Market Economics and Political Change

These essays review current theoretical debates, explore the role of regional context, and offer case studies of legal culture and civil society in Mexico and China to demonstrate the complexity of the relationship between market and democracy and the implications for other transitional polities such as Russia and for U.S. foreign policy. Designed for classroom use, this volume adds a focused comparative perspective for courses on Chinese, Asian-Pacific, and Latin American politics, development, and contemporary history.

Does market liberalization promote democracy? The accepted answer from scholars, pundits, and politicians alike has been yes. However, the contributors to this innovative study of market reforms and political change in Mexico and the People's Republic of China argue that this easy equation is not only empirically uncertain but methodologically flawed. Using comparative contextual analysis, the contributors carefully identify the elective affinities between these two very different polities to reveal key variables that determine how markets will affect democracy, particularly law as the 'rudder of democracy' and the role of political culture in civil society.

Chapter 1
Chapter I: Theoretical Context
Chapter 2 Market Liberalization and Democratization: The Case for Comparative Contextual Analysis
Chapter 3 Market Economics and Political Change: A Historical and Theoretical Examination
Chapter 4
Chapter II: Regional Context
Chapter 5 Market-Oriented Reforms and National Development in Latin America
Chapter 6 Socialist Marketization and East Asian Industrial Structure: Locating Civilized Society in China
Chapter 7
Chapter III: Judicial System, Civil Society, and Political Culture
Chapter 8 Mexico: Economic Liberalism in an Authoritarian Polity
Chapter 9 Economic and Legal Reform in China: Whither Civil Society and Democratization?
Chapter 10 Civil Society and Democratization in Mexico
Chapter 11 From Market to Democracy in China: Gaps in the Civil Society Model
Chapter 12
Chapter IV. Extending the Analysis
Chapter 13 Constructive Engagement and Economic Sanctions: The Debate Over Intervention for Democracy
Chapter 14 Market Liberalization and Democratic Politics: Perspectives from the Russian Experience