Abstract
This chapter aims to apply the theoretical framework constructed in the previous chapter to explore the state and society dynamics in the Confucian revival. It attempts to answer two key questions: why is Confucianism undergoing a revival in contemporary Chinese society, and what is the role of the Chinese state in this reemergence of Confucianism?
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Notes
- 1.
For a detailed discussion of this point, see Chap. 6.
- 2.
For a detailed discussion of the Confucian classes and courses, see Chap. 6.
- 3.
For a clear description of the CCP and State Council’s central organizations, please refer to Shambaugh (2000).
- 4.
The central state’s official documents have never explicitly claimed that it endorses Confucianism. What it claims to support is always for “traditional culture”. In fact, this is an important tactic that the central state uses to control Confucianism. For details, please see Chap. 6. But due to the close relationship between Confucianism and traditional culture, at least some parts of Confucianism can be viewed as “traditional culture” and therefore can be promoted.
- 5.
The five rules are included in the “Provisional Rules for the Administration of Periodicals”. For detailed discussion of the rules, see Chang et al. (2003).
- 6.
The Chinese propaganda system is mainly composed of two institutions: one is the Communist Party Propaganda system and the other is the state bureaucratic agencies concerning information control and propaganda like the General Administration of Press and Publications. In reality, as the party propaganda system usually leads the state functional agencies, the two can be viewed as merged. The central party propaganda department usually settles every detail of the newly developed party ideology, usually by party leaders. Local branches can only passively receive the edicts. Most of the CCPPD’s work is concentrated on writing and disseminating official ideological propaganda information (Shambaugh 2007).
- 7.
Such reasoning is supported by Historical Institutionalism which emphasizes the lingering impact of historical institutions or policies on the behavior of current political actors. Its sequencing approach supports “path dependent” theories and views contextual features of a given situation inherited from the past, as pushing current development along a set of “paths” (Collier and Collier 1991; Downing 1992; Krasner 1988). As North (1990, p. 112) explains, “Path dependence comes from the increasing returns mechanisms that reinforce the direction once on a given path”. The self-reinforcing dynamics of path dependence can be illustrated through the case that political actors, during an early formative period of power consolidation, promote institutions that enable them to maintain their rule. During this period, once certain options are chosen, they would have strong influence over the sequencing of institutional development. Similarly, the Chinese state, during its early formative period, enshrined Marxism and Maoism as official ideologies and instilled them into the general public as a way of sustaining its rule. This practice has placed strong constraints upon the state’s (especially the central state) subsequent policies concerning ideology, because it would incur immeasurable instability if the CCP went back on its current official ideologies.
- 8.
- 9.
- 10.
The details of the nomenklatura and its reforms are very complicated. The description here is only a brief outline of the complex party nomenklatura reforms from 1983 to 1984. Landry (2008) gives a detailed and insightful description of the reform as a whole, including its background and scope, etc.
- 11.
- 12.
For a full version of the document, please see www.eol.cn/guojia_3489/20060323/t20060323_49571.shtml
- 13.
In fact, Lynch (1999) believes that the propaganda system during the Maoist period was decentralized at least in its form. However, he also acknowledged that the system was, in fact, highly centralized in terms of its propaganda content as the local cadres simply did not dare diverge from the center in any meaningful way.
- 14.
For a detailed description of the whole process, please refer to Lynch (1999).
- 15.
Whiting (2000) has a detailed description of the differences in bonuses due to different performances.
- 16.
In 1986, 1988, and 1989, the Central Organization Department (zhonggong zhongyang zuozhibu) has imposed and institutionalized several versions of the CES for the evaluations of local party and government officials.
- 17.
However, in actual practice, there is great variance among different departments and localities in their local practices. But the general principle is that achievement is the primary indicator.
- 18.
Sociological Institutionalism is one branch of New Institutionalism. It accentuates the intermediating impact of the socio-cultural context upon actors’ behavior. While not denying that actors are purposeful or rational, Sociological Institutionalism stresses that political actors are more guided by their understandings of “appropriate behavior” in specific situations, the so-called social logic of appropriateness (March and Olsen 1989). It emphasizes that institutions work on actors through affecting their understanding of what is “appropriate behavior” within a given situation (Scharpf 1997). In other words, actors’ behavior is mainly shaped by what they believe or interpret as socially and culturally appropriate, which, though heavily influenced by institutions, is also affected by the actors’ personal worldviews or choices which are developed and transmitted through socialization and therefore exogenous to institutions. That is to say, institutions alone do not determine political actors’ behavior.
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Pang, Q. (2019). The Chinese State’s Decentralized Response Towards the Confucian Revival and Its Institutional Base. In: State-Society Relations and Confucian Revivalism in Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8312-9_3
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