Cities and stability : urbanization, redistribution, and regime survival in China / Jeremy L. Wallace.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wallace, Jeremy L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cities and towns--China.

Cities and towns.

Recording and registration.

Government policy.

Rural-urban migration--Government policy.

Rural-urban migration.

China.

Urbanization--China.

Urbanization.

Rural-urban migration--Government policy--China.

Recording and registration--Government policy--China.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (265 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2014.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

China's management of urbanization is an under-appreciated factor in the regime's longevity. The Chinese Communist Party fears "Latin Americanization"ù the emergence of highly unequal megacities with their attendant slums and social unrest. Such cities threaten the survival of nondemocratic regimes. To combat the threat, many regimes, including China's, favor cities in policymaking. Cities and Stability shows this "urban bias" to be a Faustian Bargain: cities may be stabilized for a time, but the massive in-migration from the countryside that results can generate the conditions for political upheaval. Through its hukou system of internal migration restrictions, China has avoided this dilemma, simultaneously aiding urbanites and keeping farmers in the countryside. The system helped prevent social upheaval even during the Great Recession, when tens of millions of laid-off migrant workers dispersed from coastal cities. Jeremy Wallace's powerful account forces us to rethink the relationship between cities and political stability throughout the developing world. Book jacket.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Jasmine Revolutions, Failed and Successful 1

Three Puzzles 2

Understanding Cities, Spending, and Survival 4

Research Design 7

Structure of the Book 11

Chapter 2 Urban Bias: A Faustian Bargain 15

Large Cities are Dangerous for Nondemocratic Regimes 17

Regime Responses and the Faustian Bargain 30

Why Make a Deal With the Devil? 35

Chapter 3 Cities, Redistribution, and Regime Survival

Hypotheses 43

On Various Variables 45

Methods and Data 58

Analysis 60

Conclusion 69

Chapter 4 China's Loophole to the Faustian Bargain of Urban Bias 71

Origins of the Hukou System 74

Mao's CCP in Power, 1949 79

Reforms 95

Hukou Experiments 105

Conclusion 156

Chapter 5 The Fiscal Shift: Migration, Instability, and Redistribution 122

China's Fiscal Shift 123

Sue-National Analysis 143

Chapter 6 Return to Sender: Hukou, Stimulus, and the Great Recession 159

China Coming into the Crisis 161

Crisis Hits China 164

Economic Crisis Sparks Instability 168

Complications 181

Conclusion 185

Chapter 7 Under Pressure: Urban Bias and External Forces Is?

Threats and Urban-Rural Redistribution in Nondemocracies 190

Data 193

Analysis 196

Discussion 201

Conclusion 204

Chapter 8 Conclusion 206

China as Appropriate Case Study 209

Twitter as a City 212

Looking Forward 214.

Notes:

Includes bibliogrsphical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Local Notes:

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2014. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.

Other Format:

Print version: Wallace, Jeremy L. Cities and stability : urbanization, redistribution, and regime survival in China.

ISBN:

9780199379002

OCLC:

882262639

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.