China's Changing Political Landscape: Prospects for Democracy

“Cheng Li and his colleagues at The Brookings Institution invited a stellar group of scholars to consider how changes in Chinese politics affect the country’s prospects of democratization.The result is an outstanding volume that considers the question from a variety of angles and contains diverse opinions on the subject.” — “Perspectives on Politics”

“Cheng Li and the contributors to China’s Changing Political Landscape offer a comprehensive and deftly presented overview of fundamental transformations in China’s political trajectory. The contrasting and sometimes clashing views of the authors reflect the enormously rich and multidimensional nature of the post-Mao reform experience. They provide us with a solid foundation for understanding not only China’s present, but its future as well.” –Calvin Chen, Mount Holyoke College, “Pacific Affairs”

“In this edited book, fifteen top China scholars offer compelling, empirically rich and illuminating snapshots of trends in the development of China’s political system. Moving beyond the “trapped transition” paradigm, they assess whether democracy will emerge from incremental political change in China.” –Stephen Trott, University of Toronto, “The China Journal”

“This collection of extremely strong essays by a distinguished cast of China experts is the best book I know on the non-economic and political prospects of the People’s Republic (PRC)…highly stimulating.” –Jonathan Fenby, “Asian Affairs”

Cheng Li is director of and a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center. He is also a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. His most recent book is Middle Class Shanghai: Reshaping U.S.-China Engagement (2021).