Prof. Susan Whiting Government and Politics of China POL S 442/SISEA 449 Midterm Exam Review I. Exam format The exam is closed-book. Please bring a blue book. Please do not write your name on the blue book. Part A: Short Answer/Multiple Choice (40 percent) Answer the short question posed, or circle the correct responses. Part B: Essay (60 percent) Respond to the given question in a coherent, well-organized essay. II. Concepts, events, and individuals: be able to identify/define and to state significance Confucianism Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860) mandate of heaven Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) Sun Yatsen predatory peasant strategy May 4th Movement (1919) Chiang Kaishek protective peasant strategy May 30th Incident (1925) Mao Zedong revolution vs. rebellion First United Front (1924-1927) Zhou Enlai K’uo Min-t’ang (KMT) Second United Front (1937-1945) Liu Shaoqi Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Long March (1934-1935) Deng Xiaoping democratic centralism Party Rectification (Yan’an) (1942) Chen Yun agricultural producers’ cooperative “New Democracy” (1948-1950) Peng Dehuai price scissors Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956) Lin Biao Soviet-style planned economy Anti-Rightist Campaign (1957) Jiang Qing commune Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) Hua Guofeng household registration system (hukou) Lushan Plenum (1959) Wan Li household responsibility syst. (baochan daohu) Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) voluntarism Shanghai Communique (1972) People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Third Plenum of Eleventh Central Committee (1978) nationalism III. Thematic questions to consider (These questions provide an indication of the type of question that might appear on the exam.) 1. How did foreign as opposed to domestic influences shape the Chinese revolution over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? 2. What is a Leninist party, and how did it affect the success of the Communists in the anti-Japanese resistance and the civil war against the KMT? 3. China started the twentieth century as one of the poorest countries in the world. What strategies did the CCP employ to promote “catch-up” development? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each strategy in terms of promoting economic development? What is the role of capital accumulation versus market incentives/efficiency? 4. What marked the advent of “modern politics” in China? How did the modern political system contrast with the traditional one? 5. What were the divisions within both state and society in China of the 1960s that explain the extent of violence that occurred during the Cultural Revolution? 6. What are the defining characteristics of a totalitarian regime? 7. How does a totalitarian regime handle policy conflicts? political succession? 8. What accounts for the durability of the CCP regime over the past six decades? What are the sources of political legitimacy? What is the role of coercion? (continued next page) 9. In terms of ideology, organizational techniques and mass support, how did CCP claim triumph over KMT in the civil war between 1945 and 1949? 10. Name the key institutions of China’s planned industrialization, and explain their working mechanism. Did they achieve the desired results? What negative social consequences did these institutions result in? 11. How is Chinese nationalism in the 1990s different from nationalism in the 1910s in terms of material base, its perception on ruling power and cultural orientation? 12. How did Mao perceive peasants’ revolutionary potential in the 1920s? How was his perception different from Perry’s account? Compare Mao’s description of Hunan and Perry’s account of Huaipei, did they show different revolutionary potential? IV. Additional suggestions Be prepared to evaluate primary-source documents relating to subjects we have covered. Also be prepared to discuss the memoir Spider Eaters in terms of the themes and issues discussed in class. Lecture outlines, reading questions, and class exercises are good materials to review in exam preparation. .