[T]he essays in this volume provide some fruitful material to contemplate as we think about comparing China to other places or experiences, and what makes China’s experience during the post-Mao period unique.

Pacific Affairs

In the light of China's triumphant emergence from the Global Financial Crisis there has been increasing interest in the "Chinese Consensus" or model of development. This collection provides a multifaceted analysis of China's models of development, both national and local, political and economic, from both comparative and international perspectives--a most timely and interesting overview of China's constantly evolving developmental path.

Lowell Dittmer, University of California, Berkeley

The outstanding scholarly analyses in this volume place the Chinese model of economic and political development in a valuable comparative perspective. The contributors compare the experience of post-Mao China with the paths of development taken earlier under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, and Mao Zedong, as well as with those subsequently adopted in Taiwan, Russia, and Vietnam. Suggesting that ‘Mainland China has now walked into Taiwan’s past,’ the editors ask whether it will follow Taiwan in evolving into a market democracy or whether it will retain its statist and authoritarian features. Either way, they argue that the success and failures of the Chinese experience will have a significant influence on the development strategies of other emerging economies

Harry Harding, University of Virginia, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

Placing the Chinese model in a historical, evolutionary, and comparative context, this collection of chapters by noted scholars of Chinese and East Asian politics makes a major contribution to our understanding of political development of contemporary China. All chapters are clearly written and original, providing many fresh and unique insights into the ongoing China model debate.

Suisheng Zhao, University of Denver and editor of Journal of Contemporary China