The Quest for Fa-zhi (Legal rule) in Three Chinese Societies: Junior Secondary Textbooks of Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in Comparison

Abstract

Drawing on Kohlberg's theory and on Nonet and Selznick's framework of legal development, this study uses content analysis and textual analysis to compare the junior secondary level textbooks published between 1997 and 2000 in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It examines the composite legal culture and the desired law-related civic literacy represented and transmitted in each society, and compares the similarities and differences across the three societies. The aim is to understand the processes of legal-political socialization in these places