ABSTRACT
High-level policy has been the explanandum of most studies in Chinese politics. "Rationality models" that trace policies to national needs or "power models" that trace measures to the personal interests of high leaders have thrown different lights on Beijing decisions. 8 But this book takes political behavior, which is all applied policy, rather than merely state policy as the thing to be explained. It stresses that leaders at many levels of the Chinese system have policies, as soon as that word is freed from its usual governmentalist connotation. Their collective rationality and personal networks are increasingly powerful.
