Prompt for Final Argument Paper
Objectives:
• Demonstrate a solid, basic understanding and knowledge of the importance of the issues facing netizens in China due to the often-conflicting values, goals, and means among government, business, and netizens' use of the Internet.
• Demonstrate a basic understanding of the concept of civil society in Western social thought and in the context of contemporary Chinese society.
• Discuss, analyze, and evaluate the possibilities and limitations of the Internet and social media in building civil society and democracy in China.
General Instructions:
• Write an 8-10 page (excluding the title page and Reference List) Final Argument Paper that responds completely to the topic below.
• The title page should contain: title of paper (minimally, Final Argument Paper), your name, course number and course title, College Name, name of professor, and date.
• Reference list should contain full APA citations for all sources cited. Use in-text citations, using the APA citation style. Do not use any unassigned materials i.e., do research for this paper.
• The paper should be coherently structured and organized, including an introduction, thesis statement, body paragraphs that effectively use topic sentences and transitions and which cite evidence from the assigned materials that support the thesis. This essay should also include relevant counterarguments to the thesis.
The conclusion should not only summarize your most important findings but also makes a reasonable claim about the significance of the topic to readers. You are expected to accurately use vocabulary and grammar. To avoid plagiarism, be sure to accurately quote, summarize and/or paraphrase your sources.Plagiarism is a serious offense; Express your ideas clearly and concisely.
Topic
Choose a position from which to argue your understanding of this topic:
What role does the Internet and social media play in China vis-à-vis the emergence and development of civil society, democracy, and the free exchange of information?
Are the Internet and social media positive forces advancing these movements, negative forces empowering a dictatorship, or should they be described differently, in a more complex, dynamic, and nuanced way?
Are the only actors the state vs. netizens or are there also many other groups contending for power and position on the Chinese Internet and social media?
In this final argument paper, compare, contrast, and critique (evaluate), and speculate on the main ideas related to the topic as offered in all of the readings below. Do this by selectively using relevant ideas, information, facts, examples, or case studies found in the writings of the authors and researchers we have read this semester.
One way of organizing your ideas and your paper are to group together the authors you agree with to help you form a thesis, and then use the other authors to help you create a counterargument. You're welcome to use materials from MacKinnon, Pei, et al. which support your thesis and counterargument.
Before you write your paper, make sure you have read all of the following materials:
• Han, Rongbin. "Adaptive Persuasion in Cyberspace: The "Fifty-Cents Army" in China." Paper submitted for Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Chicago, Il. August 29-September 1, 2013.
• He, Qinglian. The Fog of Censorship: Media Control in China, Introduction, "Shattering the Myths About China's Media Market," pp. xiii-xx (7 pages); Chapter Eleven, "The Hijacked Potential of China's Internet," pp. 173-202 (29 pages); Conclusion: "How Far is China From Democracy?" pp. 210-217 (17 pages).
• Hvistendahl, Mara. "Study of Internet censorship reveals the deepest fears of China's government." August 21, 2014. Read this in conjunction with article by Gary King.
• Jiang, M. "Authoritarian Deliberation on the Internet." Electronic Journal of Communication, 20 (3 & 4). Posted: 27 July 2009. Last revised 13 July 2014.
Jiang, M. Ch. 1: "The Co-Evolution of the Internet, (Un-) Civil Society, and Authoritarianism in China" by Min Jiang, pp. 28-48. In deLisle, Jacques, Avery Goldstein, and Guobin Yang, eds., The Internet, Social Media, and a Changing China. This book is available as an E-book on the UC Library website.
• King, Gary, Jennifer Pan, Margaret E. Roberts. "Reverse-engineering censorship in China: Randomized experimentation and participant observation. Science, 22 August 2014.
• Naughton, John. "The secret army of cheerleaders policing China's internet." 29 May 2016. The Guardian. This article also supplements the Gary King article.
• Rosen, Stanley. "Is the Internet a Positive Force in the Development of Civil Society, a Public Sphere, and Democratization in China?"
• Shen, Simon. "Why is the Internet Not Fostering China's Democratization?" March 15, 2016. Foreign Policy Association. This article discusses Guobin Yang's book, The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online.
https://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2016/03/15/why-is-the-internet-not-fostering-chinas-democratization/
• Yang, Guobin. The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online. "Conclusion: China's Long Revolution."