Arguing against conventional wisdom, this important book makes a compelling case for the continuing strength of China’s one-party system. Many analysts have predicted that China’s unprecedented economic development and middle-class expansion would lead to a liberalization of its political regime and a move toward democracy. Instead, leading scholar Jean-Pierre Cabestan contends that the Chinese Communist Party will continue to adapt and prosper in the coming decades, representing a growing challenge to all democracies. Influenced by China’s traditional culture and even more so by the regime’s Soviet ideology, institutions, and modus operandi, most Chinese are not pushing for democracy, choosing security, stability and prosperity over political freedoms and participation.
Jean-Pierre Cabestan is professor of political science at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is also senior research fellow in France’s National Center for Scientific Research.
The Chinese Political Regime’s Future: A Resurgent Debate 1 China’s Current Political System: A Strong, Sustainable, Authoritarian Equilibrium2 Bureaucratic Tradition and the Soviet Model: Patterns of State Hegemony 3 Democratic Culture: Repressed, Fragile, and Distorted 4 Civil Society: Leashed by the Party-State 5 The Role of Elites: Shaping Political Evolution 6 China’s Future: Toward an Authoritarian and Imperial Political SystemA Regime on Extended Reprieve About the Author
China Tomorrow is relevant to protestors’ demands for democratic elections under universal suffrage, and because he is a professor in Hong Kong, Cabestan’s analysis has been in demand. China Tomorrow’s explanation of ways in which freedoms granted often help to consolidate Party leadership over society is useful in understanding the restraint of the party-state and its willingness for disorder in Hong Kong to continue.