With its rapidly growing economy, rising middle class, and trajectory toward an individualist and consumerist society, what are the changes that China will become democratic? The first product of the new research program Democracy in Taiwan at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford U., this collection of 11 papers describes in detail ideas about political change in China and Taiwan. Contributors examine concepts about civil society and the state in such topics as the evolution of political values, intellectual pluralism and dissent, religion and the emergence of civil society and business groups that can be for or against the regime. Topics on regime responses include responsive authoritarianism, the development of the rule of law, competitive elections, and the influence of international pressures on domestic policies and politics, while two articles detail the possibility that China's possible shift toward democracy may parallel that of Taiwan. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)