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)"