ABSTRACT
The primary drag on implementing the incentive systems lies with middle-level bureaucrats at the province, prefecture, county, and commune levels, and local leaders at the brigade level. This chapter traces the historical transitions as they occurred from 1977 through 1981, outlines the major issues and debates, and explains what the acceptable forms of the responsibility system are. The limits to reform have been substantial. When peasants in wealthier sections of rural China, such as parts of Jiangsu and around large cities, did not support the policy and push for the changes from below, the center had to use a great deal of power to compel middle-level leaders to adopt the reforms. In localities that have adopted the system of total responsibility, the peasants' natural tendencies towards cooperation have developed into new forms of rural organization. As one looks at the peasants' response to the system of responsibility one must again pay close attention to levels of economic wealth and development.
