ABSTRACT
The last three decades have witnessed remarkable economic development and subtle political change in China. There seems to be some consensus, at least within China, over the value and signifi cance of the market economy, mixed ownership, and open-door policy. As for the nature of the political change in China and whether and how China should pursue democratic reform, views vary signifi cantly. Some see a Chinese model of socialist democracy. Others believe China has resisted the third wave of democratization and wants to maintain the socialist state under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There are talks about China’s model of “markets without democracy” (Peerenboom 2007: 3).
