The Early Chinese Modernization In The Perspective Of New Institutionalism

Institution, the key to the comprehension of history, is the essential factor in the modernization. The history of civilization is indeed the history of social institutional change. The core of Chinese modernization lies in its corresponding social political institution system. It has been proved in practice that modernization depends on institutional reformation. As politics plays a decisive role in the Chinese social institutional change, the key element in Chinese modernization lies in the establishment of modernization-orientated political system with stability and high efficiency. The Early Chinese Modernization since 1898 has been a protracted tortuous process seeking the institutional change. With the guidance of Marxism, this thesis attempts to apply the New Institutionalism to give a dynamic description and analysis of the Early Chinese Modernization so as to present some implications for the institutional change in the Chinese political modernization.In addition to the introduction, the thesis is composed of four parts.Part I presents the general theories about modernization. Based on the dominance of modernization in the comprehensive analysis of the history of Chinese social and political transition in the academic circles, this thesis takes the theory of modernization as the basis for the explanation of Chinese politics. In this part, the author first reviews the achievements and the latest developments in this theory, then puts forward some ideas in the division of stages of modernization and its application in China.Part II presents the general theories about institutional change. According to New Institutionalism, institution, consisting of a series of formal and informal rules, is an independent variable in economic growth and it changes constantly. Analyzing the Early Chinese Modernization in terms of New Institutionalism, this part first defines some basic terms in New Institutionalism such as institution and institutional innovation, and then introduces the contents of this theory, finally discusses the value of this theory.Part III is the core of this thesis. Focusing on the interaction between institutional change and the Early Chinese Modernization, this part analyzes and discusses the straits in the Early Chinese Modernization in terms of Wu-hs(?) pien-fa, the New Policy in the later Qing Dynasty, hsin hai Revolution and Nan-jing Nationalist Government. On thebasis of these analysis, the author generalizes the characteristics of institutional change in the Early Chinese Modernization as follows: the loss of opportunities caused by passive defense and resistance; the penetration of internal and external contradictions through the whole institutional change; the strong influence of the negative effects upon the modernization.Part IV is the conclusion of this thesis. This part concludes that institutional shortage is a common problem in the developing countries during the institutional change due to the time and space limitation. To solve this problem is thus the main task for the transitional society. The solution lies in institutional innovation. The author points out institutional innovation is a process of internal growth of institution and a process of external choice, where the coordination of the whole and the part as well as the potential crisis deserve attention.