion, how public opinion in turn influence governmental policies, and public opinions in specific issue areas of the Chinese society. Through this course, students are expected to gain a better understanding of the political culture and public opinion in contemporary China.