The scope of the book is political science and China studies with a focus on China's local politics. Based on analyzing the data and facts from various sources, the book answers such key questions in China studies as whether China will be democratized in the near future and whether China's political system will continue into the future.

Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: "Direct Elections" for Township Executives
Chapter 3: "Inner-Party Democracy" and the Experiments of Direct Elections for Township Party Secretaries
Chapter 4: Another Form of "Inner-Party Democracy": The Party Congress Reform
Chapter 5: The Experiments with "Deliberative Democracy"
Chapter 6: A Reform Instigated from the Outside of the Bureaucratic System: Independent Candidates in China's Local Congress Elections
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index