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Over the past two decades, the relationship between China's civilian and military industrial sectors has been undergoing a major realignment brought on by the transformation of the country's economic and technological landscape. Whereas the defense sector had been the undisputed leader of Chinese industrial technology for most of the PRC's history, the predominantly non-state civilian economy has begun to catch up with and even surpass comparable military capabilities in many key areas since the 1990s. The Chinese leadership recognizes the enormous potential of the civilian sector for China's military modernization program, especially in light of the often disappointing results of various technology initiatives spearheaded by the state sector, despite massive investments. Serious efforts are now under way to facilitate the entry of non-state sector firms into the military market. However, many obstacles remain, of which the entrenched interests of the defense industry stands out.

Although Taiwan is widely regarded as one of the purest examples of middle-class-driven democratization, this article suggests that the conventional accent on the middle class is misplaced. Instead, the true heroes in the struggle for democracy were the island's working classes, although proper recognition of this fact requires an empirically derived understanding of class that looks beyond formal labor politics. Although the author does not dispute the importance of ethnicity in Taiwanese politics, the findings clearly indicate that ethnic identity was in itself a class issue, as the island's working classes were the most deeply attached to a nativist Taiwanese identity, while members of the middle classes were far more successfully assimilated into the elite "national" culture. The Taiwanese experience thus provides a reminder that many political phenomena apparently framed in ethnic, sectarian terms are in fact undergirded by essentially class-based grievances.

In this essay I offer a sharply revisionist account of Taiwan's transition to democracy, based upon an empirically derived neo-Weberian class-analytic framework. My analysis reveals that the conventional accent on the middle class was largely misplaced. Instead, the true heroes in the struggle for democracy, even in prosperous, placid Taiwan, were the island's urban and rural working classes, although proper recognition of this fact requires us to look beyond the politics of the workplace. While the better-educated middle classes in fact displayed the highest normative affinity for democratic values, as the primary beneficiaries of the State they were also among the most politically conservative sectors in society. In contrast, working class support for the opposition was driven primarily by a generalized sense of disaffection with the existing social order, although its lack of a coherent agenda also proved consequential for the opposition's mobilizational strategy and policy orientation after the initial political opening.

Yang reviews Critical Mission: Essays on Democracy Promotion by Thomas Carothers.

Although Taiwan is widely regarded as one of the purest examples of middle-class-driven democratization, this article suggests that the conventional accent on the middle class is misplaced. Instead, the true heroes in the struggle for democracy were the island's working classes, although proper recognition of this fact requires an empirically derived understanding of class that looks beyond formal labor politics. Although the author does not dispute the importance of ethnicity in Taiwanese politics, the findings clearly indicate that ethnic identity was in itself a class issue, as the island's working classes were the most deeply attached to a nativist Taiwanese identity, while members of the middle classes were far more successfully assimilated into the elite "national" culture. The Taiwanese experience thus provides a reminder that many political phenomena apparently framed in ethnic, sectarian terms are in fact undergirded by essentially class-based grievances. (World Politics / SWP)

This article offers a review and commentary on the applicability
of the civil society model to contemporary China. Critiques of
the civil society paradigm and corporatist interpretations are
examined, then situated within the context of post-totalitarian Communism
by drawing upon literature on Eastern Europe.
Based on recent empirical findings, the author argues that the tension
between state and society should not be interpreted as dichotomous;
nor is the state/society divide the only major political cleavage in
today's China. Increasingly civil society will play a critical role in the
trilateral dynamics between the state, business elite and working classes.

Media censorship is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes. We conduct a field experiment in China to measure the effects of providing citizens with access to an uncensored internet. We track subjects' media consumption, beliefs regarding the media, economic beliefs, political attitudes, and behaviors over 18 months. We find four main results: (i) free access alone does not induce subjects to acquire politically sensitive information; (ii) temporary encouragement leads to a persistent increase in acquisition, indicating that demand is not permanently low; (iii) acquisition brings broad, substantial, and persistent changes to knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and intended behaviors; and (iv) social transmission of information is statistically significant but small in magnitude. We calibrate a simple model to show that the combination of low demand for uncensored information and the moderate social transmission means China's censorship apparatus may remain robust to a large number of citizens receiving access to an uncensored internet. (JEL C93, D72, D83, L82, L86, L88, P36)