The development of China’s public administration education
| Author | Yadong Han,Pan Suk Kim,Xiufeng Li |
| Published date | 01 July 2018 |
| Date | 01 July 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0144739418764537 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Teaching Public Administration
The development of China’s
2018, Vol. 36(2) 163–177
ª The Author(s) 2018
public administration
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DOI: 10.1177/0144739418764537
education
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Xiufeng Li
School of Government, Beijing Normal University, China
Yadong Han
China Academy of Social Governance, Beijing Normal University, China
Pan Suk Kim
College of Government and Business, Yonsei University, South Korea
Abstract
China’s practices and knowledge of administrative sciences have a long history, but
modern public administration, as a relatively new discipline, has been established for less
than a century. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the his-
torical development of modern public administration education in China. This paper
reviews and analyzes the development of China’s modern public administration educa-
tion in two different periods, namely, before and after reform and the opening up of
China. Finally, it dissects the current problems and challenges facing China’s public
administration from an academic perspective and considers possible future trends for
modern public administration in China.
Keywords
China, public administration, education, research, discipline, history
Introduction
In the last decades, the People’s Republic of China (hereafter, China) has obtained
increasing worldwide attention in the fields of economic development and global affairs
by deepening and promoting its policies of reform and openness; it has also increased its
Corresponding author:
Pan Suk Kim, College of Government and Business, Yonsei University, Wonju Campus, 1 Yonseidaegil, Wonju,
Gangwon-do 220-710, South Korea.
Email: pankim@gmail.com; Telephone: þ82-33-760-2341
164
Teaching Public Administration 36(2)
influence on the economic and geopolitical situation in Asia and indeed, the world
(Gulrajani and Moloney, 2012; Xue, 2012). With improvements in China’s economic
and political strength and the unprecedented enhancement of its international standing,
Chinese politics and administration have also become widely discussed topics in
international public administration circles. In comparison, there is a significant amount
of literature on Chinese politics and economics but there are not many published
English-language studies on Chinese public administration. In fact, the international
community has not focused sufficiently on the historical development of China’s modern
public administration. In order to fill this gap, the main purpose of this paper is to shed
new light on the historical development of modern public administration in China.
Although China’s practices and knowledge of public administration have a long
history, its modern public administration, as a relatively new discipline, has been
established for less than a century. Near the end of the 19th century, China first learned
modern public administration or administrative sciences from the Western world as did
other neighboring Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea (Minakuchi, 2006;
Xu, 2007). However, the development of the social sciences, including political science
and public administration, was suspended by the establishment of the new socialist
regime and the following Cultural Revolution. After that, as China entered its age of
reform and openness under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership (Deng, 1994), public adminis-
tration education recovered gradually and expanded over the years.
Since then, under the strong influence of economic and social development, China’s
modern public administration has become an important force in actively promoting
worldwide development of public administration as an independent discipline, founding
professional institutions and academic organizations, establishing a complete degree
system, and extending the education of public servants. Accordingly, this article begins
with a theoretical discussion on modernization, followed by a historical overview and
discussion of the development of China’s modern public administration based on two
different periods: before and after reform and opening-up. Finally, this article discusses
emerging challenges and implications, followed by concluding remarks.
Modernization and diffusion
Chinese society is changing at a breathtaking rate of development as it undergoes
modernization, including industrialization and urbanization. China’s rapid economic
growth, modernization, and globalization have led to incredible social changes. How-
ever, modernization is not easy to define owing to the complexity of the associated
changes as well as the wide variety of ways in which nations have achieved progress.
According to modernization theory (Bernstein, 1971; Grasso et al., 2009; Inglehart and
Welzel, 2005; So, 1990; Tipps, 1973), modernization generally refers to progress from a
traditional or pre-modern to a modern society. It could also be defined as the process by
which societies move from an agrarian base to industrial structures of living via the
application of science, technology, and rational ideas. Elements commonly associated
with such restructuring of the social order include sustained economic growth, functional
specialization, increased public education, an increasing reliance on bureaucracy, and
Li et al.
165
enhanced quality of life (Grasso et al., 2009). Nonetheless, such a discussion on mod-
ernization remains controversial because one size does not fit all.
Many countries in the process of industrialization have emulated various systems that
originated outside their borders, from the earliest modernizers to developing countries.
Likewise, the Chinese adopted various systems and modern ideas from advanced
Western nations, a phenomenally wide range of new institutions, manufacturing meth-
ods, and communications technologies in a successful effort to convert their country into
a modern nation (Christensen et al., 2008, 2012; Grasso et al., 2009; Jacka et al., 2013;
Westney, 1987). The onset of modernization certainly brought revolution to China.
Revolutions bring about radical changes in the economic and political order of a country.
During the communist revolutionary periods, the Russian system of education and
industry, among others, also significantly influenced China.
During the post-Mao period, the Western influence, as a rational response to the
pressures of the international environment and to the inherent demands of indus-
trialization and urbanization, has prevailed in most aspects of Chinese life, including
education, administration, and business. In education, for example, two of the key
concepts regarding the cultivation of citizens have been wenming (civilization) and suzhi
(quality). The word wenming is invoked during campaigns to encourage the population
at large to behave in a more civilized manner. Government officials also commonly
invoke the word suzhi when discussing the means of improving the quality of the
population (Jacka et al., 2013). In fact, development or diffusion may start from imitation
and such imitation may eventually lead to innovation. Where cross-social diffusion is
concerned, however, the distinctions between imitation and innovation might be false
dichotomies because the successful imitation of foreign ideas may require innovation.
Moreover, selective emulation can occur when the new system builders try to avoid
certain limitations that become evident in the original model. At the center of current
Chinese history is an ongoing struggle between the forces of modernity and the pull of
tradition. Some elements of Chinese civilization were prepared for change, others
resisted it, and still other indigenous aspects of Chinese culture interacted with outside
stimuli to produce new elements (Grasso et al., 2009).
The development of China’s public administration education
The development of China’s modern public administration will be examined in two
different periods, namely, before and after reform and the opening-up of China. The
Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) brought China’s education system to a virtual halt for
several years. After Mao’s death in 1976, however, reformers led by Deng Xiaoping
began to dismantle the old policies associated with the Cultural Revolution.
China’s public administration before reform and the opening-up
Although China’s administrative practices and knowledge have a long history, modern
public administration as a relatively new discipline in the country has existed for less
than a century and was introduced by countries abroad. In 1895, in fact, after China was
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defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895),1 Chinese students were sent
abroad in batches, beginning with Japan (Sun, 2006). Japan was chosen for two reasons.
First, the defeat caused China to take notice of the newly rising Japan and generally the
need to obtain advanced knowledge from that country. Second, compared with Europe
and the US, travel to Japan was less costly and Japanese written characters were close to
Chinese characters and thus easy to understand.2 From 1896 to 1937, before the outbreak
of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), no fewer than 50,000 Chinese students
had studied in Japan (Sanetou, 1983: 1). Chinese students who studied in Japan at that
time played vitally important roles in politics, military affairs, literature, art, and other
fields. Representative students include Chiang Kai Shek, former President of the
Republic of China; Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, primary...
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