Axel Boldt wrote:
The question is, how to identify the Chinese (specifically, PRC) state. The article identified the state as communist. I checked the Chinese Constitution which states that it is a socialist state; an official Chinese website states that it is not a communist state. JTDIRL and 172 responded that all political scientists identify China as a communist state and that we should go by what Western scholars do. I talked to a few colleagues of mine -- a sociologist, two anthropologitsts, and a political scientist. They told me that many political scientists used to label China a communist state but that they are moving away from that designation, considering it inaccurate and meaningless; that many political scientists and most other scholars identify China as a socialist state, although some qualify it as "late" or "post" socialist. Now JTDIRL claims that it doesn't matter what political scientists say, that what ought to be presented is a "formal encyclopædic definition."
Well whose opinion is he going to take? The proverbial man on the street's? It's obviously unclear how to identify it. But we have the answer right here:
"China's whatsit state is somewhat unclear. Its constitution defines it as .....; however, ..... ; some qualify it as "post socialist", meaning that (explain the justification of the new term here)"