This book examines the various stages of China’s development, in the economic, social, and political fields, relating theories and models of development to what is actually occurring in China, and discussing how China’s development is likely to progress going forward. It argues that China’s modernization hitherto can be characterized as "authoritarian development" – a fusion of mixed economic institutions of varying types of ownership with social stability and political cohesiveness – and that the present phase, where more emphasis is being given to social issues, is likely to lead on to a new phase where a more mature civil society and a more extensive middle class are likely to look for greater democratization. It presents an in-depth analysis of China’s changing social structure and civil society, explores the forces for and processes of democratization, and assesses the prospects for further democratization in the light of changing social structures.

Beijing presents a clear and gathering threat to Washington - but not for the reasons you think. China's challenge to the West stems from its transformative brand of capitalism and an entirely different conception of the international community. Taking us on a whirlwind tour of China in the world - from dictators in Africa to oligarchs in Southeast Asia to South American strongmen - Halper demonstrates that China's illiberal vision is rapidly replacing that of the so-called Washington Consensus. Instead of promoting democracy through economic aid, as does the West, China offers no-strings-attached gifts and loans, a policy designed to build a new Beijing Consensus. The autonomy China offers, together with the appeal of its illiberal capitalism, have become the dual engines for the diffusion of power away from the West. The Beijing Consensus is the one book to read to understand this new Great Game in all its complexity.

This book analyzes the dynamic political economy of authoritarian institutions in China and attempts to answer the following questions: What is the significance of China's authoritarian institutions and the changes Xi Jinping has brought to them? Why did the Chinese elites go along with the changes that affected them negatively? Through these questions, the author unravels the mechanics of authoritarian resilience as well as its dynamics. The work reviews both literatures on China studies and comparative authoritarianism to introduce a general framework for analyzing authoritarian institutional change under dictatorships.

"This volume compares the most powerful authoritarian states in global politics today: Russia and China. For all their power and money, both regimes have faced difficult tradeoffs in seeking both political stability and reliable information about society while confronting the West and its international influence. They have also made different choices: Russia today is a competitive authoritarian regime, while China is a non-competitive authoritarian regime. Desite the different paths taken after the tumultuous events of 1989, both regimes have returned to a more personalized form of authoritarian rule. By placing China and Russia side-by-side, this volume examines regime-society relations and produces new insights, including what strategies their rulers have used to stay in power while forging political stability and gathering information; how societal groups have resisted, complied, or responded to these strategies; and what costs and benefits, anticipated and unexpected, have accompanied the bargains political leaders and their societies have struck. The essays in this volume change the way we understand authoritarian politics and expand the terrain of how we analyze regime-society relations in authoritarian states. On the societal side, this book looks not just at society as a whole, but also the more specific roles of public opinion, labor politics, political socialization, political protests, media politics, environmental movements, and non-governmental organizations. On the regime side, this study is distinctive in examining not just domestic threats and the general strategies rulers deploy in order to manage them, but also international threats and the rationale behind and impact of new laws and new policies, both domestic and international"--

China's reform era is ending. Core factors that characterized it-political stability, ideological openness, and rapid economic growth-are unraveling. Since the 1990s, Beijing's leaders have firmly rejected any fundamental reform of their authoritarian one-party political system, and on the surface, their efforts have been a success. But as Carl Minzner shows, a closer look at China's reform era reveals a different truth. Over the past three decades, a frozen political system has fueled both the rise of entrenched interests within the Communist Party itself, and the systematic underdevelopment of institutions of governance among state and society at large. Economic cleavages have widened. Social unrest has worsened. Ideological polarization has deepened. Now, to address these looming problems, China's leaders are progressively cannibalizing institutional norms and practices that have formed the bedrock of the regime's stability in the reform era. End of an Era explains how China arrived at this dangerous turning point, and outlines the potential outcomes that could result.

An economic and military superpower with 20 percent of the world’s population, China has the wherewithal to transform the international system. Xi Jinping’s bold calls for China to “lead in the reform of the global governance system” suggest that he has just such an ambition. But how does he plan to realize it? And what does it mean for the rest of the world? In this compelling book, Elizabeth Economy reveals China’s ambitious new strategy to reclaim the country’s past glory and reshape the geostrategic landscape in dramatic new ways. Xi’s vision is one of Chinese centrality on the global stage, in which the mainland has realized its sovereignty claims over Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the South China Sea, deepened its global political, economic, and security reach through its grand-scale Belt and Road Initiative, and used its leadership in the United Nations and other institutions to align international norms and values, particularly around human rights, with those of China. It is a world radically different from that of today. The international community needs to understand and respond to the great risks, as well as the potential opportunities, of a world rebuilt by China.