Criteria for Meeting a Research Question
A strong research question is necessary for directing a research article, project, or thesis. It delineates what one wishes to discover and provides their study with a distinct focus and objective. My research paper looks into the subject, Has Repression Increased Under Xi Jinping? The question fits the following criteria for a research problem, as described by Hunt et al. (2018). Firstly, it is specific and relevant to the research because it concentrates on particular issues and challenges, namely whether coercion occurs among Chinese citizens under President Xi Jinping. Furthermore, it can be answered using either secondary or primary information. For instance, the inquiry question can be answered using quantitative and qualitative data or by reviewing academic sources to create an explanation. Targeted and researchable may also imply that the area of investigation does not require a subjective value judgment since it uses more measurable parameters to analyze the components, like repression and Xi Jinping.
Second, the research topic is doable and specific because it is addressable within practical boundaries, employs particular, well-defined principles, and does not demand a definitive solution, strategy, or method of action. Baglione (2018) implies that all terminology used in the research topic should have precise interpretations, that investigators should avoid misleading language and broad concepts, and be specific about who, what, and when the inquiry covers. The research question Has Repression Increased Under Xi Jinping? is explicit on who (President Xi Jinping), what (Repression), where (China), and when (Reign of President Xi Jinping, who has been the paramount leader of China since 2012).
Thirdly, the research question is complicated and debatable since it cannot be replied to with a simple yes or no, cannot be addressed with readily available facts and numbers, and allows for discussion and consideration. According to Howard (2017), a response to an outstanding research question requires unique data, the integration of numerous sources, evaluation, and argumentation. Furthermore, Howard (2017) suggests that the answer to the inquiry should not be a simple recitation of facts; there must be an opportunity to analyze and interpret the results. This is especially crucial in essays and research papers, where the answer to the question frequently takes the shape of an argumentative topic sentence.
Lastly, Hunt et al. (2021) noted that a research problem must fit the requirements of being innovative and relevant. This signifies that it tackles a problem pertinent to the individual’s related discipline, advances to a timely social or intellectual discussion, and has not been resolved previously. The study question intends to add to the ongoing discussion regarding China’s repression and limited democratization (Ruan et al., 2021). It would generate knowledge that future scholars or experts might build. In addition, the research question concentrates on resolving a problem or a deficit in the existing body of literature on authoritarianism in China, formulated based on my first research.
Concepts
The research question Has Repression Increased Under Xi Jinping? examines the concept of repression among individuals. As per my comprehension of the phrase repression, it entails the real or imminent use of tangible restrictions against a person or organization within the geographic territory of the state to impose an expense on the target and discourage particular tasks and perceptions deemed to be threatening to federal employees, procedures, or establishments. Repressive conduct uses threats and intimidation to force victims. Still, it is not concerned with all forceful purposes, such as preventing violent crime and robbery.
Instead, it focuses on deployments of governmental authority that infringe the rights of persons, constitutional protections in the implementation and execution of the law, and personal dignity or protection. In addition, I believe that political subjugation is the act of a government body dictating a general populace by violent means for partisan purposes, particularly intending to limit or deter the citizenry from engaging in the political life of a community, thereby diminishing their standing among their compatriots.
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Consequently, various scholars have given different definitions of repression, as highlighted in this section. Jones (2020) used a similar description, defining suppression as any measures undertaken by authorities to prevent assembly, harass and frighten activists, separate institutions, and violently attack, imprison, detain, and kill revolutionary members. These conceptions of repression have been widely employed by social change academics such as Kwong and Jones, but Blaydes (2018) observes that they concentrate too much attention on the function of the government. Blaydes describes repression as any private or state activity created to stop, regulate, or restrict non-institutional collaboration, including its inception.
Schools of Thought
Liberalism
Liberalism is a political and ethical ideology centered on the person’s freedom, autonomy, consent to government, and equal treatment before the law. Dependent on how they interpret these concepts, liberals have diverse viewpoints. Thus, the goal of the liberals was to minimize the state’s power over the citizens while rendering it answerable to the ruled. In the US, for instance, gun violence has been a source of fierce controversy for years, as nearly 40,000 Americans are killed annually by mass killings and other incidents of gun crime (Hemenway & Nelson, 2020). According to gun rights proponents, the freedom of individuals to own and carry weapons hinders the federal state from regulating the ownership of weapons. Therefore, they oppose legislation restricting their ability to purchase, carry, or access firearms. As such, this school of thought applauds socially progressive liberals reinforcing entities that defend positive liberties, such as rights to own a gun.
Modern liberals incline toward a more interventionist administration, and as a result, they lay an increased significance on the state’s power to create the ideal political environment for humans and hence stress reform initiatives more than traditional conservatives. For instance, a political debate involving abuse of humanitarian rights in Iran serves a perfect example. Peace, to use an illustration, could be delivered to Iranians, provided they accept the strictly delineated and rational recommendations of the liberal faith. In other words, people should abandon local biases and superstitions and embrace the multiculturalism of liberal tolerance and peace. However, the liberal pursues the optimum form of governance that permits citizens to pursue life as they deem appropriate within a nonpartisan foundation (Sandel, 2018). The feasibility of an unbiased structure challenges the liberal concept.
Conservatism
Politically, conceptual conservatives are wary of messing with democratic behavior patterns and systems and are notably skeptical of large-scale transformations. They choose the path of tradition, not for culture but because they have a pessimistic perception of humanity’s capacity to reinvent societal ideals that have developed and adjusted through many millennia (Fawcett, 2022). Modern liberals rationalize redistribution on the premise that it provides a foundation for human progress. In contrast, conservatives dread the poor rising to topple the existing quo and its hierarchy. For conservatives, the significance of structures cannot always be evaluated based on the current generation’s reasonable reasoning.
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Consequently, conservatives reject the concept of a social compact or the likelihood of its existence in the current day. For instance, for conservatives, a contemporary debate in political science literature involves the inherent rigidity of Japan’s system of government (Brean, 2019). A liberalist would point to the nation’s statutory provisions and powerful agencies, whilst a conservative would point to deeply entrenched Japanese traditions such as submission and steadiness.
References
Baglione, L. A. (2018). Writing a research paper in political science: A practical guide to inquiry, structure, and methods. Cq Press.
Blaydes, L. (2018). State of repression. In State of Repression. Princeton University Press.
Brean, D. J. (2019). Corporate governance: International perspectives. In Guiding Global Order (pp. 223-244). Routledge.
Fawcett, E. (2022). Conservatism: The fight for a tradition. Princeton University Press.
Hemenway, D., & Nelson, E. (2020). The scope of the problem: Gun violence in the USA. Current trauma reports, 6(1), 29-35. Web.
Howard, C. (2017). Thinking like a political scientist: A practical guide to research methods. University of Chicago Press.
Hunt, H., Pollock, A., Campbell, P., Estcourt, L., & Brunton, G. (2018). An introduction to overviews of reviews: Planning a relevant research question and objective for an overview. Systematic reviews, 7(1), 1-9. Web.
Jones, M. O. (2020). Political repression in Bahrain (Vol. 58). Cambridge University Press.
Ruan, L., Knockel, J., & Crete-Nishihata, M. (2021). Information control by public punishment: The logic of signaling repression in China. China Information, 35(2), 133-157. Web.
Sandel, M. J. (2018). Populism, liberalism, and democracy. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 44(4), 353-359. Web.