ABSTRACT
The trajectories of development in the two regions provide answers or at least some clues to many questions. Will marketization and development in China lead to democracy as modernization theory suggests? That depends on what kind of social conditions and class structure marketization and development have thus far created. Will the emerging entrepreneurial class become the class base for democracy? It depends on the nature of the larger class structure the entrepreneurial class is situated in. While these contingent answers might frustrate those who want a definite “yes’ or “no,” they are the reality. Society is complex, so a complex view is necessary to approach it.
