The Chinese model, the Chinese dream and the mandate of heaven

The four decades of breath-taking political and economic changes in China raise a host of questions about the governance of this, in many ways unique, world power. The authors analyse the economic, political and historical context of the origins and operation of the present-day Chinese political model, the country’s legal system and the role of the Communist Party in the Chinese society, similar in many ways to the role previously played by China’s imperial dynasties. They also highlight the new trends in Chinese domestic politics and foreign policy of the late 2010s, which bear witness to a sustained effort of the Chinese political leadership to enhance China’s great-power status on the global stage.