1 Analyzing Chinese politics
1.1 Historical foundations
1.1.1 Political destabilization in modern history
1.1.2 Formative developments and traumatic experiences in recent history
1.1.3 Persistent and transformed political traditions
1.2 How China is portrayed in Western media
1.3 Why China challenges popular assumptions
1.4 Utilizing information and data from China
1.5 Analytical approaches to Chinese politics
1.5.1 Political culture and legitimacy
1.5.2 Political elites and power struggles
1.5.3 Civil society and bottom-up political change
1.5.4 Bureaucratic bargaining
1.5.5 Organizational learning
1.5.6 Integrated political and economic analysis
1.5.7 Combining analytical perspectives
2 The Chinese Communist Party and state institutions
2.1 Socialist organizational and ideological features
2.1.1 Leninist organizational principles
2.1.2 Ideology and legitimation in transition
2.2 The constitution of the party-state
2.2.1 A short constitutional history
2.2.2 Key principles in the constitution
2.2.3 Constitutional revisions
2.2.4 The Communist Party as sovereign of the state
2.3 The Chinese Communist Party
2.3.1 Party organization and party membership
2.3.2 Party congresses and ballots
2.3.3 The Politburo and its Standing Committee
2.3.4 Central working organs and Leading Small Groups
2.3.5 Overlap between party and state bodies
2.3.6 Organizational decline and reform efforts
2.3.7 The persistence of Leninist patterns of control
2.4 The central government
2.4.1 The State Council and its inner cabinet
2.4.2 Party organs within the State Council
2.4.3 The unitary state and decentralization
2.5 Provincial- and municipal-level governments
2.5.1 Regional administrative organization
2.5.2 Regional special interests
2.5.3 Informal federalism?
2.6 Special Administrative Regions: Hong Kong and Macau
2.6.1 Hong Kong’s economic role
2.6.2 Hong Kong’s political trajectory
2.6.3 Constraints on democratization
2.7 Local governments at the county, township, and village levels
2.7.1 The functions of local government
2.7.2 Village self-governance and village elections
2.7.3 Recent developments and signs of crisis
2.8 Public finance
2.8.1 Fiscal decentralization
2.8.2 Budgets and public debt
2.8.3 Expenditure priorities in the national budget
2.9 The cadre system and public administration
2.9.1 The nomenklatura system for senior cadres
2.9.2 Administrative reorganization
2.9.3 New approaches in public administration
2.10 Legislation, the People’s Congresses, and the Political Consultative Conferences
2.10.1 Regulation and law-making
2.10.2 The People’s Congresses
2.10.3 The Political Consultative Conferences
2.11 The judiciary, police, and penal systems
2.11.1 Party control over the judicial and police systems
2.11.2 The police
2.11.3 Courts and judges
2.11.4 Public prosecutors
2.11.5 Attorneys
2.11.6 Criminal law and the penal system
2.11.7 Judicial reform
2.12 The military and politics
2.12.1 Party control over the military
2.12.2 The political loyalty of the PLA
2.12.3 Defense policy and decision-making
3 Political leadership
3.1 The center of power
3.1.1 Shifts in the decision-making system
3.1.2 Capacity for policy innovation and imposition
3.1.3 “Normal mode” and “crisis mode” in decision-making
3.1.4 How unified is the center of power?
3.2 Leadership generations: Revolutionaries, technocrats, and recent diversification
3.3 The division of labor within the party leadership
3.4 Central Leading Small Groups: Top-level decision-making under Xi Jinping
3.5 Top leaders
3.5.1 Members of the Politburo Standing Committee
3.5.2 Senior strategists and advisers
3.6 The risks of political succession and Xi Jinping’s presidential style
3.7 Informal methods of exercising power
3.7.1 Formal versus informal rules
3.7.2 The Beidaihe conferences and the role of retired leaders
3.7.3 Informal rules of leadership selection and patronage networks
3.7.4 Vested interests in flux
3.7.5 Informal lobbying, consultations, and think-tanks
3.8 Between fragmented authoritarianism and a re-concentration of power
4 Governing China’s economy
4.1 China’s economic transformation
4.2 Economic growth: Official data and alternative indicators
4.3 Prerequisites for Chinese economic reform
4.4 The political initiation and implementation of economic reform
4.5 Government involvement in the Chinese economy
4.5.1 Diverse types of ownership and corporate governance
4.5.2 Party and government interference in business
4.6 The role of government in the banking and financial systems
4.7 Economic globalization and government policy
4.7.1 Currency policy and external economic relations
4.7.2 Capital account controls
4.7.3 The political impact of economic globalization
4.8 “Cadre capitalism” and corruption
4.8.1 Assessing the extent of corruption
4.8.2 Informal rules in China’s “administrative market”
4.8.3 Various forms of corruption
4.8.4 Resistance to combating corruption
4.9 Decentralized economic policies and regional disparities
4.9.1 The diversity of the regional economies
4.9.2 Divergent levels of economic development
4.10 The dynamics of a developmental state
5 Governing China’s society
5.1 Political control and “social management”
5.1.1 Changing mechanisms of control
5.1.2 Birth control
5.1.3 Household registration
5.1.4 Society: The focus of active government management
5.2 Political controls and popular demands for civil rights
5.2.1 Changing concepts of human rights
5.2.2 Political opposition and protest movements
5.3 Rural society
5.3.1 Social change in rural areas
5.3.2 Rural poverty and rural development policies
5.3.3 Migrant workers and urban–rural integration
5.4 Urban society and new social forces
5.4.1 Income differentiation and social mobility
5.4.2 China’s new middle classes: Professionals and private entrepreneurs
5.4.3 Patterns of consumption and political attitudes
5.4.4 Indications of a nascent civil society
5.5 Social organizations and trade unions
5.5.1 State regulation of social organizations
5.5.2 Party-controlled trade unions
5.5.3 Foreign foundations and international NGOs
5.5.4 Prospects for more open interest intermediation
5.6 The media and public opinion
5.6.1 The commercialization of China’s media
5.6.2. Media firms and entrepreneurs
5.6.3 Media control and “guidance” of public opinion
5.6.4 The Internet and political communications
5.7 Ethnic and religious groups
5.7.1 Ethnic minorities and autonomous regions
5.7.2 Conflicts in Tibet and Xinjiang
5.7.3 Religious organizations and groups
5.8 The potential for social unrest
5.8.1 Labor protests
5.8.2 Urbanization and land grabs
5.8.3 Environmental protests
5.8.4 Arbitrary authorities, rampages, and self-administered justice
5.8.5 Crime
5.9 The political consequences of social change
6 Policy making: Processes and outcomes
6.1 Distinctive features of the policy process
6.2 Administrative modernization and economic deregulation
6.3 Internal security and justice: Abolition of “re-education through labor”
6.4 Media policy: Controlling social media
6.5 Social security: State pensions for the rural population
6.6 Macroeconomic control: Managing the impact of the global financial crisis
6.7 Public budgets: The role of local-government financing platforms
6.8 Infrastructure policy and the high-speed rail network
6.9 Industrial policy and investment catalogs in the automotive sector
6.10 Innovation policy: Promoting the Internet of Things
6.11 Environmental policy: Curtailing urban air pollution
6.12 Food safety: Preventing health risks
6.13 Disaster management: Contingency planning and rescue programs
6.14 Foreign and security policies: Maritime rights and interests
6.15 Urbanization policy: Experimental urban concepts
6.16 Internet security: National IT independence and China’s cyber policy
6.17 Education policy: Popularization and improvements in vocational training
6.18 Mega-projects: China’s South-to-North Water Transfer Project
6.19 Strengths, weaknesses, and special characteristics of Chinese policy making
7 Perspectives on China’s political development
7.1 Erosion of the party-state and restorative efforts
7.2 Foundations of Communist Party rule
7.3 The underlying fragility of the Chinese political order
7.4 Scenarios for political development
7.5 The potential for gradual democratic evolution
7.6 Is China a possible developmental model for other countries?
7.7 Implications for international interactions with China
8 Glossary
9 References and sources
9.1 Reference works
9.2 Internet sources
9.3 Periodicals
9.4 Further readings for individual chapters
9.5 Bibliography
10 Contributors