AEI - Tocqueville on China

RESEARCH AREAS

Tocqueville on China

Today's China-watchers face no shortage of issues or policy areas to study. Experts look at China's economy, foreign and defense policies, human rights record, business practices, corruption levels, environmental policies, even demographics. But for all the important work being done on China today, we believe too little attention has been paid to understanding contemporary Chinese civic culture. Yet it is precisely China's underlying civic culture which will, as much as anything, help inform how particular policy issues are addressed by the Chinese, and more broadly, how China is likely to develop in the future. Perhaps the greatest student of civic culture is Alexis de Tocqueville, whose studies of American democracy and pre-revolutionary France still represent the gold standard in terms of elucidating the fundamental civic spirit--the moeurs--of both regimes. In the tradition of Tocqueville's studies and methodology, AEI's "Tocqueville on China" project convenes a select group of scholars, policy analysts, and government experts to generate innovative studies that elicit the underlying civic culture of post-Mao China, enabling policymakers to better understand the internal forces and pressures that are shaping China's future.

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Scholars and Fellows

Schmitt, Gary 80
Resident Scholar
Gary J. Schmitt

Blumenthal, Dan 80
Resident fellow
Dan Blumenthal

AEI resident scholar Gary J. Schmitt and resident fellow Dan Blumenthal hosted the initial "Tocqueville on China" session on December 15, 2006, at AEI, which convened both Tocqueville scholars and Sinologists to discuss the aforementioned ideas and assess how the project might proceed.

The second meeting, which addressed the role that religion plays in Chinese civil society, was held on May 10, 2007. A third session, focusing on the role of NGOs in China, was convened on October 5, 2007. The most recent workshop, held on February 8, 2008, explored the complex issue of Chinese nationalism. A series of academic papers have been commissioned as part of the project. These papers, along with other materials related to each of the sessions, will be posted online as they become available.

For more information, please contact:

Tim Sullivan
Foreign and Defense Policy Studies
American Enterprise Institute
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 202.862.5902
E-mail: tim.sullivan@aei.org

Sessions

On December 15, 2006, AEI convened the first "Tocqueville on China" working group, which consisted of preliminary discussions on the underlying civic culture of post-Mao China. A subsequent working group, addressing the civic role of religion in modern China, was held at AEI on May 10, 2007.

AEI hosted its third working group, on NGOs and civil society in China, on October 5th, 2007. The most recent workshop, held on February 8, 2008, explored the complex issue of Chinese nationalism.

Information about each of the "Tocqueville on China" sessions--including a synopsis and event agenda--is available at the following links:

Session I: Tocqueville on China

Session II: Religion in China

Session III: NGOs in China

Session IV: Nationalism in China

Recommended Readings

Commissioned Papers

AEI's "Tocqueville on China" project has commissioned a series of papers designed to study the civic culture in contemporary China. The papers will be posted here as they become available.

Village-by-Village Democracy in China: What Seeds for Freedom?

By Robert T. Gannett Jr.
Monday, April 15, 2009

Despite government efforts to contain it, Chinese villagers are using "village democracy" to gain the skills and mores of democratic, self-governing people.

China's Protestants: A Mustard Seed for Moral Renewal?

By Carol Lee Hamrin
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

China's Protestant minority is growing in numbers, influence, and respectability. Can its values provide a firm foundation for Chinese civil society?

Corruption and Indignation: Windows into Popular Chinese Views of Right and Wrong

By Perry Link
Monday, April 7, 2008

How is it possible to know what Chinese people think and feel about their government? Three ways are through anticorruption novels, blogs, and rhyming ditties.