Publication

This paper argues that despite nearly 30 years of dramatic economic reform and growth, China seems no closer to becoming a liberal democracy. The author finds that most urban socioeconomic sectors seem to have developed a clear stake in perpetuating the political status quo. She points out that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has successfully incorporated private entrepreneurs into the political system, such that this rising class sees its interests and goals as being in harmony with those of the ruling party, rather than hindered by it.