Chinese Politics Mini-Conference

This proposed mini-conference brings together scholars studying Chinese politics from across the discipline and from institutions in Asia, America and Europe. As the People’s Republic of China prepares to enter its eighth decade in existence, our panelists examine some of the key pillars behind its sustained authoritarian rule, including: the contemporary relevance of historical practices and institutions of governance; the management of personnel, including through anti-corruption policies; the politics of policymaking and governance; and, the increasingly crucial issue of information control and public opinion management through strategies that range from repression and ideological indoctrination to limited responsiveness to popular input, which is deployed as a mechanism for building trust and government legitimacy.

The proposed conference follows three successful mini-conferences held at APSA in 2016, 2017, and 2018 (sponsored by Division 13) each of which drew an audience that was 2-4 times higher than the average audience of APSA panels. This year, we solicited proposals from a wide range of scholars and institutions, resulting in 77 submissions. Ultimately, we accepted 20 of the proposals based on their quality and fit.

In addition to sharing cutting-edge research, an important purpose of the proposed mini-conference is to build bridges within the field of Chinese politics. The mini-conference will also include a lunchtime breakout session, organized by field of interest, which will allow scholars who share research interests to have conversations in smaller groups. Tentatively, the meal will be sponsored by one or more of the research centers at the organizers’ home institutions.

To further the goal of building a more cohesive Chinese politics subfield, the proposed slate of authors includes a range of perspectives and voices. Several of the papers examine China from a comparative perspective, allowing insights from the Chinese case to be integrated better in general debates in comparative politics. The papers use qualitative and quantitative approaches, and the presenting authors include senior scholars, junior scholars, postdoctoral fellows and advanced graduate students. Many papers are co-authored, often by pairs of junior and senior scholars. We have strived to achieve gender balance among the 46 paper presenters, panel discussants, and panel chairs.