ABSTRACT
One of the key factors differentiating the Chinese middle class and its global, especially Western, counterparts is its relationship with the state. Those scholars who reject the application of modernisation theory to China typically refer to the middle class as having vested interest in the state, as being the winners of eco nomic reform in the last forty years, and to the fact that there is limited space for civil participation in China that would allow the middle class to occupy a position outside the state (Huang 1993; Brook and Frolic 1997). Furthermore, scholars such as Tu Weiming have long since argued that China’s Confucian past gives rise to a paternalistic state, whereby state-society relations reflect that of a fatherson relationship than a social contract typical in modern societies (Pye 1991; Tu, Harrison and Huntington 2000; Fairbrother 2013). However, research has also shown that the middle class are more critical of government performance than other classes (Zhang 2008), which feeds the idea that the middle class in authori tarian states will gradually grow out of its dependency on the existing institutions and seek reform (Li 2008b). This chapter examines how the middle class respond ents view the state, especially in terms of state performance and responsibilities in the area of welfare.
