Economic reform and political change in rural China

Xiaojun Yan

What is the driving force behind democratic change under an authoritarian regime? How has economic liberalization affected the communist state of China? By focusing on the political consequences of the ongoing market reforms in a county in North China, this dissertation explores the dynamic connection and interaction between market transition and political development in rural China. Through a careful, in-depth examination of the local politics of Qing County of Hebei Province, this dissertation examines how market reforms have generated pressures that have forced the party-state to start democratic reforms at the village level--changes that include the rise of entrepreneurial local political elites, the emergence of a consultative governing structure and the transformation of the ruling Communist Party itself. Based on the author's year-long fieldwork in Qing County's 354 villages...