Government Theory

Author: Qiao Yaozhang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-09-01
Features: To meet the needs of teaching, strengthen the construction of discipline development and the master's program in political science, and strive for new heights, under the direct care and support of the relevant leaders of the former School of Political Science and Public Administration, we organized the writing of the Contemporary Political Science Research Series for master's supervisors in the fall of 1998. I was responsible for topic selection, and Shen Ronghua was responsible for publishing matters. At that time, the tone set for the Series was: to focus on the theoretical and practical issues of modernization in politics, particularly on the theoretical and practical issues of modern states and governments, and to expect the Series to show distinctive features:
1. The selection of topics adopted a rolling approach. The first batch determined six topics: (1) Cybernetics of the State, written by Professor Zhuang Xiao and Qian Zhenming et al.; (2) Political Philosophy (later changed to Methodology of Political Science), written by Zhang Ming; (3) Government Theory, written by me; (4) Theories of Modern Rule of Law Government, written by Shen Ronghua; (5) Public Policy Analysis—Theory and Practice, written by Niu Jusheng; (6) Deng Xiaoping and Contemporary Chinese Politics, written by Fang Shining, Chen Shaoying, and Lu Jianhong. Additionally, new topics would be written as needed.
2. Due to certain specific reasons, the Series adopted a democratic and open approach or a "Soviet-style" model, without establishing an editorial committee or writing a preface, with full responsibility for the content. As one of the Series, Government Theory consumed nearly three years of valuable time from its conception to its presentation to readers. This was mainly due to heavy workloads, and coupled with my "late entry" into the field—although I had been engaged in the study, teaching, and research of Marxist political theory for nearly a quarter of a century, it was only in recent years that I truly began to study government as a relatively independent object. There were still many areas that I had not yet explored, and my understanding of government theory was limited and superficial. The publication of this book only indicates that my research on government theory has just begun, and the road ahead will be even longer and broader.
There were also some reasons due to the inherent difficulty of government theory itself, which has long been a focus of researchers both at home and abroad, with thousands of research outcomes, yet often leading to conflicting conclusions. For someone like me, a latecomer, it felt quite chaotic and overwhelming. As a result, I once had doubts, changed the topic several times, and even considered renaming it New Government Theory or New Theories of Government, Government Studies, Government Theory and Practice, etc. In the end, the current topic was retained, but the outline was adjusted and revised several times, and after much turmoil, I finally rushed to submit the manuscript to the publisher in the face of time constraints and task pressure, hoping to cast a stone to attract jade and seek advice from experts.
I should express my gratitude to those researchers who have pioneered and cultivated in the field of government theory, as their hard work has provided us with abundant theoretical resources on government, laying the foundation for this book. Of course, to learn from and creatively write about existing achievements in government theory is also not easy but arduous, yet the joy lies in the struggle. During the writing process of this book, I received support from relevant leaders and colleagues, as well as strong support from my master's student, Zhu Demi, who is now pursuing a Ph.D. at Fudan University. He helped me write Chapter 5, creatively addressing some of the shortcomings in the expression of certain issues and compensating for the lack of explanation in others. When revising and finalizing the manuscript, in addition to adding connecting content in the structure, no major changes were made.
Due to the limitations of my knowledge and the haste of writing, the shortcomings and issues left in this book will be gradually addressed and overcome through further in-depth study, research, and exploration. At the time of this book's publication, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the hardworking editors and other colleagues who contributed to its publication!
Author, January 2000, Suzhou University
This book discusses the basic concepts of government, the origin of government, the nature of government, the classification of government, the system of government, the development of government, and the sinicization of government theory, as well as government reform and modernization.