ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the broad patterns of China's authoritarian developmentalism, otherwise known as the "China Model", spanning the periods from Deng Xiaoping to Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. It discusses the discontents of the China Model, as evidenced by the incidence of protests, as well as the profound social transformation China has undergone and the challenges it poses to governance. The scale and potential destructiveness of the severe side effects of China's authoritarian developmentalism would shock the Chinese leadership and have prompted them to mount a broad range of responses. As the number of mass incidents rose steadily amid the biggest economic boom in Chinese history, the Chinese leadership has devoted vast resources to develop what's now widely known as the stability maintenance or preservation regime. The massive Chinese economic transformation has been accompanied by profound social changes, including rising living standards and greater education attainments.
