{"product_id":"from-sea-elections-to-state-control-9783032237422","title":"From Sea Elections to State Control: China’s Unfinished Democratic Experiments and the Logic of Top-Down Governance","description":"This book examines China’s grassroots electoral experiments and their transformation into instruments of centralized political control. It provides the first comprehensive, historically grounded analysis of village, township, and consultative elections from the 1980s to the present.   Tracing the rise of “sea elections” and their gradual institutional containment, the book shows how limited democratic practices emerged within a one-party system and were later restructured to reinforce state authority. It introduces the concept of “top-down governance logic” to explain how electoral participation can coexist with authoritarian resilience. Combining long-term field research, archival materials, and comparative political analysis, the book situates China’s experience within broader debates on authoritarian governance, democratic experimentation, political reform, and adaptive legitimacy. It demonstrates how elections in China functioned simultaneously as experiments in participation and mechanisms of political consolidation.\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 18 August 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePage count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 359\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Height 210 mm; Width 148 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Springer Nature Switzerland AG\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9783032237422\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Sam Lee","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":50207466193146,"sku":"9783032237422","price":93.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/from-sea-elections-to-state-control-9783032237422","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}