The democratizing power of economic reform: The revival of a representative institution in Rural China

Liberal economic reforms in the post-Maoist era have deprived the grassroots party-state in rural China of its traditional sources of revenue, thereby gradually transforming it from a socialist rentier state into a postcommunist taxation state. The need for taxation by consent to finance the provision of local public goods necessitates the opening of more institutionalized channels of representation and promotes democratic political change at the local level. © 2011 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex