Economic transformation and its political discontents in China: Authoritarianism, unequal growth, and the dilemmas of political development

China's economic growth and transition pose fascinating questions for social scientists. In the economic realm, proponents of the market-preserving federalism (MPF) model appear to have gone too far. In reality, China's central leadership has retained the prerogative to appoint top provincial officials as well as the power to reconfigure central-provincial fiscal relations, thus defying predictions of the MPF model. In the social realm, rapid growth has propelled the expansion of the middle class, but the large increase in inequality has sharpened social cleavages and class conflicts. The uncertainties of market transition and rising social conflicts pose major challenges for the ruling elite and for China's political development.