China Experiments From Local Innovations to National Reform

All societies face a key question: how to empower governments to perform essential governmental functions while constraining the arbitrary exercise of power. This balance, always in flux, is particularly fluid in today's China. This insightful book examines the changing relationship between that state and its society, as demonstrated by numerous reform efforts at subnational levels, and explores the implications for China and the world. Ann Florini, Hairong Lai, and Yeling Tan set their analysis in a comparative context, investigating how China's changing understanding of key governance tools and concepts compares with --and is influenced by --developments and debates elsewhere. China Experimentsdraws on several specific cases to show how local authorities have responded to the challenges posed by Beijing's rapid transformation. The book thus differs from others on Chinese governance that focus on the pronouncements of intellectuals, and it is unique in its detailed, empirically grounded analysis. The introduction sets the context and raises key overarching questions. It addresses among other factors the wide variety of experiments underway by which authorities are trying to adapt local governance structures to new demands. Chapters 2 ;5 then explore the factors driving various specific governance reforms in China. Each chapter explains the importance of various types of reforms in terms of implications for governance, provides international and national context, and draws upon specific case studies. The final chapter suggests a series of criteria by which China's political trajectory can be assessed. Contents 1. Accountability and Administrative Reform 2. Evolution of Voting Mechanisms 3. Civil Society and Government-Sponsored NGOs 4. Transparency and Information Access 5. Conclusion: Implications of and for China's Political Trajectory

Ann Florini is a senior fellow in Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution and visiting professor of political science, School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University. Hairong Lai is the executive director of the China Center for Overseas Social and Philosophical Theories. Yeling Tan is a Ph.D. student in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.