The political impact of China's new private entrepreneurs.

摘要

This dissertation analyses the political impact of the emergence of private entrepreneurs in China in the 1980s and 1990s. It argues that owners of private businesses have liberalized politics in three ways: by limiting the scope of Communist Party rule, by curtailing the arbitrary exercise of power, and by undermining the Party's legitimacy as China's sole ruler. The study argues that the private sector in China grew during this period, not because firms profited from corruption, as some have argued, but because the new private firms were more competitive than existing state firms in the nascent market economy. Because of this market orientation, business owners were a pivotal player in the development of market-supporting institutions, including a market-oriented tax system, banking system, and legal system.; In examining the political beliefs of business owners, the dissertation contends that some private business owners see the Communist Party as legitimate insofar as it maintains social order and fosters economic growth. However, other business owners reject Party rule and predict that the Party will either undergo profound transformation--ceasing to be a communist party--or be ousted from power. Private business owners with knowledge of foreign countries, those with experience in the Communist Party, and those of the Cultural Revolution age cohort are most likely to disapprove of the Communist Party and are most likely to favor democratic solutions for China.; The dissertation further argues that private entrepreneurs have spurned Communist Party attempts to integrate private businesses and their employees into corporatist structures that enable the state to control them politically. For this reason, a small subset of interested private businesses have been able to provide employment for political dissidents and funding for their causes.