Civility and Its Development

Civility and Its Development Synopsis

This is the first book-length study of the development of civility in Chinese societies. By comparing the development of civility in mainland China and Taiwan, the book analyzes the social conditions needed for civility to become established in a society. Schak argues that the attempts to impose civility top-down from the state are ineffective. Civility appeared in Taiwan only after state efforts to impose it ceased at the end of the 1980s when Taiwan began to democratize, and the PRC government civility campaigns have so far had only limited success. The essential factor in developing civility in Taiwan, Schak contends, was its evolution from a place composed of myriad small, inward-looking communities to a society in which everyone shares a strong identity and civic consciousness.