Remaking the Chinese Leviathan: Market Transition And the Politics of Governance in China

In this provocative, important study, Dali L. Yang examines a wide range of governance reforms in the People’s Republic of China, including administrative rationalization, divestiture of businesses operated by the military, and the building of anticorruption mechanisms. The author also analyzes how China’s leaders have reformed existing institutions and constructed new ones to cope with unruly markets, curb corrupt practices, and bring about a regulated economic order.

Though still a work in progress, Yang arugues, taken together these reforms have improved the institutional environment for economic development and altered the landscape for China’s ongoing struggle against rampant corruption. These measures are also likely to have important implications for the exercise of governmental authority and for China’s future political development. As China’s role on the world stage expands, the way the State conducts itself assumes increasing importance not just for those concerned about the welfare of the Chinese people but also for those interested in China’s role in regional and world affairs.

Dali L. Yang is Professor and Chair in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is also the author of Calamity and Reform in China (Stanford University Press, 1996).