Three Visions of Chinese Socialism

For many years, most scholarly and journalistic intepretation of Chinese politics has followed the practice of the media in the People's Republic, analyzing conflict among the leadership in terms of a dichotomy between two lines, R or the two-line struggle. The adherents of· this model refer to the two lines as -ideologues'" or -radicals· on the one hand, versus pragmatists- or moderates on the other. In this book the authors propose that Chinese politics can more fruitfully be. assessed in light of a clash among three, rather than two, competing ·visions.- Policy conflicts, they conclude, occur because of disagreements over the relative priorities to set among three competing va1ues--productivity, mass participation and mobilization, and order. Each author analyzes debates over market, mobilization, and bureaucratic approaches in a particular policy sector, demonstrating how differing visions have influenced policy formation.