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

Cambridge University Press
Edition: Reissue, 9/8/2006
EAN 9780521168588, ISBN10: 0521168589

Paperback, 318 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm
Language: English

Despite many predictions of collapse and disintegration, China has managed to sustain unity and gain international stature since the Tiananmen crisis of 1989. Originally published in 2004, 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 fresh ones in the light of changing circumstances. Institutional and policy adaptations together have helped shore up political authority and create an environment for rapid growth, while accommodating growing diversity.

List of figures and tables
List of contributors
Holding China together
introduction Barry J. Naughton and Dali L. Yang
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 grass roots
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, 1992–9 Fubing Su
8. The western development program Barry J. Naughton
Index.