Centrifugal Empire: Central-Local Relations in China
(Winner of 2017 Choice Award)
Centrifugal Empire greatly enriches our understanding of how issues in central–local relations are contouring both reforms and their likely outcomes in contemporary China. — Kenneth Lieberthal, senior fellow emeritus in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution
Long one of our premier specialists on central–local relations in China, Jae Ho Chung has produced his most comprehensive, innovative, and definitive treatise yet on this often puzzling subject. This book is meticulously researched, ripe with multiple analytical distinctions, and rich in nuance. It is the source to consult on this topic. — Dorothy J. Solinger, University of California, Irvine
Chung is widely recognized as the leading scholar on the politics of central–local relations in China. This highly readable book, set in an historical context, draws on his expertise and insights to elucidate the Chinese national government’s multifaceted efforts today to control regional and local governments. — Jonathan Unger, coeditor of The China Journal
The most complete account available of China’s unique combination of centralized policy making and delegated implementation., Foreign Affairs
Jae-Ho Chung’s Centrifugal Empire is that rarest of books, one that is rich with empirical and historical detail, structured along several illuminating analytical dimensions, and written in prose that is mercifully jargon-free and a pleasure to read., China Quarterly