China’s Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy

Minxin Pei

Published by Harvard University Press 2008

China’s Trapped Transition

The Limits of Developmental Autocracy

Minxin Pei

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674041981

Overview
Contents

About this book

In a book sure to provoke debate, Minxin Pei examines the sustainability of the Chinese Communist Party's reform strategy--pursuing pro-market economic policies under one-party rule. Combining powerful insights with empirical research, China's Trapped Transition offers a provocative assessment of China's future as a great power.

Reviews

Minxin Pei is unquestionably one of this country's best informed and most insightful analysts of contemporary Chinese politics. This well-written, provocative book-a sobering picture of a China beset by severe social problems yet resistant to the political reforms needed to resolve them-directly challenges much of the conventional wisdom about the rise of China. It is certain to be welcomed by scholars, policymakers, and general readers alike.
-- Elizabeth J. Perry, author of Patrolling the Revolution

In this superb work, Pei asks penetrating questions about the course of China's development. He offers a very effective critique of the gradualist approach to reform, explaining that the problems China faces are not incidental to but an integral part of that approach. Powerfully argued, this is a major contribution sure to stir debate.
-- Joseph Fewsmith, author of China since Tiananmen

Pei's notion of a 'trapped transition' will prove valuable-and not just for its application to China. It serves to challenge the deterministic and evolutionary assumptions behind much of the literature on democratization.
-- Philippe C. Schmitter, European University Institute

Not only does Minxin Pei make the case that the Chinese reforms are partial and self-limiting, but he also calls into question the hopeful view that rapid growth will ultimately generate political reform. His important book has implications for current debates about the United States-China relationship, but will also force a rethinking of the broader comparative literature on the developmental state.
-- Stephan Haggard, co-author of The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions

Thought-provoking...Mr. Pei argues, persuasively, that China's gradualism, often favourably contrasted with the former Soviet Union's flirtation with radical reforms, is as much a political as an economic strategy.
-- Martin Wolf Financial Times

Pei does not have much time for the optimistic assumption that democracy in China is just around the corner...For Pei, there is little chance of dethroning the Communist party behemoth in spite of the heroic efforts of the dissidents and democracy campaigners.
-- Chris Patten Financial Times

As Pei sees it, big trouble looms [for China]. Continued progress toward a more modern economy will require the establishment of a true rule of law, which in turn will require 'institutional curbs' on governmental action. These two limitations on power are incompatible with the party's insistence on dominating society. So long as the current political framework remains in place, then, China is effectively, and perhaps fatally, trapped in its state of transition...[China's Trapped Transition presents a] comprehensive and, I believe, compelling understanding of present-day China.
-- Gordon G. Chang Commentary

[An] acute and insightful examination of China's ongoing transition.
-- Chris Hunter China Economic Review

Pei's most significant contribution lies in his lucid exposition of the causal links between the structural logic of China's "illiberal adaptation" and its manifest socio-economic and political consequences...He has arguably--like Elvin before him--raised the level of debate and altered the terms of engagement.
-- Richard Baum China Journal

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
ONE. Why Transitions Get Trapped: A Theoretical Framework Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
TWO. Democratizing China? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
THREE. Rent Protection and Dissipation: The Dark Side of Gradualism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
FOUR. Transforming the State: From Developmental to Predatory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
FIVE. China's Mounting Governance Deficits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
Appendix. Notes. Acknowledgments. Index
Appendix: Reported Cases of Local Mafia States Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	279
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 308

eBook

Published: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 9780674041981