美國政治學界的中國研究經歷過幾個不同的時期，從1949年中華人民共和國成立以來，研究脈絡從著重實證探索到理論分析，再演變為理論與實證相結合。西方學者也與中國學者從毫無接觸，到逐漸互動，乃至於今日的密切往來。迄今七十餘年的時間中，中國政治的研究議題受到國際環境變遷的深刻影響，尤其是比較政治領域，從冷戰對峙到美中建交、中國改革開放與領導人更迭等；重心也由區域研究逐漸往學科訓練移動，惟關鍵還是取決於研究方法及資料分析。時至今日，學術工作環境的要求與期待成為新一代中國研究年輕學者的重要考量，政治氣氛的變化也對中國研究施以嚴峻的挑戰，本文透過評論O’Brien教授的回顧性文章及ACLS的問卷調查資料，檢視此領域的延續、變遷與挑戰。

The China Studies in political science in the U.S. could be distinguished into several stages since 1949. The research focus has shifted from empirical evidence to theoretical elaboration and then combination of the theories and empirical analysis. The Western scholars originally had no contacts with the Chinese scholars but later gradually interacted with each other as the political atmosphere changes. The research topics, especially those in the subfield of comparative politics, have been significantly influenced by the international environment, transitioning from cold war confrontation, to the US-China rapprochement, to China’s reform and opening. China studies has moved from area studies to disciplinary training but the key factors remain the research methods and data analysis. Nowadays, the working environment has imposed different expectation and requirements on the younger researchers, as well as the political landscape has also become a challenging factor. In this article, we examine the continuity, changes, and challenges in China Studies by reviewing O’Brien’s articles and the survey data done by ACLS and Luce foundation.