Holding China Together: Diversity and National Integration in the Post-Deng Era

by Edited by Barry J. Naughton , Dali L. Yang

• ISBN13: 9780521837309
• ISBN10: 0521837308
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Despite many predictions of collapse and disintegration, China has managed to sustain unity and gain international stature since the Tiananmen crisis of 1989. This volume addresses the 'fragmentation/disintegration thesis' and examines the sources and dynamics of China's resilience. Through theoretically informed empirical studies, the volume's authors look at key institutions for political integration and economic governance. They also dissect how difficult policies to regulate economic and social life (employment and migration, population planning, industrial adjustment, and regional disparities) are designed and implemented. The authors show that China's leaders have retained authoritarian political institutions, but have also reinforced and modified them, constructing new ones in the light of changing circumstances. In policy implementation, China's leaders have learnt by doing and made significant and effective adaptations to socio-economic policies. Institutional and policy adaptations together have helped shore up political authority and create an environment for rapid growth, while accommodating growing diversity.

Table of Contents

Part I. The Institutions for Political and Economic Control: Adaptation of a Hierarchical System: 1. Political localism versus institutional restraints: elite recruitment in the Jiang era Cheng Li

2. The institutionalization of elite management in China Zhiyue Bo

3. The cadre evaluation system at the grassroots: the paradox of party rule Susan Whiting

4. Economic transformation and state rebuilding in China Dali L. Yang

Part II. Case Studies of Policy Implementation: 5. Policy consistency in the midst of the Asian crisis: managing the furloughed and the farmers in three cities Dorothy J. Solinger

6. Population control and state coercion in China Yanzhong Huang and Dali L. Yang

7. The political economy of industrial restructuring in China's coal industry, 1992-1999 Fubing Su

8. The western development program Barry Naughton.