Mechanismen politischer Entscheidungsfindung im frühkaiserzeitlichen China: Ein Überblick [Mechanisms of Political Decision-Making in Early Imperial China: An Overview]

This contribution provides an overview of the mechanisms of political decision-making, in particular ofreaching consensus, as suggested by sources pertaining to early imperial China, especially the Western Han dynasty. After a brief survey of the origin of our own idea of absolute imperial power in China and the structure of the bureaucracy of the Han dynasty, this paper focuses, first, on various forms of meetings between rulers and their advisors, second, onways officials and others exerted influence on emperors or political decisions, and third, on the question of the historicality of early sources on remonstration. The contribution concludes by reconsidering the presented material in transcultural perspective.