"Political
scientists Jie Chen and Bruce J. Dickson’s
new work Allies of the State: China’s
Private Entrepreneurs and Democratic
Change is a major contribution to our
understanding of the relationship between
private entrepreneurs and democratic
change in China. While there are a number
of previous studies on the subject,
none have presented this kind of detailed
empirical analysis…… Besides
contributing to the research on politics
in China, Chen and Dickson provide clear
insights for economists that analyze
how entrepreneurs are utilizing political
connections to gain advantages in China
where the CCP continues to play such
an important role for economic development.
--- The China Quarterly (Volume 203,
2010: pp. 735-36)
“Allies of the State is a
finely tuned laser of a book. With
a rigorous yet elegant research design
developed with great dexterity, the
argument unfolds in tantalizing layers,
as Chen and Dickson get us closer
than ever to understanding the political
attitudes and behavior of China’s
private entrepreneurs.”
--- Scott Kennedy, Director, Research
Center for Chinese Politics &
Business, Indiana University; author
of The Business of Lobbying in China
“In a nuanced analysis, Chen
and Dickson study the role of private
businessmen in China in supporting
democratic change. They show that
private entrepreneurs, with close
ties to the state and the communist
party, largely support the Chinese
communist political system, but the
support is not unconditional. The
authors’ survey of private entrepreneurs
is original in covering five important
provinces and unique in capturing
the regional differences that affect
the business-government relationship.
This significant contribution tells
us a great deal about the attitudes
of private businessmen in China toward
democratizing changes and the government
system.”
--- Dwight H. Perkins, Harold Hitchings
Burbank Professor of Political Economy,
Harvard University
