Mass politics in the People's Republic
Subtitle: state and society in contemporary China
By: Alan P.L. Liu.
Series: Politics in Asia and the Pacific
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Boulder, Colo
Language: eng
Number of pages: 251
Subjects: Political participation -- China; Political culture -- China; Public opinion -- China; China -- Politics and government -- 1949-
Description: Exploring the crucial link between state and society in the PRC, this study analyzes the interaction between the Chinese Communist Party and the country's major social groups - peasants, workers, youths and students, intellectuals, and ethnic minorities - since the founding of the People's Republic. Alan Liu argues that institutionalized public opinion has existed in China ever since the inception of the Communist regime and that it gradually grew powerful enough to thwart Mao's policies and programs.

He contends that the government's radical post-Mao reforms emerged less from the preferences of another paramount leader - Deng - than from public opinion, which has grown too strong for the communist party either to ignore or control.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 237-239) and index.