POLS 088. Special Topics: Post-Communism in Russia and China (CP)

During the Cold War, the USSR (Russia) and China were compared as two communist regimes. The Cold War ended, and they were compared as examples of failed and successful socialist and post-socialist reform. Now, they are compared as two formidable autocracies. Will this current approach to comparison be more useful and enduring than previous ones? If we consider the long arc of political and economic development through the twentieth and early 21st century, what do the two countries have in common, and how are they different? Do the similarities and differences matter, and if so, in what way? How can comparative political analysis aid us in answering these questions?
Prerequisite: ONE of the following courses: POLS 003, POLS 004, POLS 056, POLS 058, POLS 108, or permission of the instructor.
Social sciences.
1 credit.
Eligible for ASIA; PPE.
Catalog chapter: Political Science
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/political-science

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