Achievement Exhibition of the 1st Chenghai Award for Historical Politics Research | First Prize·Ren Feng: The Intellectual Tradition of Governance Theory and Its Modern Enlightenments

Modern scholars' generalizations and judgments on China's political system have been dominated by Western theories of democratic regimes. In contrast, the theory of governance system—a time-honored intellectual tradition in China—provides a solid and profound theoretical perspective for reflection.
This tradition has undergone the stages of inception, development, maturation and decline. From Jia Yi of the early Han Dynasty to Collected Essays on Statecraft of the Qing Dynasty in the late Qing period, it exerted a profound influence on the ideological and institutional practices of the unified imperial state under the prefecture-county system.
Governing philosophy, governing institutions and governing elites constitute the three core theoretical elements of this tradition, which have evolved into diverse forms. It demonstrates a practitioner-oriented perspective and has given rise to typological classifications of governance systems such as rule by individuals, rule by law and rule by ritual norms.
Beyond prevalent frameworks like the notion of “inner sageliness and outer kingship”, the theory of governance system offers a systematic approach to understanding the thinking behind traditional order. Meanwhile, it unlocks rich and more comprehensive constitutional resources for reflecting on the flaws of modern theories of regime.

Date :2025.12.23

Achievement Exhibition of the 1st Chenghai Award for Historical Politics Research | Second Prize·Ma Xuesong: Unification and Legitimacy Differentiation: Discourses on Political Legitimacy in Traditional China from the Perspective of Historical Politics

Unification and legitimacy differentiation constituted the core content of discourses on political legitimacy in traditional Chinese politics. Conducting a historical politics analysis of these two discourses is an important approach to gaining an in-depth understanding of the discourses on political legitimacy in traditional China.

The discourse on legitimacy centered on unification reflected the inherent connection between ideological expressions and institutional designs in different historical periods. In contrast, the discourse on legitimacy focused on legitimacy differentiation further demonstrated the interaction between cultural resources and political practices within the traditional political system, from a more technical and purpose-oriented dimension.

Driven by the tensions between political power and cultural contexts, the discourses on legitimacy concerning unification and legitimacy differentiation revealed the profound historical anxieties that political actors have long confronted amid complex circumstances.

Date :2025.12.23

Achievement Exhibition of the 1st Chenghai Award for Historical Politics Research | Second Prize·Xi Tianyang: All the Emperor's Men? Conflicts and Power-sharing in Imperial China

Autocratic regimes typically rely on power-sharing to maintain their political survival. However, existing literature has not fully explained why such regimes vary in their capacity to implement power-sharing arrangements.
Taking the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) as a case study, this paper finds, through an examination of the turnover patterns of the Qing bureaucracy, that the intensity of internal armed conflicts exerted a significant impact on the promotion, demotion, appointment and dismissal of governors-general and provincial governors. For appointments to the highest-ranking positions, the Manchus—the ruling ethnic minority—were accorded preferential treatment. Nevertheless, the emergence of provincial-level armed conflicts incentivized the rulers to select elite Han Chinese from the majority ethnic group to serve as administrators.
These findings are consistent with the power-sharing logic of balancing loyalty and competence in bureaucratic selection.

Date :2025.12.23

Achievement Exhibition of the 1st Chenghai Award for Historical Politics Research | Youth Award·He Jiacheng: On Feudal Democracy: The Philippine Democratic Model and Its Universality Among Developing Countries

The relationship between landlords and democracy constitutes a crucial dimension in democratic research. Structuralist and rational choice approaches generally hold that landlords are a social force inimical to democratization. However, the symbiotic relationship between landlords and democracy in the Philippines poses a challenge to these traditional theories.
Spanish and American colonial rule introduced private land ownership and liberal democracy to the Philippines through dual economic and political empowerment. The emergent landlord elites then secured political power via competitive elections to safeguard and balance their class interests, thereby achieving an integration with democracy and forging a model of feudal democracy.
The underlying mechanism is that when the people-centered essence of democracy is reduced to a procedural, election-based democracy, democracy itself becomes an instrument for protecting the dominant class. Feudal democracy stands as a key factor behind the predicaments plaguing governance in the Philippines.
The theoretical implication of this significant political phenomenon is that liberal democracy, centered on competitive elections, essentially serves to protect private property rights. In practice, “liberal democracy” can take the form of capitalist oligarchy, feudal oligarchy, or oligarchy of other attributes—all of which inevitably give rise to severe social inequality and governance failures.

Date :2025.12.23

Historical Politics Research Award

To advance the development of China's independent political science knowledge system, promote the discipline of historical politics, and encourage social science researchers to produce original and high-quality academic achievements, Chenghai Institute established the “Historical Politics Research Award” and “World Politics Research Award”. The awards are presented biennially. The first Historical Politics Research Award selection has been held in 2024.

Date :2025.12.11

World Politics Research Award

To advance the development of China's independent political science knowledge system, promote the discipline of historical politics, and encourage social science researchers to produce original and high-quality academic achievements, Chenghai Institute established the "Historical Politics Research Award" and "World Politics Research Award". The awards are presented biennially. The first World Politics Research Award selection was held in 2025.

Date :2026.01.09