This course traces the historical development of Asia's diverse political systems. It examines underlying geo-political realities and their implications for political structure and focusses on the religious and political systems of thought that have shaped Asian political systems, especially regarding leadership, the family, ethnicity, social class and age. The course commences with the emergence of civilization in Asia, examines political structures as they were influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam and Christianity,  the transformation of ethnic and national identities brought about in the era of western imperialism, and the assertion of new political ideals inspired by communism, liberalism, religions and reinterpretations of the past.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Demonstrate a knowledge of the broad outlines of Asian political history.
2. Identify links between political structures and ideological and religious thought in the Asian context.
3. Use the categories class, gender, ethnicity and age as analytical templates for identifying diversity in Asian political systems.
4. Identify and critically evaluate the argument in a scholarly article or chapter.
5. Analyse competing claims and arguments about political evolution in Asia.

Research-Led Teaching

The course convenor will draw on fifteen years of research experience on violence and state-building in Asia, including experience with diverse methodological approaches. Interested students are encouraged to contact the convenor if they seek to explore additional readings on any specific topic or country.

Field Trips

N/A

Additional Course Costs

N/A

Examination Material or equipment

The final exam is a timed-online test to be set during the exam period. Students will have access to all course materials during the exam.

Required Resources

All required readings are posted on Canvas. Occasionally, the convenor may change a reading with advance notice provided via Canvas/Email.

Recommended Resources

Recommended sources are also posted on Canvas.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• Written comments
• Verbal comments
• Feedback to the whole class, to groups, to individuals.

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Week 1 (Jul 27–31): Introduction and OriginsThe opening lecture will introduce the main questions of the course and explain what it means to study the origins of political order in Asia. It will ask how Asia came to be organized into the states, borders, governments, and institutions we recognize today. Students will be introduced to political order as a historical process shaped by power, authority, violence, institutions, and ideas. The lecture will also outline three recurring themes that will guide the course: structure, agency, and historical shocks. These themes will help students think about long-term change without treating Asia’s political development as natural or inevitable.No readings.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation
2	Week 2 (Aug 3–7): The “Big” CivilizationsThis lecture will focus on the emergence of Asia’s “big” civilizations in modern-day India and China, and the conditions that made large-scale political communities possible. It will examine the role of geography in shaping early settlement, agriculture, and political development, with attention to rivers, plains, mountains, islands, volcanoes, and steppe zones. A key focus will be the relationship between food production and political complexity: how agricultural surplus supported larger populations, specialization, hierarchy, and authority. We will also examine how far geography can explain political outcomes, and how people adapted to and transformed the environments in which they lived.Required: Scott, James C. Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. 1st ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017. Introduction.Recommended: Scott, James C. Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. 1st ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017. Chapter 4.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation
3	Week 3 (Aug 10–14): Web of Connections 1The first lecture on webs of connection will focus on the relationship between highlands, lowlands, and state power. Mountains have often been treated as barriers to civilization and political integration, but this lecture will examine a more varied set of relationships. It will ask whether highland environments prevented states from forming, allowed communities to evade state control, or supported different forms of political organization. Students will engage with debates about agriculture, population density, coercion, and the “art of not being governed.” We will also consider how highland communities traded, negotiated, resisted, and interacted with lowland states.Required: Leadbetter, Michael Paul, and Wayan Jarrah Sastrawan. “Do Mountains Kill States? Exploring the Diversity of Southeast Asian Highland Communities.” Journal of Global History, December 1, 2023, 1–26.Recommended: Scott, James C. The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia. Yale University Press, 2009. Chapter 1.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation. Diagnostic essay due.
4	Week 4 (Aug 17–21): Web of Connections 2The second lecture on webs of connection will shift from physical environments to the circulation of ideas, institutions, and belief systems. It will examine how rulers used religion, law, and moral ideas to govern large and diverse populations. We will think about why force alone was rarely enough to sustain rule, and how political authority was supported by claims to legitimacy, social order, and hierarchy. Students will consider religion as a source of authority and law as a way of organizing family, gender, and social relations.Required: Hinsch, Bret. Women in Early Imperial China. Asia Pacific Perspectives. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010. Introduction and Chapter 4.Recommended: Bossler, Beverly. Courtesans, Concubines, and the Cult of Female Fidelity. Illustrated ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013. Introduction and Chapter 2.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation
5	Week 5 (Aug 24–28): The First GlobalizationThis lecture will introduce the first globalization as a period of intensified conquest, mobility, exchange, and long-distance connection across Asia. It will focus on the Mongol conquests as a major historical shock that expanded connections across regions, and will examine how rulers operated within social worlds already shaped by families, clans, lineages, and elite networks. A central question will be whether these networks weakened states by competing with them, or helped rulers extend authority. China will be used to think about state-building beyond the familiar European model in which rulers strengthen states by defeating aristocratic rivals.Required: Wang, Yuhua. The Rise and Fall of Imperial China: The Social Origins of State Development. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2022. Chapters 1 and 2.Recommended: Hui, Victoria Tin-bor. “Toward a Dynamic Theory of International Politics: Insights from Comparing Ancient China and Early Modern Europe.” International Organization 58, no. 1 (February 2004): 175–205.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation
6	Week 6 (Aug 31–Sep 4): The Second GlobalizationThis lecture will examine the second globalization through the movement of religions, traders, conquerors, and political ideas across a more connected Asia. The focus will be on India and the repeated cycle of imperial expansion, fragmentation, and re-formation. Students will consider what happens after conquest: how rulers manage succession, absorb rivals, build alliances, and govern diverse populations. The lecture will trace the changing place of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam in political life, asking how religious authority could both support and complicate rule. A key theme will be consolidation, or the effort to turn military success into durable political order.Required: Morshed, Safya. “State of Forgiveness: Cooperation, Conciliation, and State Formation in Mughal South Asia (1556–1707).” The Economic History Review 77, no. 1 (2024): 60–89.Recommended: Hasan, Farhat. Paper, Performance, and the State: Social Change and Political Culture in Mughal India. Cambridge University Press, 2022. Chapters 1 and 5.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation.
7	Week 7 (Sep 21–25): Asian ModernizationsThis lecture will examine Asian modernizations as uneven and contested processes of reform. It will ask why some societies were able to reform armies, bureaucracies, economies, and education systems, while others struggled to respond to new pressures. China and Japan will provide the main comparison. Both faced European power, but their responses differed in timing, scale, and political effect. The lecture will consider the role of fiscal capacity, elite interests, political ideas, social stability, and fear of foreign domination in shaping reform. Students will use these cases to think about modernization as a political challenge rather than a simple path of progress.Required: Huang, Chin-Hao, and David C. Kang. “State Formation in Korea and Japan, 400–800 CE: Emulation and Learning, Not Bellicist Competition.” International Organization 76, no. 1 (January 2022): 1–31.Recommended: He, Wenkai. Paths toward the Modern Fiscal State. Harvard University Press, 2013. Chapter 1 and Conclusion.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation
8	Week 8 (Sep 28–Oct 2): Colonialism in South and Southeast AsiaThis lecture will examine colonialism in South and Southeast Asia as part of a wider transformation in Asia’s political landscape. It will compare different responses to European power, including negotiation, selective reform, diplomatic balancing, conquest, and incorporation into colonial empires. The lecture will also introduce colonial rule as more than foreign occupation. We will consider how colonial governments reorganized economies, produced racial hierarchies, built administrative systems, and generated new forms of knowledge about the societies they ruled. The lecture will also begin to trace how colonial rule produced new forms of resistance, political imagination, and claims to self-government.Required: Kim, Diana. “The ‘Evil Spectators?’: Opium and Empire’s Stakeholders in Twentieth-Century Southeast Asia.” The American Historical Review 129, no. 1 (March 1, 2024): 53–83.Recommended: Fasseur, C. “Cornerstone and Stumbling Block; Racial Classification and the Late Colonial State in Indonesia.” In The Late Colonial State in Indonesia: Political and Economic Foundations of the Netherlands Indies, 1880–1942, edited by Robert Cribb. Leiden: Cellar Book Shop, 1994.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation. Analytical essay due.
9	Week 9 (Oct 5–9): War and Decolonization 1The first lecture on war and decolonization will examine why colonial rule became harder to sustain in the twentieth century. It will consider pressures from within Europe, where progressive reformers increasingly questioned the brutality and hypocrisy of empire, as well as pressures from within Asia, where anti-colonial movements became more organized and more powerful. Students will examine different forms of anti-colonial critique, including modernist demands for self-government, communist critiques of imperial capitalism, and cultural arguments for independence. The lecture will focus on how war, mobilization, and changing political expectations weakened the foundations of colonial rule.Required: Anderson, Benedict Richard O’Gorman, and Cornell University Modern Indonesia Project. Java in a Time of Revolution: Occupation and Resistance, 1944–1946. Cornell University Press, 1972. Chapter 4.Recommended: Kahin, George McT. “Some Recollections and Reflections on the Indonesian Revolution.” Indonesia, no. 60 (1995): 1–16.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation.
10	Week 10 (Oct 12–16): War and Decolonization 2The second lecture on war and decolonization will focus on the making of Asia’s postwar borders. After the Second World War, Asia’s political map was redrawn rapidly, often through processes shaped by colonial inheritance, international pressure, nationalist mobilization, and competing claims to territory. The lecture will examine the principles used to draw borders, including inherited colonial boundaries, assumptions about the viability of large states, and ideas about ethnic or religious homogeneity. Students will consider how independence could also produce partition, displacement, and violence. We will pay particular attention to India’s partition and the broader challenge of turning imperial territories into nation-states.Required: Brass, Paul R. “The Partition of India and Retributive Genocide in the Punjab, 1946–47: Means, Methods, and Purposes.” Journal of Genocide Research 5, no. 1 (March 2003): 71–101.Recommended: Explore the Partition Archive at Stanford University. See links on Canvas	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation
11	Week 11 (Oct 19–23): Cold War and Its AftermathThis lecture will examine the Cold War and its aftermath as a period in which newly independent Asian states were drawn into a wider global conflict between communism and capitalism. It will consider how this conflict shaped domestic politics, war, development, and repression. Vietnam will provide an important case for understanding how anti-colonial struggle, civil war, foreign intervention, and ideological competition became connected. The lecture will also examine the appeal of communism in societies marked by colonial exploitation and inequality, alongside the rise of anti-communist regimes that pursued development while restricting democracy. We will consider how global ideological conflict shaped local political trajectories.Required: Slater, Dan. “Violent Origins of Authoritarian Variation: Rebellion Type and Regime Type in Cold War Southeast Asia.” Government and Opposition, 2018, 1–20.Recommended: Simpson, Bradley. Economists with Guns: Authoritarian Development and U.S.-Indonesian Relations, 1960–1968. 1st ed. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2010. Chapters 7 and 8.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation
12	Week 12 (Oct 26–30): Shadows of the PastIn the final lecture, we will return to the course’s central concern with the long formation of political order in Asia. The lecture will examine the kinds of states that emerged from colonialism, war, revolution, Cold War competition, and postwar development. Students will compare communist projects of radical social transformation with alternative paths, including India’s attempt to combine democracy, socialism, and development. The lecture will also consider non-alignment and ASEAN as efforts to manage sovereignty in a divided world. The course will conclude by asking how older histories of empire, borders, violence, and state-building continue to shape contemporary Asia.No readings.	Weekly Quiz (Online) and Tutorial Participation

Tutorial Registration

Tutorial enrollment is required. Students are encouraged to self-enroll.

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Learning Outcomes
Quizzes (10 x 1% = 10%)	10 %	*	1
Participation in the tutorials	10 %	*	2, 3, 4
Diagnostic essay (700 words)	15 %	16/08/2026	1, 5
Analytical essay, 1500 words	30 %	02/10/2026	2, 3, 5
Examination	35 %	*	1, 2, 3, 5

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website Students may choose not to submit assessment items through Turnitin. In this instance you will be required to submit, alongside the assessment item itself, hard copies of all references included in the assessment item.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

See above. If a student expects to be absent due to illness or emergency, they should provide supporting documentation to avoid losing participation points.

Assessment Task 1

Quizzes (10 x 1% = 10%)

Students will complete an online quiz each week after the lecture. There will be 12 quizzes in total, each comprising of 2 multiple choice questions. Out of these, the 10 best will be chosen with each worth 1% of the final grade.

Assessment Task 2

Participation in the tutorials

Students are graded on their contributions to discussions in the tutorials, led by the TAs and the lecturer. Students are expected to attend all tutorial sessions having listed to the lecture and having completed the required readings to participate actively in class discussion. Strong participation means making consistent, thoughtful contributions that can help advance the class' collective understanding of course materials. Students who are absent because of illness or emergency should provide supporting documentation to avoid losing participation points.

Assessment Task 3

Diagnostic essay (700 words)

Due 11.55 p.m. Friday Week 3

Students will receive the essays with comments before the census date (if submitted on time). The results of four quizzes will be made available before the census date.

Assessment Task 4

Analytical essay, 1500 words

Due 11.55 p.m. Friday Week 8

Students will receive the essays with comments approximately two weeks after submission (if submitted on time).

Assessment Task 5

Examination

Two hour exam, including quiz and essays on seen, analytical topics.

To be held during the examination period.

There is normally no feedback provided on examinations. In the event that a student's final result seems anomalous, the student should contact the lecturer in the first instance.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of our culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically. This means that all members of the community commit to honest and responsible scholarly practice and to upholding these values with respect and fairness. The Australian National University commits to embedding the values of academic integrity in our teaching and learning. We ensure that all members of our community understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with. The University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Visit the following Academic honesty & plagiarism website for more information about academic integrity and what the ANU considers academic misconduct. The ANU offers a number of services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. The Academic Skills and Learning Centre offers a number of workshops and seminars that you may find useful for your studies.

Online Submission

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Late submission is not accepted for weekly quizzes or for take-home examinations.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Canvas site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure The Course Convener may grant extensions for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information. In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service — including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy. If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes. Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students