ABSTRACT
Much of the literature on policy implementation focuses on policies that have failed. Whether the analysis has been of policy in the United States or in Third World countries, 1 such disappointing findings suggest that “great expectations in Beijing” should have been “dashed at the grass roots.” By summer 1983, however, decollectivization and the shift to household farming with collective land ownership had been almost universally implemented in rural China. 2 If successful implementation of significant reforms is difficult for governments and failure has been common elsewhere, 3 how do we explain the Chinese government’s “success” in decollectivizing agriculture? 4 What did the reform group around Deng Xiaoping do right?
