Grassroots Political Reform in Contemporary China (Harvard Contemporary China)
Observers often note the glaring contrast between China’s stunning economic progress and stalled political reforms. Although sustained growth in GNP has not brought democratization at the national level, this does not mean that the Chinese political system has remained unchanged. At the grassroots level, a number of important reforms have been implemented in the last two decades.
This volume, written by scholars who have undertaken substantial fieldwork in China, explores a range of grassroots efforts–initiated by the state and society alike–intended to restrain arbitrary and corrupt official behavior and enhance the accountability of local authorities. Topics include village and township elections, fiscal reforms, legal aid, media supervision, informal associations, and popular protests. While the authors offer varying assessments of the larger significance of these developments, their case studies point to a more dynamic Chinese political system than is often acknowledged. When placed in historical context–as in the Introduction–we see that reforms in local governance are hardly a new feature of Chinese political statecraft and that the future of these experiments is anything but certain.
(20070101)
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An excellent compilation on grassroots political reform,
This comprehensive collection edited by Elizabeth Perry and Merle Goldman explores recent trends in grassroots political reform in China. With contributions by well-established China scholars and rising stars alike, this volume offers a detailed view into reform attempts to restrain arbitrary and corrupt authorities and enhance overall accountability at the grassroots level. The authors do not argue that China is on a path to democracy. To the contrary, Perry and Goldman are quite upfront about the fact that reforms may actually serve to prolong the life of the communist party. The articles in this volume are based on extensive fieldwork and offer detailed glimpses into various aspects of grassroots reform, including topics such as village elections, tax reform, and rule of law.
Although written for an academic audience, the content of this volume will also be of interest to anyone wishing to learn more about reform in China. Of particular interest for a lay audience may be Xi Chen’s chapter on protest, Yuezhi Zhao and Sun Wusan’s chapter on reform and constraints of the media, and Richard Levy’s chapter on village elections and anticorruption. Scholars already familiar with the works of the contributors will find little that has not be iterated elsewhere, but the volume is significant in that it deals with a timely issue in a systematic and helpful fashion.
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