Rural Democracy in China The Role of Village Elections

This book examines the status of village democracy, studies the achievements and the problems, explains its dynamics, and investigates the prospects of China's democratization. It challenges the skeptics with a nuanced assessment of village democracy in its variety and diversity. It develops an understanding of how three key factors ' township, economy and kinship'” shape village democracy and account for the variations of rural democracy. The extension of village to township elections has been examined and an idea of mixed regime being formulated with an examination of its key features and implications for our understanding of political development in China.

Baogang He is chair of International Studies at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. He has published five books on various aspects of Chinese democratization. His recent publications have focused on deliberative democracy in China and federalism in Asia. His is the co-editor (with Ethan Leib) of a newly released volume, The Search for Deliberative Democracy in China.