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What the (Expletive) is a Constitution?! Ordinary Cadres Confront the 1954 PRC Draft Constitution

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Neil Diamant is a professor of Asian Law and Society at Dickinson College.

For more information on the published version, visit Cambridge University Press's Website. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-chinese-history/article/what-the-expletive-is-a-constitution-ordinary-cadres-confront-the-1954-prc-draft-constitution/24D86786874B8B40006030687E9E5BAE

Diamant, Neil J. What the (Expletive) is aConstitution?! Ordinary Cadres Confront the 1954 PRC Draft Constitution. Journal of Chinese History 2, no. 1 (2018): 169-190. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-chinese-history/article/what-the-expletive-is-a-constitution-ordinary-cadres-confront-the-1954-prc-draft-constitution/24D86786874B8B40006030687E9E5BAE

Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism have tended to focus on its intellectual origins, or, more commonly these days, its failure to restrain official behavior. Drawing upon new archival materials, this article takes a different tack. I zero in on a critical period of constitutional gestation, when officials read the 1954 constitution in draft form, posed questions about its text and suggested revisions. How did officials react when told that citizens, many of whom were recently persecuted, now enjoy “freedom of assembly”? These materials allow us to see “the state” in real time: How did officials understand core legal concepts such as “right,” “constitution” and “citizen” as well as their role in the new polity? In many respects, the discussion surrounding the draft constitution turned out to be a venue for officials to talk about the meaning of the revolution they had just experienced.


MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Diamant, Neil J. What the (expletive) Is a "constitution"?! Ordinary Cadres Confront the 1954 Prc Draft Constitution. . 2018. dickinson.hykucommons.org/concern/generic_works/33e95b99-eb84-482c-8bb2-7523f4d4e7e1?locale=fr.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

D. N. J. (2018). What the (Expletive) is a "Constitution"?! Ordinary Cadres Confront the 1954 PRC Draft Constitution. https://dickinson.hykucommons.org/concern/generic_works/33e95b99-eb84-482c-8bb2-7523f4d4e7e1?locale=fr

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Diamant, Neil J. What the (expletive) Is a "constitution"?! Ordinary Cadres Confront the 1954 Prc Draft Constitution. 2018. https://dickinson.hykucommons.org/concern/generic_works/33e95b99-eb84-482c-8bb2-7523f4d4e7e1?locale=fr.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.