Taxation Without Representation in Contemporary Rural China

The tax burden imposed upon the farmer has become a major source of discontent in the Chinese countryside and a worrisome source of political and social instability. Thomas P. Bernstein and Xiabo L examine the heavy, informal taxation, revealing how peasants defend their interests by adopting peaceful and violent strategies of collective resistance. Bernstein and L explain why the central government, often siding with the peasants, has been unable to resolve the tax burden issue by instituting a sound, reliable financial system.