Political Trust in China

"Li examines complex questions about people's relationships with their government. This book is an excellent tool for political science professors and researchers in a time of pervasive political distrust and growing concern over manipulated information."

* Emma Schindler-Wood, Library Journal *

“Political Trust in China provides an objective analysis of Beijing's claims that the majority of Chinese trust that country's one-party regime. Summing up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.”

* S. C. Hart, Choice *

“This research will be of broad interest to China scholars in political science and sociology, as well as to researchers of authoritarianism who are working on the dictator's dilemma, which stems from the incapacity of dictators to finetune repression and concessions due to their underlying uncertainty about the level of popular trust they might have.”

* Martin K. Dimitrov, The China Quarterly *

“This book is important in re-conceptualizing political trust in China with novel insights on its object, domain, and significance for political outcomes. Future scholars of public opinion and political behavior in China would do well to use it to shape future survey research.”

* Haemin Jee, China Information *

“Li's work provides an intriguing foundation for challenging the consensus that China's population overwhelmingly supports the regime.”

* Andrew J. Nathan, Foreign Affairs *

“Li's pathbreaking book will be the definitive work on political trust in China. Li is well-known as the leading authority on this topic and has shaped how the rest of us study and use it. This book reflects the many years Li has spent studying political trust and demonstrates anew that he is at the top of his field.”

-- Bruce Dickson, George Washington University

“Lianjiang Li clearly challenges the common understanding of high trust in the central government in China. He provides a new framework to analyze and interpret survey results of political trust in China.”

-- Shuai Jin, University of Massachusetts Boston

“This book is thoughtful and nuanced in conceptualization, rich and informed in empirical study, and written with admirable clarity and conciseness, by a leading authority on political trust in contemporary China.”

-- Xueguang Zhou, Stanford University

"In this thoughtful study, Lianjiang Li draws on survey evidence to newly conceptualize how political trust in China is configured. He shows that political trust in the center is highly personalized in a paramount leader and that assessments of its trustworthiness distinguish between commitment and capacity. Citizens assess the center’s commitment from policy promises and assess its capacity from local implementation of central policies. Li analyzes the strategies the regime uses to build political trust and suggests implications for the patterns of trust he discovers for citizen behavior and political system stability."

-- Melanie Manion, Duke University

“Li does a masterful job of covering a range of issues in Chinese politics from the lens of political trust…While many observations will be familiar to students of Chinese politics, Li's insightful analysis and engaging writing entice the reader to rethink familiar themes through the lens of political trust.”

* Kerry Ratigan, Journal of Contemporary As