Kevin J. O'Brien is Bedford Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on popular protest and Chinese politics in the reform era. He is the author of Reform without Liberalization: China's National People's Congress and the Politics of Institutional Change, and the co-editor of Engaging the Law in China: State, Society, and Possibilities for Justice. Currently, he is serving as the Chair of the Center of Chinese Studies at UC-Berkeley. Lianjiang Li is an Associate Professor in the Department of Government and International Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University. His research focuses on village elections and collective action in rural China. He has published in Asian Survey, China Information, China Journal, China Quarterly, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Contemporary China, and Modern China.

'This book can be highly recommended as a major contribution to political science that sheds new light on the relations between state and society in China and raises key questions regarding the evolution and mode of functioning of the regime.' China Perspectives

• 1. Rightful resistance; 2. Opportunities and perceptions; 3. Boundary-spanning claims; 4. Tactical escalation; 5. Outcomes; 6. Implications for China.