Book Talk: The Political Logic of Taxation in China

Описание: Rapid social economic changes, the transition from a planned economy to a market economy, or even economic liberalization can lead to political instability and the collapse of authoritarian regimes. Despite experiencing all of these unprecedented changes in the past forty years, China under the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership has so far successfully transformed and improved both its governance capacity and its ruling capacity. Governing and Ruling addresses this regime resilience puzzle by examining the political logic of its taxation system, especially the ways in which taxation helps China handle three governance problems: maneuvering social control, improving agent discipline, and eliciting cooperation. Changdong Zhang argues that a taxation system plays an important role in sustaining authoritarian rule, in China and elsewhere, by combining co-optation and repression functions. The book collects valuable firsthand and secondhand data; studies China’s taxation system, intergovernmental fiscal relationships, composition of fiscal revenue sources, and tax administration; and discusses how each dimension influences the three governance problems.

About the Speakers:

Changdong Zhang is a Professor and Chair of Department of Political Science at School of Government of Peking University. He received Ph. D. in political science from University of Washington, Seattle. Prof. Zhang’s research interests include taxation politics/fiscal sociology, state and society relationships, and institutionalism, with a regional focus of China. Dr. Zhang’s academic papers have appeared in the China Quarterly, Governance, Sociological Theory, Politics and Society and many Chinese journals. He has published a book entitled Governing and Ruling: The Political Logic of Taxation in China (University of Michigan Press 2021), coauthored Taxation and Governance in Contemporary China (with Xiaobo Lü, Cambridge University Press, 2025).

Ling Chen is William L. Clayton Chair and Associate Professor at School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Her articles have appeared in American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, New Political Economy, Perspectives on Politics, Politics & Society, Review of International Political Economy, The China Journal, and World Development. Her book, Manipulating Globalization: The Influence of Bureaucrats on Business in China, was published by Stanford University Press.

Lynette Ong is Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Toronto, and Director of China Governance Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. She is also a nonresident Senior Fellow at the Asia Society, and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She is the author of three books, including Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China (Oxford UP, 2022). Her publications have appeared in leading journals, namely Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Politics, China Quarterly, China Journal, and outlets, such as Foreign Affairs, Journal of Democracy, Economist, Washington Post, South China Morning Post, and Globe and Mail. Her research has won multiple accolades from APSA, ISA, ASA, and CPSA. She is also a recipient of the SSHRC Impact Award.




Asian Institute, China Governance Lab
Asian Institute [email protected]
Speakers
Zhang headshot
Changdong Zhang
Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, School of Government of Peking University

Ong headshot
Lynette Ong (Chair)
Distinguished Professor of Chinese Politics, University of Toronto, Director- China Governance Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Ling Chen headshot
Ling Chen (Discussant)
William L. Clayton Chair and Associate Professor, School of Advanced International Studies,