Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the legislative changes to Chinese criminal law to identify what has emerged. It focuses on society and explores how different political, cultural, economic and personal experiences shape attitudes toward the law and lead to different forms of legal and political action.” The book examines the history of amending Chinese criminal law. It explores the reasons for applying the “problems, policies and politics” framework of John Kingdon for United States policy making to analyze the social, legal and political rationales for the preventive shift in Chinese criminal law. The book assesses the social justifications for legislative change, the book examines the “problem stream” of amending Chinese criminal law, emphasizing the demands of social forces in the “focusing events.” It examines the “politics stream” of amending Chinese criminal law by analyzing the status, attitudes and activities of the institutions.