Economic reform and political change in rural China

What is the driving force behind democratic change under an authoritarian regime? How has economic liberalization affected the communist state of China? By focusing on the political consequences of the ongoing market reforms in a county in North China, this dissertation explores the dynamic connection and interaction between market transition and political development in rural China. Through a careful, in-depth examination of the local politics of Qing County of Hebei Province, this dissertation examines how market reforms have generated pressures that have forced the party-state to start democratic reforms at the village level--changes that include the rise of entrepreneurial local political elites, the emergence of a consultative governing structure and the transformation of the ruling Communist Party itself. Based on the author's year-long fieldwork in Qing County's 354 villages and an innovative "Dual Process Model", the dissertation presents an empirical study of the political impact of the ongoing liberal market reforms, detailing how the social and political forces unleashed by economic reforms have reshaped the Chinese regime at the local level from a closed authoritarian system into what the author calls an "inclusive authoritarian system" marked by voluntary collaboration among grassroots elites, an increasingly open and adaptive Communist Party, a consultative democratic governing structure and community based control mechanisms.