"Much more than a textbook, this study is a sustained treatment of governance and political stability in China. In it, Teresa Wright provocatively suggests that the current regime, despite the many challenges it faces, may last longer than we think, not least because it has already carried out reforms that make it more "democratic," or at least accountable to the ... Read morepopulace in ways that do not require free and fair elections." Kevin J. O'Brien, University of California, Berkeley "Teresa Wright is one of the most eloquent writers on contemporary China, and this book shows her at her best. By describing how political power is organized, obtained, and used in China, she is able to explain a key paradox of China today: how a regime can be authoritarian, lacking the rights and freedoms that many in the West take for granted, and at the same time legitimate in the eyes of many Chinese. Whereas many outside observers consider repression to be the main source of the Communist Party?s staying power, Wright shows how producing economic growth and political order, providing necessary goods and services, and addressing the changing wants and needs of an evolving society are also part of the solution to the puzzle of stable authoritarianism in China." Bruce Dickson, George Washington University Show Less