China's Industrial Performance Since 1978

1992 ◽  
Vol 131 ◽  
pp. 577-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Michael Field

In the late 1970s, Chinese industry was on the verge of collapse. Its high but erratic rate of growth since 1949 had been achieved by using ever-increasing amounts of labour and capital. Not only was industry operating inefficiently, but the output mix was inappropriate and inventories had accumulated to very high levels. However, the true state of affairs had been obscured by the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) and the virtual disbanding of the State Statistical Bureau (SSB).

Author(s):  
Georg Menz

Despite the state being such a central actor in establishing and policing the rules of the game of any given political economy, its role is often neglected. In this chapter, we briefly review relevant state theories and explore changes to the nature and appearance of the capitalist state. The awesome increase in the political fire power of the financial service sector has unfortunately led to regulatory capture. The state can no longer be considered a neutral umpire, being heavily influenced by the prerogatives of major banking institutions. This state of affairs corrupts the hopes that liberals place in the self-policing powers of the marketplace and reflects certain fears on the political left regarding the pernicious effects of ‘financialization’.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Alexey V. Makarkin

The Russian Parliament is often considered to be an unpopular authority, though on closer examination it becomes evident that the situation is more complicated than it could seem at first glance. The popularity of State Duma during the presidency of Vladimir Putin is really inferior to the popularity of the President, still the attitude to the State Duma as the instrument of power depends greatly on the actual political state of affairs and the state of public opinion, and has changed in different times. At the same time the reaction of the society to the lawmaking process may be of more fundamental character. The conservative style of behavior of the Russian people in recent years has substantially changed their attitude to the law, and can be viewed as an important new factor of public opinion. We could speak about such social phenomenon as “new conservatism” that is more related to the style of life than to the political choice, when this style is targeted to the “normality” demonstrated in the concern for the personal and family health and welfare, and respect for the law, even if the law is not perfect, as the necessary tool for the defense of the citizen’s interests. Such conservatism favors the growth of the “Yedinaya Rossia” (“United Russia”) party rating, but doesn’t exclude the possibility of those conservatives voting for non-conservative parties, depending on the sympathies and current political challenges.


Africa ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Obbo

Opening ParagraphThe aim of the essay is to highlight gaps in existing knowledge of African women and bring to light new queries. The argument being presented is that African women assert their individuality by exploring the options available within their respective societies. While it is unsafe to generalize about Africa, the dominance of men in the public, especially the political and ritual spheres, is well illustrated by ethnographies on Africa. Women are on the whole invisible or shadowy figures except in a handful of ethnographies that take a woman's perspective (for example, Leith-Ross, 1939; Kaberry, 1952; and Paulme (ed.), 1963). The ideology of male dominance is taken for granted as representative of the true state of affairs between men and women in Africa. Whereas every researcher probably knows that ideologies are not realities, somehow that knowledge becomes insignificant when dealing with African societies.


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Byung-ok Kil

This inquiry demonstrates that the political legitimacy of a certain society is historically determined, reflects specific institutional and contextual features, and employs a variety of meanings. These meanings can describe both a state of affairs and a process that ultimately involves justifications for legitimate agents and socio-political structures. This paper attepmpts to understand how the meanings of political legitimacy are conceptualized in society. As a case study, it questions: What are the conditions for the existence of political legitimacy and how have they been constructed? How is political legitimacy endorsed in South Korea today, and how does it differ from the past? This paper applies a deconstructive theory of political legitimacy that exploresa a distinctively modern style, or 'art of governance' that has an all-encompassing, as well as individualized effect upon its constituencies. By this approach, this paper argues that the concept of unification does not have a solid significance in the real world, but rather, it is an imaginary idea imposed by the dominant elite class, which is constantly imposed, reinterpreted and transformed in its political context.


1958 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 791-808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert P. Secher

The Second Republic of Austria is now well into its thirteenth year of national existence. The First Republic, thirteen years after its creation, showed all the signs of political disillusionment and impending dissolution. The Second Republic, in happy contrast, presents to the foreign observer a picture of political stability, economic prosperity, and sound foreign relations almost unequalled in this part of Europe. Much of the credit for this unusual state of affairs must be attributed to the two major political parties, the Oesterreichische Volkspartei (OeVP) and the Sozialistische Partei Oesterreichs (SPOe) which, uninterruptedly since 1945, have collaborated in the political resuscitation of the state that was once characterized as having “a strong tendency toward nonexistence.”


1987 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 444-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo A. Orleans

China's drive towards modernization has been accompanied by a phenomenal increase in the number of statistics available. The statistical hiatus during the Cultural Revolution was followed by a revived and revitalized State Statistical Bureau (SSB) which in recent years has been churning out figures on every conceivable aspect of China's economy and society. Notoriously suspect in the past, China's statistics are now recognized as being much more indicative of the true state of China's development and, what is more, they are improving.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Khristianto Khristianto ◽  
Widya Nirmawalati

The novel RDP came out in 1982, when the new order regime was still firmly established. One of the important criticisms in the work was the "incorrect" handling of communism by the government at that time following the eruption of the G30S/PKI history. The author of the novel tries to bring a different view of the issue. This paper tries to present how the original Banyumas personified the political turmoil-how the laypeople interpreted the events that had consumed them as victims, or the sacrificed. Based on the recurrent reading of the Indonesian-language RDP novel and Javanese language Banyumasan, the authors firmly state that the people of Dukuh Paruk are merely victims of the outside world. People of the hamlet have no idea what they are doing, other than that they want to perpetuate the tradition they are proud of, ronggeng. Nor do they blame or think that there are people outside of those who have committed crimes against them. The disaster that befall them is none other due to their mistakes do not run the rituals that must be done before performances ronggeng. Their elders also realized that the pageblug had been signaled by the appearance of the latitude of the cubes (comets), and they had ignored the cue. Thus, pageblug should be accepted. Against the innocence of clean thought, the author asserts that something is wrong with them, systematically practiced by the regime at that time. He agreed that the coup was false; but the way in which the state deals with such problems is also unjustifiable. The state has clearly punished many Indonesians without trial, and killed thousands of innocent people.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 85-94
Author(s):  
Epp Lauk

This article attempts to explain the relationships between journalists, politics and the state from the perspective of collective autonomy, that of the professional organization of journalists. The case of Estonian Journalists’ Union demonstrates the complexity and historical contingency of professional autonomy of journalism. The development of the Estonian journalists’ organization occurred as a sequence of transformations from the Estonian Journalists’ Association to the Estonian Journalists’ Union to the Soviet type journalists’ union, and lastly to an independent trade union. This sequence was disrupted by several fatal breakdowns that changed not only the character of the association, but also professional values, the whole occupational ideology and the conditions of the existence of journalism as a profession in Estonia.


Author(s):  
Mark Philp

Corruption denotes decay or perversion. The term implies that there is a natural or normal standard of functioning or conduct from which the corrupt state of affairs or action deviates. When we talk of a person becoming corrupt, we mean not just that they have broken a rule, but that the basic norms of ethical conduct no longer have any force for them. Corruption strikes at the root of a thing. Political corruption involves the decay or perversion of political rule. Broadly, this occurs when a group or individual subverts a society’s publicly endorsed practices for conciliating conflicts and pursuing the common good so as to gain illegitimate advantage for their interests in the political process. The precise specification of the nature and dynamics of corruption is inherently controversial. Classical accounts associate it with a collapse of civic virtue and the eventual destruction of the state. Modern theories focus more narrowly on the misuse of public office for private gain.


Author(s):  
Taomo Zhou

This chapter studies how the 1965 regime change in Indonesia gave rise to a new round of Red-versus-Blue competition. As Suharto's authoritarian rule replaced the Sukarno-PKI alliance, the cross–Taiwan Strait politics between the two Chinas became intertwined with the anti-Communist campaign and mass violence in Indonesia. The suspension of Sino-Indonesian relations reflected the paralysis of PRC diplomacy and greatly contributed to the growing sociopolitical mobilization during the early stages of the Cultural Revolution. The popular misperception in Indonesia that the PRC had sponsored a Communist coup was bolstered by the violent clashes between the PRC's Indonesian diplomatic mission and right-wing youth; the Red Guards' retaliatory attacks on the Indonesian diplomatic compound in China; the inflammatory broadcasts of Radio Peking; and the fiery tirades in the People's Daily against Suharto. Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist government in Taiwan capitalized on the golden opportunity provided by the anti-Communist fervor in Indonesia, which had been fueled by the fall of Sukarno, the demise of the Indonesian Communists, and the country's turn toward the capitalist West. Ultimately, the political turmoil in Indonesia between 1965 and 1967 gave rise to a period of insecurity for most of the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia.


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