Thirty years of spectacular economic growth have produced a sizeable new business class of private entrepreneurs in China. Since the early 1990s, “the number of private enterprises increased by 35 percent annually and now totals over 5 million,” and the private sector now accounts for “66 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 71 percent of tax revenues” (p. 1). After years of debate, in November 2002, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officially permitted the capitalist class of private entrepreneurs to become party members.

Against this background, Allies of the State asks three critical questions on the emergence and growth of China's private entrepreneurs and prospects for democratic change: “Do capitalists support fundamental political change toward democracy in China? Why do or do they not support such a change? And how do their political attitudes—such as those toward the party-state and toward democracy—and their institutional connections with the party-state influence...

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