ABSTRACT
The economic reforms initiated in China by Deng Xiaoping beginning in the late 1970s will be remembered as having unleashed one of the most rapid transformations of a society in history. In the current era, when market ideology is king and American economic power appears unrivaled, it is often assumed that countries such as China that have tried to bring about a convergence of their economies with global markets are also on a path to political convergence with democratic values. Facile assumptions of a link between economic reform and democratization are particularly potent among U.S. policy makers. (Witness repeated assertions by President Clinton that admission of China into the World Trade Organization will promote democratization [Clinton 2000].) This assumption is also made by many citizens and scholars, and not just in the United States. The prime group to shoulder this burden of a transformation to democracy is usually considered to be not dissident intellectuals or reform elements in the government (both prime candidates for this role), but the country’s newest economic group: economic entrepreneurs. Often, moreover, it is assumed that those entrepreneurs with extensive contacts with the outside world will be at the forefront of democratization.
