APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF CHINESE POLITICS

The development of China studies reflects not only the cumulative prog ress of ''normal'' science and the adventitious availability of partic ular source materials, but the changing core concerns or leitmotifs of a political system that has undergone several paradigm shifts. During the reform era, there has been a shift from the Maoist emphasis on ch arismatic leadership and revolutionary momentum to a concern with econ omic growth and system building. Thus it becomes possible for us to gr oup (domestic) China studies into three subfields: political economy, political sociology, and political structure. Common to all three of t hem is a shift from top-down, ''strong state'' assumptions to the cons truction of complex systems at the middle and lower levels.