Regime Legitimacy in Contemporary China, Institutional Change and Stability

Using in-depth case studies of a wide-range of political, social and economic reforms in contemporary China this volume sheds light on the significance and consequences of institutional change for stability of the political system in China. The contributors examine how reforms shape and change Communist rule and Chinese society, and to what extent they may engender new legitimacy for the CCP regime and argue that authoritarian regimes like the PRC can successfully generate stability in the same way as democracies.

Topics addressed include:



ideological reform,


rural tax- for-fees reforms,


elections in villages and urban neighbourhood communities,


property rights in rural industries,


endogenous political constraints of transition,


internalising capital markets,


the media market in transition,


the current social security system,


the labour market


environmental policy reforms to anti-poverty policies and NGOs.


Exploring the possibility of legitimate one-party rule in China, this book is a stimulating and informative read for students and scholars interested in political science and Chinese politics

Dr. Thomas HEBERER is Chair Professor of East Asian Politics at the Institute of Political Science and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen.
Dr. Gunter SCHUBERT is Chair Professor of Greater China Studies at the Institute of Chinese and Korean Studies, Eberhard Karls-University in Tuebingen.

Introduction Thomas Heberer/Gunter Schubert Part I: Politics 1.Ideological Reform and Political Legitimacy in China: Challenges in the Post-Jiang Era Heike Holbig 2. The Peasant’s Rescue from the Cadre? An Institutional Analysis of China’s Rural Tax and Fee Reform Christian Göbel 3. Village Elections, Citizenship and Regime Legitimacy in Contemporary Rural China Gunter Schubert 4. Institutional Change by Urban Elections? People’s Awareness of Elections and Participation in Urban Neighbourhoods (Shequ) Thomas Heberer Part II: Political Economy 5. Principles of Property Rights Evolution in China’s Rural Industry Markus Taube 6. An Evolutionary Approach to Endogenous Political Constraints of Transition in China Carsten Herrmann-Pillath 7. Internationalising China's Capital Markets: Changing Actor Constellations and Emerging Transnational Professional Communities Svenja Schlichting 8. Censorship and Marketization: Institutional Change Within China’s Media Doris Fischer Part III: Society 9. Social Security in Contemporary China Barbara Darimont 10. The Emergence of a ‘Socialist’ Market Labour Regime in China Günter Schucher/Jutta Hebel 11. Institutional Change in China’s Anti-Poverty Policy: the Contested Role of NGOs Bettina Gransow 12. Environmental Policy Reform in China Andreas Oberheitmann