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Informationen zum Autor By Zaijun Yuan Klappentext The scope of the book is political science and China studies with a focus on China's local politics. Based on analyzing the data and facts from various sources, the book answers such key questions in China studies as whether China will be democratized in the near future and whether China's political system will continue into the future. Yuan (Monash Univ., Australia) examines five types of political experiments at the local level in China over the past decade. They are direct popular election of township government executives, efforts to promote inner-party democracy, direct election of township party executives, reform of local party congresses, and independent candidate participation in local elections. Yuan finds in each case that the ruling party has used a variety of legal and illegal means to prevent or reverse outcomes unfavorable to the Communist Party of China (CCP). These means range from redistricting, to manipulating the nomination process, to intimidation and detention of nonpreferred candidates. Yuan concludes that the actions of the CCP and allied government officials have prevented these five types of experiments from making any of the hoped for contributions to the democratization of China. He even suggests that the propaganda apparatus of the CCP may have been the only beneficiary of these experiments, and that democracy may only come through a public uprising. While much of Yuan's fieldwork adds to the research base, the work is tedious reading. However, chapter 6 on independent candidates is a must read for serious, advanced students of Chinese politics. Thus, the work is recommended for scholars conducting similar research. Summing Up: Recommended. CHOICE "Despite the courageous efforts of democratically committed Chinese, Yuan meticulously reveals how the CCP's supposed democratic experiments offer no hope for democratization in authoritarian China. An important work." -- Edward Friedman, University of Wisconsin, Madison "This book offers an in-depth and well structured study on the 'democratic reforms' at different levels in post-Mao China. It is well grounded in theory and practice with empirical evidence and many insights into the 'democratic experiments' in China and its implications for the future." -- Sujian Guo, San Francisco State University Zaijun Yuan spells it out reform by reform, election by election: The Chinese Communist Party is not leading Chinese democratization incrementally. As Yuan shows, the Party is fundamentally incapable of loosening its monopoly on power. A very important book at this moment in China's-and indeed the world's-history. -- Dr. Joel Atkinson, Monash University Zusammenfassung The scope of the book is political science and China studies with a focus on China's local politics. Based on analyzing the data and facts from various sources! the book answers such key questions in China studies as whether China will be democratized in the near future and whether China's political system will continue into the future. Inhaltsverzeichnis ContentsForewordPrefaceAcknowledgmentsChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: "Direct Elections" for Township ExecutivesChapter 3: "Inner-Party Democracy" and the Experiments of Direct Elections for Township Party SecretariesChapter 4: Another Form of "Inner-Party Democracy": The Party Congress ReformChapter 5: The Experiments with "Deliberative Democracy"Chapter 6: A Reform Instigated from the Outside of the Bureaucratic System: Independent Candidates in China's Local Congress ElectionsConclusionBibliographyIndex...
