Exploring the Political Roles of Chinese Think Tanks: A Case Study of China's Three Gorges Project Decision-Making

Since the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949, Chinese think tanks have experienced significant development during the transformative process of China's political reform and modernization, and their influence has become more notable than before. However, think tanks historically have been given little attention by the public as well as social scientists in China, so scholarly study on Chinese think tanks is limited. This thesis explores the political roles and characteristics of Chinese think tanks by investigating the transformation and classification of Chinese think tanks from 1949 to the present. Furthermore, through a case study of one of the significant projects in contemporary China—the Three Gorges Project—this thesis examines the performance and influence of three Chinese nonpolitical think tanks—the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) on the process of government policy-making in China. Based on this analysis of Chinese think tanks, I draw the conclusion that professionalism and institutionalization are very urgent requirements for contemporary China's think tanks.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Department dc:contributor.department

Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Mi, Na

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Luke, Timothy W.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Weisband, Edward
• Thadhani, Rupa G.

• China
• Think Tank
• Policy-Making
• the Three Gorges Project
• Political Roles
• CAS
• CASS
• CAE

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-05122008-120315

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/32649